Okay, I know all hardcore traditionalists will flame me but I'm not rebuilding my Malibu to stock so I'm thinking about building the interior a little more modern. I've been playing around with the idea of trying to use foam and fiberglass to design something myself. Do any of you know what kind of foam that is used to carve out interiors?

i have a friend that does great work with fiber glass. i think he makes most patterns out of wood but i'll ask him and get back to ya.

john

If you want some console ideas check out www.classictruckconsoles.com... And yes they have them for cars as well

It's your car so make like you want, hardcore traditionalists be damned. Just about any building foam will work. I've shaped it with a hot knife. You can make one out of a large soldering gun. bend up your own electrodes to match the shape and have at it. You might try finding a fiberglass boatbuilding book at the library.

You can also use a electric knife,but not the one the wife uses,buy your own from a garage sale or buy a new one for in the house and take the old one.I use one all the time,and use a wood wrasp for contouring.

i have a friend that does great work with fiber glass. i think he makes most patterns out of wood but i'll ask him and get back to ya.

john


Ditto. I've never done it but have a friend who worked for Sony doing show cars for their exhibitions. He's done some wicked projects that've gotten written up in many magazines. He says one of the best things to use (and easy to work with) is "polar fleece" material like the shirts and pants that are so popular right now. He would go to the local Salvation Army store and pick up shirts for $1 and use them to model tweeter pods, gauge clusters, speaker boxes, etc. Just a thought!

He says one of the best things to use (and easy to work with) is "polar fleece" material like the shirts and pants that are so popular right now. He would go to the local Salvation Army store and pick up shirts for $1 and use them to model tweeter pods, gauge clusters, speaker boxes, etc. Just a thought!

Great idea on the thrift shop fleece. I'm looking at fiberglassing a custom trunk. My wife is there all the time looking for deals, now she has something worthwhile to buy :D

Definitely send us pics of how you do it and what the result is!

Another cool thing I saw was a guy that took the dash out of a late model camaro and put it in his chevelle. At first I thought it would look goofy but after he got it all trimmed out it actually looked pretty cool. Just a thought.

Good info, will post pics as I get them done. Thanks, Mike

You can also use a electric knife,but not the one the wife uses...

HAHAHA!!! I ain't done that yet but I have thought about it a time or two... :)

i talked to the friend that does alot of fiberglass work. he's used everything that happens to fit the job. including card board. half inch particle board. sorry if that's vauge. my guess would be getting the mold off of the material, ie a release material like vaseline?

this site may help

http://www.dixiemontecarlodepot.com/68-72malibu_subSections/s8.html

good luck john

I have used the Polar Fleece for shaping.. ..... Pretty simple.

Build the basic frame of your project. In my case I built speaker mounts. I used sheet rock screws and MDF for the frame... any wood would do.

Then stretch your fleece over the frame very tightly. Then apply your resin.

Once dry you can take your rasp and level any bumps. You can now sand,drill etc to your form as it is very sturdy. Once you have sanded the form you then can fil any low spots with body filler........sand like normal then paint........

Sounds pretty simple, which either means that it really is or that I'm going to be :confused: and :mad: before I'm :beers:

You can use the pink and blue sheets of foam insulation the sell at home depot. just glue them in layers untill you have the thickness you need. the foam is mainly used to make more complex shapes like spheres and curves. if youre doing a simple console, just make the frame out of wood, cover in most any cloth. the thicker the cloth, the more resin it sucks up. avoid cotton, sucks up too much resin for the thickness. fleece is great, also felt. if you are using foam to make a shape, be sure to cover the foam with masking tape or aluminium foil. fiberglass ressin melts most foams out there.

also, if youre doing somthing simple, it will be pretty straight foward. painting will require a hell of lot more time than if youre covering it. make templates out of cardboard and transfer over to 0.5-.75" mdf. use the foam to make things like the top of the console if you want a more smooth, round shape. unless you plan to put in a motorized mini bar in the console, it should be pretty straight foward.

No motorized mini-bars, but...:beers:

Good info, I'm gonna try that pretty quick. Thanks, Mike