Making Fiberglass Body Panels Ep 1. Roof Mold 

I absolutely love your idea! I can't find the words to explain how cool this is!

Couple tips. Spray on tooling gelcoat first. Use a polyester resin for mold making and start with a couple layers of chopped strand mat over the gelcoat then a couple layers of cloth. The finish will come out far more rigid with a fairly glossy finish requiring a lot less work to get to a smooth mold quality. Plus you will be able to see any imperfections that need to be cleaned up. For releasing the mold from your plug try compressed air. It works great and is soooo satisfying to see the mold release with minimal effort.

First video I see where somebody respects a car for what it is, AN ENTITY, not the sum of his parts...Respect for you and your way of doing things

Love love love watching this process this is a very similar process I’m looking to be doing in upcoming times with my street car build, I’m 19 with hugeeee plans but this helped more than you know I’ll defiantly be staying in tune with this series, not like some of these other videos on here since 2002, cool guy with awesome plans best of luck, we will be watching!!

My search has been rewarded!! Thanks for the tips and being the guinea pig for us all!!

Super job bro. I really love the way you just narrate your video in real-time instead of a production afterwards. It really brings the reality of it all a lot closer to your audience, which I think is a good thing. Good stuff man.

Seeing that whole panel come off so nice was awesome. After watching this, I have much more confidence that I can make a fiberglass copy of my sunroof. Hopefully a few layers of plastic wrap will be enough to not ruin it with the epoxy

Just found your channel and instantly subbed, I'm surprised I've never seen anyone do this before. Great idea.

Thank you for loving beetles enough not to destroy them.

Greetings boy-o-boy was i excited to when you lifted that top off😊😮😊, great job 👍🏽

I could feel your excitement as it came off. Nice job.

Once you stiffen the roof. You can sand inside of mold and spray with high build primer. Then guide coat all inperfection out. Buff gray primmer smooth. Wax it and spray relief agent ob it. Then gell coat with fiberglass ovet it. Will have a perfect finish on outside of roof everytime! Use to make molds for large yacht parts. Good luck!

I had to re sub to your channel. Always loved what you are doing and sharing your journey with all of us. This is how creative car craft made the molds back in the day. I have alot of videos to catch up on. Thanks again for all the great videos. I have learned alot. It's amazing how r/c have come over the years. I waz a sponsored driver in the 90s for team associated. Take care my friend.

I love seeing people so things out of passion vs chasing profits.

Hey man Kevin here from Australia. Wow i think what your trying to achieve is amazing. You certainly have your work cut out for you on this one and im so excited to be coming along for the ride with you. I look forward to your next installment. As always stay safe and stay well. ✌ Peace man .

I have worked with FG for 3 years building boats and marine applications...what you did worked well 👏🏾 👍🏾 some tips I can recommend, is to get good coverage you first lay down the resin then you lay down the matt...also measure and precut smaller more manageable glass matt sections of different sizes and shapes according to the shape you are pulling a mould off of...and lastly overlaps you fray and pluck straight edges so it blends in better over lap joints and seams..always wet before laying down the matt between layers.

Great job I do fiberglass tub/shower repair and I’m wanting to make me a mold from a Ford model A coupe. I love them things for street rods. I’m so glad I found your videos!!!! Thanks so much Scott Stewart Cedar Grove Ga

I’ve worked on corvettes for years and have done lotsa fiberglass. We never used cloth. We always used mat. We rolled and brushed the resin in making sure all air bubbles were out of it. When making a boat they sprayed the mold with gelcoat then used chopper gun and roll out the air bubbles. There is a filler gelcoat that is like a primer that can be sprayed and sanded.

