Vehicle & Technical > Discovery

New project (light Pod)

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lee celtic:
Hi All

After finishing my roof rack build I fancied doing something else to the truck that I would be able to build myself ..

I’ve always liked the look of these.



However I don’t like the price !!!

I had four spare ring spots off the old roof bar so all I needed was the pod itself.

So I decided to have a go at making one from fibre glass…

I did some research ont tinterweb and watched a few vids on youtube , then made a start…

The plan in short is to make a plug that a mould can be made from then use the mould to produce finished pods from…

The Plug
First I got a piece of old 6mm ply and drew around the lights to make sure I had enough of a rim around them I put two pieces of ply together then cut the shape out.
Two are needed because I then cut the top half off the back one and put blocks between them to allow for the depth of the lights .then I added another piece shaped to fit flat on the front of the bonnet just deep enough to reach the crease line on the bonnet but not foul the checker plate I will be fitting later.
All of these were then braced and stapled together at the right angle (did it on the car) so the lights will be vertical.

 


Next I put a few bits of scrap timber onto the base of the ply and stapled some old fabric over the frame to minimise how much filling I would need.

 

The filler for the plug is white universal plaster from B&Q (cheap)
I mixed a bit to cover the fabric , it was put on in a thin coat and ruffed up to make the next lot bind with it.



The next stage was to bring the plaster up to finished height then use a straight edge to scrape the spare plaster off the frame then it was left to set for a week.



After the top had set the next stage was to fill the bottom of the plug in the same way the curve on the bonnet was copied with a cardboard template and transferred to the plug and a sheet of cling film was used to smooth it all out .



After this had set the whole thing was sanded smooth and given a coat of resin to seal the plaster .




the Next stage involved putting a thin layer of body filler over the whole thing and sanding for days (boring) until it was smooth , remember that the finished pod will have a better finish if the plug is smooth…

It was then given a few coats of black gloss the t cut . This is as far as I have got to date as the weather is a bit too cold for fibre glass but that will come soon .

Hopefully the finished pod will look as good…






Please remember this is the first time I have done anything like this and I am not a professional so and advise greatly received …

I have ordered the pva to coat the plug and the gel coat so it should move quite quickly when the arrive I am now flanging the plug ready and will post more pictures when I have them.

bobtailed disco:
That's looking good m8 There is no end to your talents lol  :lol:

I have tried fibre glass a couple of times and i can never got a good finish  :'(

Rob

mikiep1986:
 hey lee was just wondering read through that and noticed u said u might be making more pods form the plug ? how much would you charge for finished pod unpainted or primed etc

 cheers mike

muddymud:

--- Quote from: mikiep1986 on January 11, 2009, 17:02:53 --- hey lee was just wondering read through that and noticed u said u might be making more pods form the plug ? how much would you charge for finished pod unpainted or primed etc

 cheers mike

--- End quote ---

count me in to!!

lee celtic:
To be honest guys I don't know  :-k

I was planing to do mine and see how much of a job it is and mainly if it works [-o<

then if all goes well I may knock a few out for ebay . They will be black gel coat (black gloss) comming out of the mould (hopefully) .

So they will not need painting or hopefully sanding . And there will be a 1" lip all round to bolt it to the bonet. again if it works ..

so far I have used up all the left overs in the garage and bought very little . (paint , plaster, resin , wet n dry and plasterzine) total so far £16.

just waiting for the PVA and gel coat to move to the next stage. :dance:

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