Working With Fiberglass And/or Plastic?

[Huzer21]

Anyone done much interior work before? About the only plastic I've dealt with is when I built model cars. Trying to figure out the best material and method of modifying the center console. For those that don't know, I'm basically removing the cupholders and turning that area into a storage bin as shown below. I'll be cutting out the cupholders, then trying to figure out how to mold a replacement bin. Notice the curves in the bin that will make this slightly more of a pain in the arse.

[tsx_guy]

dunno, lee might tho....

[ZoomPrincess]

My Josh might know something too, or if he doesn't one of the guys he used to work with at Best Buy could. They worked with fiberglass all the time for sub boxes.

[goldrocket]

Your best bet is a combination of fiberglass and bondo. That combo has been used in building competition and manufacturer audio system demo cars for 20 years, and for good reason. It's not too complicated, just time consuming. Once you have cut out the cup holders, you can file and sand it until it's just about right. Then use some speaker grille cloth to fill all the gaps, usually you will stretch it into shape, then cover it in polyesther resin. Once that kicks, you put a layer of woven mat over the top, and again saturate it with polyesther resin. Once it hardens you can sand and file it into shape. The final step is where the bondo comes in. Use it to smooth gaps and rough spots, or where you might have filed through the glass. once you sand it smooth you can prime and paint it. There you have it in a nutshell. Well worth the effort. You can buy texture paint and fillers to make it looke like the vinyl texture of your console, or leave it smoth and paint it the same color as your exterior. But I highly recommend a can of Sand-free. It is available at most home improvement stores or hobby lobby. It chemically prepares the surface to accept paint and it works! If you use it your paint won't come off in sheets two days after painting like most of the ricer crap you see with painted interioirs. Good luck!

[Huzer21]

Thanks for the input. I've decided on a simple solution, as far as the compound curves on the front of the cup holder area. Hopefully, this comes out easier than I thought. I've finalized the design, tonight...Mr. Dremel meets the center console. Weee!

[angelsfanbp]

Make sure you posts pics when your done of the process!! I would love to see the final product!

[GR-8]

That would be nice but i dont think tim finished this ever. It's 2 year old project. New name is just Huzer noe so just ignore the guest thing.