very cool concept Bob and yes there used to be a lot of Steel Bugs around but truthfully they are getting harder to come by i’m 56 years old and in the 1980s growing up in south Florida we could buy a running Bug in okay shape for a hundred bucks a group of my high school freinds went into a business welding Sand rails together and they would buy Beetles for the running gear they stripped the Beetles and had so many parts in their warehouse when they got a good pan they would put a big together with good body panels mix matched and so;d the Beetle with a title that needed a paint job for one thousand dollars and those guys were making good money they did build a shop car that was a metal Beetle they welded a square roll cage in it and we used to take that car out in the Everglades and see how many times we could get it to roll over strapped into gre drivers seat of course the roof wound up flat to the roll bar and that car was technically still tagged as a street car so one of us would drive it back to the shop we got the strangest looks at traffic lights but we didn’t care it was fun at one point they also took a VW hood upside down and welded a metal kitchen chair to it that we pulled with the bug like a sled the only safety device we had was a old football helmet and jumping off the chair before the contraption flipped with you on it believe or not only one of that gang is dead from natural causes 35 years later i joke with a bunch of them now for betting on me because i was one of the more nuttier of the group the last Beetle i bought personally i paid 200 dollars and a set of used car tires to a old coworker that drove that car off to college and back i bought it sight unseen when he returned and my best freind and i picked it up at night while he drove and i followed because we had no tags or insurance on the car at one point i asked my freind how was it running and he said its pretty weak but its running when we got it to his house we opened up the engine lid and saw 2 spark plugs dangling on their wires out of the motor the next day we found both plug holes were stripped so i heli coiled those and the car ran way better my little sister needed a car for college and my Dad asked if i knew of any cheap cars for sale i mentioned that i had just bought this pretty crappy old Bug that looked like it was painted with a broom and probably would need a engine overhaul amount other things so my Dad went to look at the car i did give it to my sister and for 113dollars i bought a Brazilian made overhaul kit that had 4 pistons the rings and a complete gasket kit all my VW buddies told me those were junk but my Dad and i pulled the motor and with nothing more than a cheap auto parts store drill hone and hand tools we rebuilt that motor it got my sister thru college and she gave it back to me running it was rusted so bad i pulled the engine and scrapped the body to my knowledge that motor is still going in a freind of a freinds Beetle 35 years later that Brazilian made kit looked rough but it obviously worked heck i would;d bet if you could manufacture complete fiberglass Classic Beetle bodies at a reasonable cost guys would buy them up

Well done! Years ago I worked for MFG, actual company name. They were know mostly for boats, but also made speed and water slides and also made concrete forms and some other products. I worked in the mold shop so am quite familiar with the process. We only did one project while I was there that used epoxy resin. It was classified but pretty cool. Mostly we used regular fiber glass resin that was activated with tinted peroxide with M.E.K. Our process was to do seven coats of wax then the mold release agent (also green). We then applied the gel coat (molds always got orange) once set, we would then apply 1-3 layers of light weight cloth. We had a chop gun that chopped the fiber glass strand (from a spool) and mixed in the resin and activator and sprayed it over the cloth. You could build up the chop pretty quickly but we didn't make it too thick as the thicker you made it the hotter it would flash off. We also placed the mold stiffeners with the chop. The chop had to be rolled to get all the air and gaps out. Our molds were meant for a high volume of parts so needed to be much stronger, and this is also why we used to apply the gel coat before the fiber glass. I've always wanted to do this with a car, maybe even design my own body and make it. Great video, if there is anything I can help you with, please feel free to pick my brain (what's left) happy to help. God bless, stay well.

yes please make the bug shell i love the bug shape on baja stance, that's so cool dude, can't wait the next one.

Baja’s are cool ! Pwwwwwwddddd dig the stinger sound!

Pretty cool turned out really nice...

Couldn’t stop watching. Very inspirational stuff!

Love the safety gear, a pair of shorts and a hairy chest😂

this really gave me the motivation to take some risks with my beetle project. it's not so much failure that keeps us back but the idea of it. either way we'll get it done.

You have to love that moment when you hear the "pop" and know the mold just released. Will keep following to see how you move ahead on this.

Dude...I love your videos...that is all.

Fantastic video. Love the rally rigs!

Wow yeah that went wonderfully! Loved the crackling sounds as it removed! I love how RU-vid recommends things, I’ve been thinking about doing this with the mini to make a trailer.

I used this for my motorcycle seat pan. I actually made a template out of duct tape and sat it exactly where my seatpan would go. Poured and layered the resin and fiber glass into the seat pan. It was pretty thick. But then i just sharpied center lines and cut lines for symmetry. Used a grinder to sand away the excess bits. Love fiberglass now!!!

youre my hero bro.. im actually planning on makig my own car.. my own design. using this method... was scared and worried, xcited and confused as to how i can pull it off.. watching your video made me realize the concept in my mind was about as right ...thanks brother

Good vid. I am just glad to see someone else uses the same PPE sanding that I use LOL

You should use a gel coat then glass on top of that. Would give you smoother outcome. Or I use a rondo mix. I use it on the sting ray molds I made.

