fibreglass moulds.

[Agemax]

any one on here made a mould from a standard piece of bodywork, ie. fender or side panel and then made their own fibreglass replicas?

if so how hard is it and what is involved?

[twiggy2cents]

i think you would have to put a variation in it for it to be legal i know all the ebay bodykits are copies but i think that they have to be a little different

[tone]

any one on here made a mould from a standard piece of bodywork, ie. fender or side panel and then made their own fibreglass replicas?

if so how hard is it and what is involved?

yep ive done it lots including one offs as part of a previous job, not as easy as you might imagine but not rocket science either

The quality of the job depends on the quality of the mold & that depends on the condition of the plug (the part you are taking the mold from) EG if the plug is busted up & covered in paint & filler the mold & the job WILL be rubbish

Any specific questions just ask away & i'll do my best to answer
cheers tone

[GQROD]

Look up this subject on you tube and you will find tons of great videos on this some ranging from easy plaster moulds to high quality fiberglass molds and techniques.

[Old Colt]

I also do a bit of mold making and fiberglass work in general. I just happen to be doing a job right now.

What kind of info you looking for? Looks like we have a few here who can help.

[Zooks]

i think you would have to put a variation in it for it to be legal i know all the ebay bodykits are copies but i think that they have to be a little different

No offence dude but for 'personal use' I don't think anybody would care or even realise it was a copy.
If it was a current model bike you might have to worry but for an old bike you have no worries.

[Zooks]

BTW - To answer the original question, The Cafe Kid was contemplating doing this and selling them, for a while there. I don't know if he ever did.

Do a search and you should find a thread about it.

[twiggy2cents]

no offense taken i was just stating what i thought. Side note how do the people on ebay get away with it? Not worth pursuing?

[Hammered]

Theres a few ways you can go about making the molds. If you have a piece youd like to reproduce, simply make a small box large enough to fit the part in. Place said part in and coat inside of box and part with a good amount of mold release. Mix and pour a poly mold mix and wait for it to set. Then you can make multiple parts using the new mold you made.

I know that was the simplified version of the process but thats the cut and dry of how its done.This link shows you some options for small parts.
And this one is more to what you want to do, just in text form.

A little different wording in Google will get some really cool projects.

[Zooks]

no offense taken i was just stating what i thought. Side note how do the people on ebay get away with it? Not worth pursuing?

I think because motorcycles have been so involved in racing for so long and race teams and suppliers replicate, copy, modify, sell, buy etc etc all the time, it would be hard for any manufactuer to claim 'patent' or 'copyright' on any fibreglass piece. Basically there are just too many copies / replicas and too many people doing it around the world to pursue it.

[TheCafeKid]

Still PLANNING on doing this, simply have too many other things going on now to take this on the front burner. With luck, here in a couple of months i should have a better idea of how much this is going to cost. I have parts out to the gent who will be pulling the moulds from them, but I havent given him the go ahead on it yet, simply because i dont have time to over see it. Patience fellas, and pretty soon I will have 'glass side covers and tails for quite a few GSs, and still looking for donars for pulling moulds from


I HAVE:

77-79 750B/C/E side covers and tail
80-82 750/1100E covers and tail
82/83 1100E covers (need a good, unmolested/broken tail)
83up 700?750 covers and tail, and front cowl
79-81 850G&possibly L covers and tail

These are just in my personal bike list and or parts stash...if anyone wants to volunteer a piece, let me know. Preferably one you dont need back with a quickness, and for loaning it to pull a mould we'll hook you up with a copy. But, like I said, give me a couple months to get this rolling full swing..

[Agemax]

i dont want to make a production line or make anything for profit, i want to make a one off for my bike.

i have bought an original plastic rear hugger off a gsxr1100 to fit on my bike. it will need some extensive mods to fit properly i think, so when i have chopped it around to fit properly i was hoping to make a "good" fibreglass version.
is it too much work just for a one off?

[Hammered]

Go through the second link I posted. Its time consuming, but worth every bit the effort. If using a mold isnt the way you want to go. try making a foam model like these guys did. You wont be going as large as they did, but same thing.

[Agemax]

it actually seems like a lot of work, and money. would i be able to use fibreglass to reshape/reinforce the original hugger? will the fibreglass stick ok to the plastic?

[Zooks]

it actually seems like a lot of work, and money. would i be able to use fibreglass to reshape/reinforce the original hugger? will the fibreglass stick ok to the plastic?

Yes it will. Sand the plastic first with some rough sandpaper. I'd use at least 80 grit (or even coarser) so it's nice and rough. The resin will bite into the roughened plastic very well. The solvent in the resin will actually react slightly with the plastic too and give extra strength to the bond.