Ron Pope Motorsports                California Custom Roadsters               

The Yeti's 27 T Build

20210117-151730.jpg The black lined area is where yo will add you pre-made fiberglass. Place it under the body & between the braces. Screw it in through the top of the body. Then seal off the area ( so the resin will NOT leak through ) underneath with duct tape. The resin will NOT stick to the duct tape , you can remove the duct tape you fiber glassing job sets up.
 
Don't forget to do one layer of mat at a time. With resin in between each layer, okay ? When you load your gap up with dry mat ( to determine how much mat the gap will require ) . Take the mat out of the gap ( DO NOT try to glass all the layers of mat together ( they have to be done one at a time ). The resin may not completely penetrate several layers of mat. Once you have determined how many layers of dry mat is needed ( say for example , it takes 4 layers of dry mat to come up level with the body's outer surface ) Add an extra layer of dry mat because the mat will compress as it is being resined.
 
I think a good place to first start squaring this up would be the firewall. Make a template of either half and flip the template over for the other side so the final piece is symmetrical.
firewall.jpg
It may not be feasible, but having the body fit a windshield frame now would be advantageous. So you don't have to fudge a bunch of stuff later.
 
I agree with Choppinczech. You also need to screw your floor to the wood that runs under the plywood & along the outer edge of the floor. Make sure the lower pieces of wood are also screwed to the body. This will help keep the entire body together when you flip the body upside down to finish glassing in your premade fiberglass pieces. My instructions are based on what i see in your photo.
 
I agree with Choppinczech. You also need to screw your floor to the wood that runs under the plywood & along the outer edge of the floor. Make sure the lower pieces of wood are also screwed to the body. This will help keep the entire body together when you flip the body upside down to finish glassing in your premade fiberglass pieces. My instructions are based on what i see in your photo.

Everything wood will be permanently screwed together. Anywhere the wood gets glassed to the body has temporary holes in the body with screws holding it in place until it gets glassed. Those holes will get filled in later.

I will most likely paint the body a shade of white. That tends to hide body imperfections.
 
Keep you cuts ( gap ) evenly spaced. If you plan to widen the body ( say 5"s for example ) Make sure your gaps are exactly 5"s also. How much did you widen the body & how much did you lengthen the body ??

Widened 5" and stretched 6". Originally planned to widen 6" but wanted to leave room between tire and body
 
So after I install the seatback and firewall, I'm going to run a 2x4 top rail and a few 2x4 uprights to strengthen the sides of the body.
20210118-182238.jpg


I'm not worried about added weight. I need it to be strong. I searched for months on how to wood a 27 but found few results. So I'm adapting the methods used on the 23 the best I can.
 
I used unistrut to reinforce my body. It will not warp, rot, etc. I fit it and welded it and encased it in glass and fastened it. It is also attached to the body mounts so it is bolted to the frame. I do not have any areas where anything is mounted through just wood or glass, it has steel laminated into the floor, etc. I reinforced the rockers to stiffen the tub and allow both doors to operate as well as tie the front cowl section to the seat riser/door jamb support together. I did the cowl area including the door posts so that the windshield posts and doors are securely mounted and will not flex or crack the fiberglass. The rear section under the seat and the seat riser, as well as the rear door post areas are also reinforced with it. I was pleased with how strong it came out.. you can shake the car at any of the typical weak points without flexing anything. I strongly second the suggestion of bracing everything. Strange things happen as the glass dries. Just giving some food for thought.
 
I used unistrut to reinforce my body. It will not warp, rot, etc. I fit it and welded it and encased it in glass and fastened it. It is also attached to the body mounts so it is bolted to the frame. I do not have any areas where anything is mounted through just wood or glass, it has steel laminated into the floor, etc. I reinforced the rockers to stiffen the tub and allow both doors to operate as well as tie the front cowl section to the seat riser/door jamb support together. I did the cowl area including the door posts so that the windshield posts and doors are securely mounted and will not flex or crack the fiberglass. The rear section under the seat and the seat riser, as well as the rear door post areas are also reinforced with it. I was pleased with how strong it came out.. you can shake the car at any of the typical weak points without flexing anything. I strongly second the suggestion of bracing everything. Strange things happen as the glass dries. Just giving some food for thought.

Thats a good idea. My buddy wanted to do steel in the body rather than wood but I was stubborn and wanted to stay traditional.
 
Do you have the doors & the firewall ?

The old doors were cut all kinds of crooked and were warped from having stuff piled on top.

I do have the old firewall but I figured making a new would be easier than trying to
stretch the old one.
 