I love your trailer

I emailed you about the design files for the frame, I love how it looks and you have the best design on the Internet. Your ideas about building and fabricating are amazing!

Very Motivational, I thinking of remaking my baja fenders.

This is cool I love Baja Bugs too just something cool about them.

How cool. I had a very similar idea for a different purpose. I thought about making a fiberglass mold of only the roof area, because I'd like to cut out a giant hole for a ragtop and roof entry or exit. And have the fiberglass top when I want a translucent ceiling

PVA is Polyvinyl Acetate or wood glue. Nice job on the mould making, I hate the smell of the resin and agree with you about the glass fibre...it's nasty!. Glad you have some respect for VW bugs and not wanting to chop up a good shell just for panels. Wratchet is looking so good right now...keep up the good work.

I just cover with Saran Wrap. Seems to work well for me! Love the video,

Wow Doug, You rock brother. I really enjoyed this video

you did an excellent job with this. . . thanks for sharing.

Great 👍 Tips and Job thank you for your Videos

Great video buddy, I've just done some fibreglass videos myself and know how tricky they are to make. Great job👍

Well I never got a notification for this so I'm a little late watching but I gotta say that was pretty cool how it sounded like ice cracking on a frozen pond I kept cringing thinking don't break came out really nice

I think you could just use some water soluble paint (like food coloring) in the PVA to make it more visible.

I love a good part pull. Nice job.

i GUess if you wanted a cosmetic cover you could just leave the release agent off and whilst applying more carefully, just leave in place. So a through coloured matt for the look or actual carbon fabric for example?

Amazing work! Some tips for viewers who embark on this their own, using body filler spreaders will save a lot of time vs a credit card, using different colored duct tape than white would help seeing the cut line better, and definitely be careful mixing too much epoxy, hyperthermic out of control reactions are gaseous and exciting!

Great video! You should wear a mask when working with epoxy. I know that noone does but that is not good to breath. Keep safe!

Wsup Doug I have a 2003 bug convertible that top was vandalized and has leaks. It's a good car but I'm not feeling the cloth top. I had a idea for a kinda home-made hard top kinda like a full targa. Any suggestions?

good job on the mold brother, I'm planning to duplicate my 20" high top fiberglass van roof, for a custom van. plan to not use the release agent.will use reynolds wrape foil and duck tape . 1st layer will be a lite fleece.streched over foil 2nd layer will be mat fiberglass around the cruved areas, want to use very little of that itchie crape.I like your reinforcing the mold bondo the outside reinforce inside w/ aluminum braces. main objective is to incorparate the rear section for a hidden household AC. what do you think?

I know that polyester fleece blankets work really well for making molds And parts. Cheap too. Use the same resin

Great video!

Very good job dug 👏

you are very good at naming the material you used

Cool video one question how come you didn't use gelcoat on the mold would make it easier to see imperfections, also would suggest a fiberglass roller tool to make it easier to remove bubbles and make it real smooth.

I grew up hearing about Baja Bugs and how iconic they were. Fast forward to a couple years ago, I owned a 2002 gas turbo beetle with a sad looking wing on the back. Super fun to drive and pretty fast however I ended up bursting the oil pan doing a tiny bit of "off-roading". Part after part I was in over my head if I wanted to fix it. Car number 2 was a 2004 Audi a6 Quattro bi-turbo that I raced and drifted out the wazzoo. Funny enough, I took that flying and crumpled the transmission pan as well as gouging all down the undercarriage. I've run across the opportunity to buy a 2006 beetle and I've been tempting the idea of a Baja New Beetle. I've looked at your videos for suspension and framing but now you have me thinking about weight reduction through fiberglass😂. I'd like to hear your thoughts on a 2006 Baja Bug and how far the build should go.

Wonder if you made one fiberglass and flex seal on top , might look good , flex and not bust.?

How about making a thin mold (like this one) for easy release and then laying it back on the "mother shape" after hardening to apply some thickness and strength to the mold for it to keep its shape? Easier to release a thinner mold. Lay down some reinforcement (foam tube/ garden hose/ shape-scaffold-for-strength) to strengthen the mold for it to keep its shape when using it as a form. Otherwise the mold would be a bit flimsy, maybe?

