Split Mold Method

This method is the common why the kit car manufactures use to build a fiber class car, they can minnipulate the molds pieces to make different sytyle cars (hardtop or Roadster). Using this mold then can produce many car very quickly, the body is as accurate as the mold (so if the mold is correct you will get a great body everytime).

Here are some photos of Rick Pages car in a CRP's mold, this from Rick progress page 3/15/01

Rick Page

Steve at CRP sent me some pictures of when the body was in the mold.

It is in the lambo womb I guess. Inverted no less. Steve hand lays the fiberglass on the mold in several layers. This is different than many manufacturers that use a chopper gun. The all hand laid fiberglass is supposedly thinner, stronger and lighter than fiberglass hand laid one layer and then backed by a chopper gun, even in an experienced hand. This body should end up weighing half of what a chopper gun body will weigh.

Having said that, I have little actual experience with these things and know only what I've read. I should know more in a couple of weeks :)

Original Master Pattern

I am sure that builders would like to know how hard this really is, how much money this would cost and how time does it take. Is this a different method (making your own pattern) then spending many dollars on a body all ready fabricated... but is it really worth it, can the average guy do this task?

This method is not building a "kit car" (I don't know why they call it a Kit Car - I never got anything in a "kit" just handed to me).

Below are photos from Brian Wolff, who is actually building his own car. We all clam that we are building our cars from scratch... it's is like saying that you just baked a cake (that came from the box- that's not really cooking, or is it?). Brian HAS "baked a cake" like grandma used to "from scratch", home made the way you want it!

I think it is an amazing process and is the reason I created this section to this method of building.

I can't put enough of Brian's photos on my site... so check out more detailed information of on his web site http://users.netconnect.com.au/%7Ekaras/Wolff/index.html

Brian Wolff

Brian uses a smaller scaled car and modeled it into a CAD program. He then creates a "plug", as you can see this is a traditional egg-crate armature with station templates made out of plywood.

This is the latest photos Brian sent me (6/02) of his front bumper plug.

This is the first layer

Martin Tripp

Greg's Custom Car Project

Continued the work of cutting out ribs and installing them. Worked out a pretty good process and zoomed right through the remaining ribs. I had to repeat the process of using wood strips to work out body curves in several areas, including the nose and top of the front fender. You can see the strips in the pictures here.

My preferred method for attaching the strips is finishing nails, a staple gun, and occasionally, masking tape. If the strip hasn't been bent a lot, and isn't under a bunch of stress, the staples work, otherwise, use the nails. I only use the tape for areas where several strips meeting and there's no clean way to nail them all together.

These three photos show the buck with most of the ribs in place. The picture to the top right is from the driver's side rear quarter looking down the side of the car toward the front. The pic below is a 3/4 angle from the same general location. Finally, the pic to the lower right is taken while standing next to the left rear wheel, looking across the rear decklid area.

Splashing

Rick Page

Splashing is just a technique where you coat a positive with some kind of release agent like PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) and then gel coat and cover with resin and chopped mat. You design flanges into the mold material that will allow it to be put back together after releasing. Then you have a negative that you can create positives with. If done properly, the original isn't harmed in any way and you just wipe off the release agent.

Extreme Concepts Engineering - The goal of this project is to build a replica of a Lamborghini Diablo completely from scratch.