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I love all these three wheelers

Morgan three wheeler nose cone / grill shell
I was working on building the nose cone / grill shell today. I had limited cutting and sanding supplies, but you know how it goes,"Adapt and Overcome". I hot glued the styro together, Roughed it out with a saws all. Shaped it with a wire wheel, and a side grinder....lol. Hopefully the I will be able to get some sanding supplies tomorrow to shape it up better. I have decided to favor to new morgan three wheeler grill style. I make some mock ups of four different grills (BRA, Ace, Jag, and triking) before I decided.

Spike

Drywall sanding screen works really well for smoothing the foam without clogging. Wrap around a thin flexible piece of foam or just take one end in each hand and drag around the corners to smooth.

Use plaster of paris rather than slow drying drywall compound to isolate the polyester resin from the foam during the layup. Vet syringes are cheap/free and allow very precise (minimal) amounts of mek to resin in paint mixing cups so you can maximize working time. Layup the glass layers then dab the resin in with a paint brush until clear to use minimal resin.

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Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

I was wondering if the PAP would work, Much easier to work with, vs thin coats of bondo. But I am also wondering, if I would be better just wrapping the styrofoam with fiberglass layer, finishing and painting as a finished product, Or weather it would be better to make a mold from it, so it can also be used to make more?

Spike

Here is what I did:
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=3993
I prefer a mold. Much lighter final part.

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Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

Making on a buck doesn't have to be heavier. I made a cheap buck and successfully used polyester resin over foam and then popped the glass off.

https://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewto ... &start=575

Of course, unlike making a mold, if you ever needed a 2nd piece it would take just as long.

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Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

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That is why I decided to make a mold, I think I want a Beetleback version next.
Spike

I took you advice, but what did you use as a release for the mold, over the plaster?

Morgan 3 wheeler nose cone plug coming along
The nose cone plug coming along nicely. Shaped the styrofoam was some 80 grit, then I applied a thin layer of bondo over it, to give it some strength. Hit the high spot off the bondo, and started setting up layers of Plaster of Paris. First time trying this, It is working great! Still plenty to do....

Spike

Looking good!
I used PVA (poly vinyl alcohol) mold release. It is a one-part brush-on coating and easier and faster to use than most options. You can find it at a marine supply store. I’ve bought remnant glass from boat builders by the pound and the pieces are plenty big for just about anything. Chuck’s shellac looks promising and you could also try a thick coat of wax. Leave yourself plenty of overhang to aid removal and ensure you are wedging between the buck and mold rather than between layers of glass in the mold.

It looks like a single piece mold will be difficult to separate due to the depth of your buck. You can tape on temp dividers at the deepest radius areas like around the front edge, lay up glass on one side of the divider and let it cure, pull the divider, wax the glass where the divider was, then lay up the other side. Then you will have a two piece mold that clamps together for layups and helps removal. If you look at raw fiberglass bodies, you can see the parting line between mold parts. These lines are usually at the deepest radius on the body and normally require some work to smooth but not a big deal at that point.

A female mold takes longer than just using a buck but it saves time since the outer surface is smooth coming out of the mold. It has to be made smooth using just a buck and it has to be built up so smoothing does not cut into the weave. The filling and smoothing adds weight and labor.

For the build up, for adequate stiffness and strength to resist surface flex cracking in the finished part, the innermost layer should be heavy mat with at least two layers of weave layered at 45 degrees to each other.
I’d rotate the buck so gravity helps the glass stay where you want it as it cures. It will slowly drop out of the corners after you think it is cured enough to stay put.

Have some cheap scissors to ruin with resin and throw away paint mixing cups, stir sticks, and a box of latex gloves. No need to get resin on you at all. Have a gallon of acetone to aid cleanup. The metal roller that Rumbles shows on his page is handy but not absolutely necessary. It can be a pain to keep the curing resin off of it.
The bigger the pot of resin, the less time you have to work before it goes off. Use exactly the minimum amount of mek for the exact amount of resin.

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Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

I'm going to go with the wax, availability is limited right now.

Morgan three wheeler grill shell almost ready for casting
Three wheeler grill shell is ready for final prep before making the mold. This has been a new learning experience. But I am enjoying it. Added for the recess, applied final coat of plaster of paris. Needs final sanding, and secured to the mold base.

Spike

Started casting the grill shell mold
After priming and painting, I was taping the edges, and noticed an air pocket behind the plaster. So I decided to tape the entire plug. Next I taped the plug to the plastic. and hot glued the divider into place. Followed with four coats of paste wax, as a release agent. Next I applied four layers of fiberglass. It's a little ugly to me, kind of reminds me of my old Kevlar helmet. But I'm happy with it being my first mold...

Spike

Looks great! Probably didn’t need the weave on the outside for the mold.

If you want to stiffen/strengthen a large flexible mold so it isn't glassed with a twist in the mold, glass thin strips of wood to the back side as ribs. I doubt you need that for this small of a mold.

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Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

Supplies/availability are a little limited right now,I got every pack of fiberglass, regardless of type....

Spike

Finished the grill shell mold
Got my mold finished and produced my first grill shell. It was not the best, but I can fix it. And if not, I can make another one...

Spike

Very impressive! Nice work
Regards,
Eric

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MGiata current build here: https://www.mgexp.com/forum/mga-forum.2 ... n.3898051/