Looks like we'll make another panel. You'll need a flat smooth surface large enough to accommodate a firewall sized panel. This time you"ll lay up 8 layers of 2oz. mat. Most manufacturers made their fiberglass bodies with POLYESTER RESIN & fiberglass mat. If you have a tap plastics inc. close by , use them to buy your fiberglass mat. The fiberglass is very cheap .Home depot had a better price on polyester resin. You'll need an aluminum roller ( about 4 inches wide ) , latex gloves, tongue depressors ( for mixing your resin ) mixing cups & acetone ( for cleaning your aluminum roller ). You can also buy the latex gloves from tap plastics inc. or harbor freight tools. You can buy most of the stuff at tap plastics inc. You want tp buy your resin from someone else. When you see the price of their resin , you'll know what i'm talking about. CAUTION : do your glassing in a well ventilated area. In California , a gallon of polyester resin is approximately $50.00 ( home depot price ). Tap plastics inc. is from $60.00 to $70.00. Okay well , let's get this party started.
 
20210118-182238.jpg The top horizontal 2x4 tucks under the dashboard. The top of the 2x4 is the future top edge of the body. Get some 1/16" thick plastic ( can be cut with a pair of scissors ). The plastic should be cut in 3" wide strips. Measure from top of door edge to bottom of door edge. This measurement will be the length of your 3" wide strips. You'll need 2 strips. Make the fiberglass panel ( using 2 layers of 1 1/2 oz. fiberglass mat ) large enough to fill the door gap ( 2''s longer than the door gap ). The fiberglass panel will be trimmed to fit. Also make the panel 2"s taller then the door gap ) also to be trimmed to fit. Use a piece of cardboard to get the contour of the body at the door gap. Make the cardboard protrude past the body's outer surface. using a sharpie hold the sharpie against the outer body edge while you draw a line on the cardboard. Now you have a template ( pattern) to be transferred to your future vertical 2x4 ribs. Test fit the cardboard template's to fit both your front & rear door openings. If it fits the 2 different areas , then you can use your template for both of the vertical 2x4 ribs. Attach the 2 vertical to the underside of your horizontal 2x4 . I don't know where you would attach the bottom of the vertical ribs , that area is hidden by your floor .When your fiberglass panel is set up , tape it in place. Now on the inside of the body use a sharpie & draw a line at both door opening gaps. Wax one side of your 3" strips ( about 3 coats ) . Wipe off each coat before applying the next coat ( that will make 3 coats & 3 wipes ) . Attach your 2 3" strips to the outer edge of your fiberglass panel ( with short screws ). Make you plastic strip overlap your panel by 1 1/2"s . Scour the side of your panel that was against the wax ( when you were laying it up ) All the wax residue has to be removed .Tape your fiberglass panel back in place. Now screw the 3" plastic strip overlap to your body. Now cut 6 3' wide strips of 2oz. fiberglass. Cut them to fit the entire length of the crack between the fiberglass panel & the the door opening's edge. Now cut out 12 more 3" wide strips to glass in the 2 vertical ribs to the inside of your fiberglass panel. Now for your bare horizontal 2x4. Lay some duct tape along the top of the horizontal 2x4 ( One layer only ). Remember the excess fiberglass you trimmed away from you fiberglass panel ? One of the strips will be used to make the top lip which your body already has at each end of your door openings. This will continue that lip across the horizontal 2x4. At this stage of completion , your fiberglass panels will be too thin. Measure the space between your back door opening edge to the first vertical rib ( cut out 2 2oz. pieces of fiberglass mat to fit in this area ).Now measure the space between rib # 1 & rib # 2 ( cut out 2 2oz. pieces of fiberglass mat to fir in this area ). Now measure the space between rib # 2 & the front door opening edge ( cut out 2 2oz. pieces of fiberglass mat to fit in this area. Glass all of these fiberglass mat pieces into place. YOU ARE FINISHED !!
 
Thanks for all the input DonnyRay.

I'm at a stand still on fiberglass work for the next few months. It's winter time here in WV and my house garage isn't heated.

I do need to get back to wooding the body further.
 
The first 5 years of my life , i lived in Oklahoma & Arkansas. I experienced snow storms , hail storms , thunder storms & tornados. As a GI in Texas & Germany i experienced heavy rainfall & heavy snow fall. Texas was also hot & humid. Don't forget , California is known for it's earthquakes & forest fires. I am a well seasoned old man.
 

     Ron Pope Motorsports                Advertise with Us!     
Back
Top