# Fiber Glass Repair



## CarterD (Oct 11, 2011)

Yesterday while clearing brush and vines from land I plan to build on my tractor's sun shade got tangled in a wild grape vine and was damaged. I have no experience with this type of repair and could use some guidance. What materials do I need and where to get them? I saw a couple of vids about this but believe there might be more to it than what is available on the net. Help appreciated. Thanks Carter


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## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

Might just be better to see if an automotive body shoppe can fix it, or see if they have some type of resin/ fiberglass repair kit, etc.


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Just curious if the wild grapevine had a titanium cable running up its spine? That must havew been one pissed off grapevine! I'm a bit dated I'll bet, but you used to be able to pick up a product called kitty hair, essentially chopped up fiberglass with gel.along with a seperate catalyst. If you can get a simular product, and remove all the loose shrapnal from the canopy and carfully sand or grind a bevel along both damaged surface edges and apply that kitty care, then after it cures, sand it, it will come out good enough for a working mans tractor.


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Quick search and AHA! http://www.evercoat.com/productDetail.aspx?pID=38 It's been 25 years since I dabbled in this stuff but it really isn't that hard to do. A person could additionally finish coat it with bondo if you wanted to get it totally dialed in, though it would need to be painted then, which really isn't a bad idea since it would keep the uv rays off that fiberglass and preserve things.........


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## herdsman (Jun 7, 2012)

I'd second the auto body shop approach, especially one that does Corvette work (Used to own such a shop, so BTDT!) They'll have the materials and know how to make quick work of that.

If you do decide to do it yourself, I'd do the initial repair using the full woven fiberglass mat material as it has the structural strength you'll need to stand up to the next grapevine. Basically you want to grind off all the damaged fiberglass and the finish cost in the area surrounding the repair. Cut the mat to overlap the damage. Put some resin on, then thoroughly soak the cut mat in resin and place that on shade. If the gap in the shade is large enough, sometimes building a bit of a form to support the wet mat will help. Let it set, then you can do the finish coat with the tiger hair or bondo. Not a hard job, just takes a little patience and practice. Anything you mess up can be ground down or off and done again, no big deal...


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## CarterD (Oct 11, 2011)

Thanks all, I have to check out West Marine for supplies since I will try to make repairs my self. Not enough $$$ on hand to go the pro shop repair route as we have just bought 10 acres of land and also have signed on the dotted line to have a new house and shop built on it. 
Yes the vine must have had a steel cable in it to do that ammount of damage. It was a 1 1/4" tree climbing vine that extended to the crown of a 35' +/- tall tulip poplar, no damage to the vine until I cut about a 1' section out of it to see how well it will do after that.


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## ErnieS (Jun 1, 2011)

I hate vines! We have some stuff here that kills the trees and tangles in the tractor. One piece of it snatched the back-up light right off the tractor.
I've pulled down a couple tons of the stuff.

Wow wind is building up fast. We're under a tropical storm warning here.


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## sarge1572 (Jun 30, 2008)

Fiberglass is pretty easy to work with. If you've done some basic auto repair, or wood repairs you can do this. You can buy a small fiberglassing repair kit at the hardware store, or big box places, or auto parts shop, boat place, just about every where. it will have some sheets of fiberglass fabric material, two part resin (resin and hardner) maybe a flat plastic spreader, and possibly sand paper. You need a small disposable container for mixing the resin, a small flat plastic tool for spreading (like you use to wallpaper or to fill dents with Bondo) or a disposable putty knife (or two or three). 

Trim the split on your shade so the two sides meet up / line up. Youdon't have to cut a big hole in it, just trim enough back so the two sides line up. You could even clamp it temporarily until you have a couple of layers on and hardened to hold it together, and start layering small pieces of fiberglass sheet into the hole/split. I've taken pieces of fabric and cut it into fibers, mixed it with the resin/hardener and used that to fill in a void. When you have most of the hole filled in, put a layer or two on both sides. If you don't like the look sand it off to where you do like it and fix it. Just follow the directions on mixing to resin and remember the more hardner you use the faster it sets up so you need to work pretty quickly. If you follow the directions you generally have 15 or 20 minutes to work. 

You can't do the whole repair in one go. Fill the void first. Let it dry,, sand off the rough edges, fill a little more, let it dry, sand, once the tear is filled, a layer or two of glass sheet over the tear on one side then the other, sand until you like the results. This filling and drying may take a day or two depending on how big the repair is. Then paint if you like, or leave it. Nice thing about fiberglass is, it doesn't rust!!

If you're handy you can do the repair. It really is pretty simple and it's not like you're fixing a race car and it's not a structural repair, but cosmetic.


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## CarterD (Oct 11, 2011)

Sarge I have done steel body repair, welding in patch panels ect.










and bondo stuff but not this but with the help I am getting here sounds like something I could sucessfully do.


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## sarge1572 (Jun 30, 2008)

You'll laugh when you're done for being so apprehensive. Like my Dad told me, "This isn't rocket science!" 

If you don't like the way it looks, sand it down and try it again!! It sands pretty fast! Drys fast, etc. One of my kids friend brought his brand new jeep over with a cracked fiberglass top. I'm not a pro by any means, but I've done body work, a little lead work, bondo, dry walled, taped drywall joints, and by golly it's no harder than any of those. We got it fixed in about 4 hours, even textured it with a SPONGE of all things to match and spray painted it flat black with a rattle can. Even with close inspection it you couldn't tell it was a home made repair.

Just looking at your pic of the weld job you're a talented guy. If the weld's too high, that's what they make grinders for!! This time next week you'll be fiberglassing things that aren't even broken just because it's so easy and look so good when they're done.

Show a pic when you're done. Everyone here will be impressed! I'm sure I will be.


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## Rusty (Jun 15, 2011)

Get youself a box of surgical gloves before you start,that crap gets everywhere and it's sticky


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## CarterD (Oct 11, 2011)

Day 1, after getting resin & hardner yesterday and stopping to see my friend Gordon who, when told what I would be doing, offered fiberglass cloth from a roll that must have held several hundred feet of 3' wide material. I dressed the fractured edges if the top and in doing so found it was built of 2 thin molded pieces with a small amount of sprayed on fiber/resin mix between them but mostly air filling the void between layers. Made in China quality 









On the back side I taped mold release plastic sheeting given to me years ago by a friend in the industry and after mixing resin/hardner I dipped pre-cut lengths of cloth in it, pulled it between gloved fingers to remove excess and rolled them into tight rolls and stuffed them into the unfilled voids between layers to provide some strength.









Then placed layers into the top's damaged sectiond until most of it was covered.









Today I will sand and recoat as necessary then start on the other side. After that I will work on repairing the damaged edges.


















More tomorrow Bye


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## Rusty (Jun 15, 2011)

looks like you got it figured out


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## herdsman (Jun 7, 2012)

Looking good...

Looks like it might be stronger when you're done than it originally was!


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## CarterD (Oct 11, 2011)

herdsman said:


> Looking good...
> 
> Looks like it might be stronger when you're done than it originally was!


Flimsey as it was it won't take a lot of work to make it that way.

Day 2:


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## CarterD (Oct 11, 2011)

Repaired, painted, done.


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## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

CarterD said:


> Repaired, painted, done.



That is a great looking job it looks brand new! Now watch out for those vines, and stuff.


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## herdsman (Jun 7, 2012)

Nice job! Looks great...


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

Great job there CarterD


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## ErnieS (Jun 1, 2011)

Looks better than new, and you learned a new skill. Nothing better than that.


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