Thread: 2002 Mitsubishi Magna VR-X - 15.4" ultrabright LCD, fabricating...

LED case fabrication started, 2mm alloy sheet measured and layout out. Cut using the ban saw. Buffed up the inner LED surfaces a bit to help with light. Going to practice my alloy tig welding a bit before I try and weld it together. Ive allowed for a 2mm gab all the way round for a rubber seal that ill source next week.

Took a few shots of the fan/temp controller and LED bars with the mounts that came with.

Few preliminary plans, going to purchase a Fusion Brain and attempt to wire it up to my climate control to give the carputer full hvac control. I will also try and wire up a photosensor to allow for automatic dimming of LED brightness. Thing slowing my upgrade atm is funds, im running dry, I dont want to load the credit card up to much.

Been playing around with the rally car of late, but im back onto this.

Molding process has began on the dash piece. Any questions about doing your own fiberglass molds dont hesitate to ask I enjoy helping people fabricate. Ive gone back to picture descriptions to give a better idea.

Once again the reason behind the mold is to get a clean copy of it which contains no 'space wasters'. No wood, no body filler, no cloth, no glues. Just a clean fiberglass copy leaving all the much needed mounting space behind.


Several coats of carnauba wax. Job is layed out on a piece of stainless steel, plasticine is stuffed into the side wall to give an extra wall to meet the plate. I cut the plasticine back smooth using a butter knife.


pva... polyvinyl alcohol.


Several mist coats sprayed at 100psi.


Gelcoat brushed on, two coats 20 minutes apart.


Resin over the gelcoat. I waited till gelcoat was tacky and i could poke and nothing came off, then i waited 5 more minutes after that to brush the resin. Was about 35 minute wait.


Matt came straight after, I got all layers on before the first cured, this is the correct way of doing it. I was on my own and had to rush the coats so no in between pics. About 6 layers of 8oz.


Waited 24 hours to fully cure. Poped the steel sheet off first.




The dash piece took a while, 2 hours of tapping, edging and gently hammering it finally came off. Need to still clean the plasticine off and pva but the surface that counts is flawless and has no imperfections. The mold was a success


The original piece on the other hand was damaged on the pop, simple repair job if I need it again.

LED casing squared up, consistently checked for true measurements. Outside to in to reduce warping, tungsten arc welding 2mm alloy is much harder then you think. Tested for holes by filling with water, no holes and looks pretty good imo. The rear pcd casing will have some sort of hinged system, have to still work that out. 3rd pic shows the rubber sealing that will go around the case edge. Will have to start planning the PC component casing soon.

again, as usual, Nice work. I really can't wait to see the finished product. For my project, I was thinking of doing a vacuum formed abs piece, but I'd have to make a VF table... Really, I'm waiting on the screen (cash flow issue) and then I can start on the fab.

you could use this mold for anything then, normal fg, black fg, even carbon fiber (or fibre as they say it where your from), or even thermoformed plastics... hmmm... Inspiration?

Hey BiGGy,

There is some awesome and impressive work going on here mate. Great stuff !!
In truth I probably understand very little of what you're up to, but I tell you what I'm glued to my seat watching.
If/when I tackle some fabrication, I know where my initial questions will be directed.

Cheers,

Long.1

Cheers Long. Ill help you with anything I know when you need it

Originally Posted by monkeyracer

again, as usual, Nice work. I really can't wait to see the finished product. For my project, I was thinking of doing a vacuum formed abs piece, but I'd have to make a VF table... Really, I'm waiting on the screen (cash flow issue) and then I can start on the fab.

you could use this mold for anything then, normal fg, black fg, even carbon fiber (or fibre as they say it where your from), or even thermoformed plastics... hmmm... Inspiration?

You can get coloured gelcoat or pigment colouring for fiberglassing but its a much more time and money getting this than just picking a coloured enamel at the local hardware shop. Gelcoat is designed to be painted over if needed, it acts as a protective primer. If I wanted it, carbon fiber can be used in place of the gelcoat as the first layer, but with carbon fiber epoxy resin must be used and you will have to vac bag it to get a good result, not to mention how hard to get and expensive carbon fiber is in Aus right now. Im not a fan of the carbon fiber look.

I was thinking of casting this from abs, but gelcoat will not hold up to acetone for the sludge and im not sure on the heating way. I would have had to mold it out of silicon or casting plaster to do this. Im not a casting professional and ive only done fiberglass molds so I dont want to run in the dark here. I chose to do something I know well. There is no real benefit of a plastic dash over fglass other then claiming it to be a factory replacement. I also want to change the colour theme inside my car to a deep red. Paint will stick to gelcoat much better then plastic and gelcoat/fiberglass will last just as long as abs. Thanks for your input though, you got my thinking about it again

wow biggie, good stuff man, pretty cool fiberglass mold too, can't wait to see it fired up, now THAT'S a center console screen

Nothing like getting the all clear from the narrow ultra bright guru himself Thanks Turbs.

I was thinking about abs sludge and realised that this PVA realease agent is water based and can withstand acetone with ease. This bezel could actually be made from ABS if I wanted it.

pulled the piece this weekend. My weeks are getting busier and busier, allot going on atm and to top it off my house got sold yesterday so im moving over the next 4 weeks, bit of a clutter atm and explains the slow progress on this. When I settle down in the new house im going to smash this whole project in like two weekends and get it over with. 40 days without a carputer, withdrawals are coming I can feel it.


waxed 5 times.


20 coats of pva, experimenting a bit there. Masked off the rough stuff to stop anything catching. Also masked off the edging of the screen.


Gelcoat brushed on, just one coat, bit of black pigment added to give a gray tinge.


To give an idea of mixing resins for the newbies. Thats 4mg of catalyst in a 6mg syringe to give a 2% mixture in 200grams of resin at 25 degrees. Dont guess catalyst amounts. Waited 30 minutes after gelcoat for a layer of resin.


Broke up some mat and shoved it in.


wet out, wanted to keep it light for the mold, going to add more after the pop.


The excess PVA paid off. I poped this in 5 minutes using only my bare hands.


Trimmed.



Compared to the original, same front, very clean rear.


Once again a perfect fit.

Still to do in the dash: double up the fiberglass for more strength, cut the double DIN out, file the edging, glass mount clips, prime, paint, done.

with abs, I was thinking more vacuum thermoforming a sheet into this mold... Drill tiny holes all through the mold, place on vacuum table, heat abs evenly until pliable, place over mold while vacuum is on, wait to cool. Done. A lot easier than trying to melt all those shavings with acetone, and waiting a few days for it to completely cure.

Also, loving the progress that's being made here, it's truly an insipration. Can't wait to see it finished.

One or two other questions:
When you were stuffing the glass in the mold, during wet out did you use a fancy schmancy tool, or just a gloved hand? And when looking for Gelcoat, what would be somethings to look for?