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fiberglass spoiler repair questions

PostPosted: Sat Mar 26, 2016 3:23 pm
by beakerztoyz
hey all wondering if anyone knows anything bout repairing fiberglass, I just aquired a spoiler for my sunbird coupe.. it seems to be made out of hard fiberglass the same as the trans am spoilers in the 70's were, it's not the same material as the warpy spoiler on my hatchback monza, anyways 1 end of one corner piece is broken off so I have to add a bit to it and the bottom of the middle piece is in ruff shape so I'll have to fix it and in lots of spots there's gouges in it seems almost like someone took a dremel tool or something and put carvings into it. I have a bit of bodywork experience but am by no means a pro so my thoughts were this getting a fiberglass kit with some resin and matting to rebuild the end of the one piece and the bottom middle of the big piece and using bondo to fix the carvings and gouges am I on the right track? can I use normal bondo on fiberglass like that? I lnow it'll be some work to fix it but they're not easy spoilers to find and I'm hoping to fix it thanks :)

Re: fiberglass spoiler repair questions

PostPosted: Sat Mar 26, 2016 8:22 pm
by cjbiagi
I have a fiberglass rear spoiler made by A and A fiberglass and I had to do a lot of work to it to get it to fit properly. I just used fiberglass reinforced filler and it worked great. Goes on like regular bondo, you can rough shape it with a file and then sand it to get the fit and repairs finished off. I had to rework all 3 pieces to get the contour correct and fill a hole that was in it. This filler is strong than regular bondo and I had no shrinkage issues....

Re: fiberglass spoiler repair questions

PostPosted: Sat Mar 26, 2016 9:38 pm
by Monza Harry
Hi Beakerstoyz! Is that from Ron's Black car? You can repair this with this for "Med" reconstruction: http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/bondo ... vc2C4f2bmg, heavy rebuilding I would use something like this: http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/bondo ... vc24of2bmg. These are both the same material that Clyde has pointed out just different length strands in the resin, for finishing work, use Bondo or spot putty as required. The only thing that stands out for concerns is surface prep, the rougher the better in my experience, rough it up with something like a 40 grit on your 4 or 5" grinder and mix small amounts and build up slowly, so use caution large amounts with lots of "Hardener" will make lots of heat and that isn't good for your 40 year old spoiler, and will affect adhesion. Plus some of these materials can be a :censored: bear to sand, so again small and sculpt as you go, into the early "green" stages once it starts to "Go-Off" more than a little it is time to stop until hard. If you haven't done much of this kind of work practice on some scrap, this isn't hard just a little different than something's you may expect. That is a hard to find part, so no shame in a practice run! You will do fine. Harry

Re: fiberglass spoiler repair questions

PostPosted: Sat Mar 26, 2016 10:07 pm
by beakerztoyz
Thanks guys, yes Harry it is the spoiler that was on Ron's black car, and I should point out Ron did tell me that the spoiler would need work in the center and was gouged up before I even went up there to get it, I was not expecting it to be in great shape. I am still very glad to have been able to buy it and the other parts off of Ron he was great to deal with. I am in no real rush to paint my car so I can take as much time as I need to fix this thing and I would really like to do it properly :) I will take some pictures of it tomorow and post them here I understand what your saying about using thin layers but I'm not sure if its possible in some of the gouges, It would be nice to get your take on it.

Re: fiberglass spoiler repair questions

PostPosted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 9:00 am
by cjbiagi
As a side note I also used the filler to lengthen the center section to close the gaps between it and the end pieces. As mentioned, make sure the piece is very clean and roughed up a bit.

Re: fiberglass spoiler repair questions

PostPosted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 9:48 am
by Monza Harry
Sorry for getting off topic here, but that really adds to your car Clyde' I liked the Monza spoiler less until I seen one with it just adds so much to the lines [you added Double D's to your supermodel :mrgreen: ]. That looks "GREAT" Clyde! :th: Breaker, I was referring to building up the ends, corners, holes and such, like the broken mount you had mentioned, unless that gouge is more than 1/2" wide and all the way through and greater than 1" long, I wouldn't worry about that quantity of "Fibermix" [short strand] when I was talking about build up, I haven't seen either of Ron's recent "Acquisitions" but that tells me this is an OEM, not an aftermarket Part this should reduce the amount of "adjusting" required. As an afterthought allow as much time as possible for the added 'glass to cure before final blocking to get as much of the shrinkage and "printing done so you will not g=have them show up after your final paint job this is a common fiberglass issue [caused by differential resin/glass shrinkage rates]. If you putter around with this it will likely have settled in time for Next spring's "Reveal". Harry

Re: fiberglass spoiler repair questions

PostPosted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 12:40 pm
by beakerztoyz
Image Image Image


I know these aren't the best pics but it should give you an idea as to what I'm talking about. and yes as far as I can tell this is an oem spoiler for a sunbird with a trunk it even says on the underside of it sunbird center rear deck lid in raised fiberglass letters. I may have seen a picture or 2 of a car with a spoiler like this on it around here but I never thought it would be possible to find one. oh yeah and Clyde you did a really nice job of making that spoiler fit on your car I think the hatchback cars look about a thousand times better with a spoiler than without, is that one of yours made out of hard fiberglass? I have one on my hatchback here thats all warped and appears to be plastic or something.

Re: fiberglass spoiler repair questions

PostPosted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 2:10 pm
by cjbiagi
Yes, mine is made out of fiberglass....I agree the the car looks much better with a rear spoiler. I hesitated for almost 40 years to put one on! I just never liked the warpage issue with the factory ones and didn't want to take a chance with something that would warp. So, when I saw a aftermarket fiberglass one for sale I snatched it up. Unfortunately the overall fit was crappy, didn't match the contour of the the hatch near the ends very well at all. About 40 - 50 hours went into making it fit correctly. I am glad I decided to stick with it though as I really like how it looks now.
Looking at yours I don't think you will have any problem making the repairs with the fiberglass filler.