Plum Crazy Jeep nice !!! I have a 98 TJ, Deep Amethyst Pearl Purple Jeeps are cool

Yep.... fiberglass resin sticks to metal really well.... unless you want it to.

Oh, how I wanted to put a Wonderbug hood on my "65 Beetle Now I want one for my '08 Smart 💕 And I betcha they would sell like hotcakes

What cloth is work for binding wax? Like in construction iron bar is working to bind cement mixture.please reply for onward submission

plan to use this info to make a headliner for my 48 willys pickup. one question, can you use plastic sheeting as a release surface or will resin melt it?

What is the advantage in using a gel coat in the fiberglass mold? I've seen that using gel goat in the part made from the mold under vacuum often results in a perfect finish but I don't understand why anyone would use it in the mold itself. I have also seen a video of someone making a fiberglass mold without PVA and using solely gel coat. Can anyone describe the differences or different use cases? I have a frp rear bumper I'll be making in carbon from a fiberglass mold I'd like to make and want to do it right.

remember to spray gelcoat on mold after waxing etc let dry and then fibre glass it you will get a nice flat shiny finish cant wait to see it on ratchet nice job

Great video. Just FYI for next time... You can trim the excess off with a fresh utility knife if you cut it while the epoxy is curing/when it is still pliable. A lot less dust and fiberglass doing that way.

Thank you for changing your mind it is a bug not a buggy with bug front

Excelente tutorial esperaré el episodio 2

Sometimes blowing air up under the Fiberglass will help it release the suction

One trick is to blow compressed air underneath the part to help separate the mold/buck or mold/part.

you probably already know or have figured it out, but, an air nozzle with a quick blast of air does a real quick job of separating a mold from a plug

Very good idea. I also want to redesign my old maruti 800. I need some clay work also for modify the exterior look. May you help me with any suggestion ?

I always thought of first using autobody masking plastic, laying it on the car surface then fiberglass matting and reson. Because fiberglass will come off plastic like nothing.

Wouldn't saran wrap work as a peel-ply in this? Thinking about making a lightweight roof panel, and I'm scared to apply resin directly to the car... even with wax I've heard nightmare stories lol

1:35 respect for thinking this way! i feel kinda the same way i own a ford sierra not a cosworth and i don't want a cosworth because i want to modify mine with widebody and other stuff and i would not feel good about cutting up a cosworth when there are low end models to get. I would not feel right doing something like that when they are so rare. (not that i have money for a cosworth to begin with but that's another story)

GREAT, JOB THANKS!!!!

In the future , might try a air blower to release parts. Really easy

why not use chopped strand matt? its way easier to work.

I'd love a whole fiberglass body so I can mess with a body without hacking up a bug!!!!

Great work Brother! I'm looking to do a similar project, restore my hot rod and build a replica body for a race car. Dumb question, why build a mold? My plan was to build a 'mold' that will be the outer skin, then adding more layers underneath to stiffen the panel. Please use proper PPE. Stay safe!

Good work! Keep it up dude. When are you going to come over and hit the track?

Was cool watching it unstuck as you were trying to lift it

Baby Powder in the Epoxy will thicken it up so it won't run so bad. Has no effect to the resin. Looked to have some trouble on the edges with running

back in the day they used oil or lard or simply wiped Vaseline on it or pva was simply wiped on with a rag because it was thick back then

I need an interior hard back headliner backing for a 66 Charger?

Nice work brother

Thanks for saving steel bugs

Nice work Mike, or should i call you Bruce, that was cool when it popped free

Need to use tooling gelcoat as your first layer after your

Would using compressed air help release the mould, just small jets at a time. Just a thought.

Can I use this method to make a mold from real Mclaren? I want to try make a replica out of it but I don't want to ruin the paint job

doug bug do you think it needs more fiberglass to make it more stiff as a mold?

Very cool.

Thanks for this. Which seats are you using please? Do you have the weights? Many thanks. Ben

Sensational ,espectacular work 👍👏👏🙌🙌

Curious as to why you used epoxy instead of polyester and why you didn’t begin with gelcoat for that mold? Very cool video regardless, on to video 2.

Hi, amazing work on the bug, how much do you think you spent on materials to make it?