Repair of some beat-up RS sideskirts! (NZWNRZ's skirts)

[S2inProgress]

I suppose this deserves a bit of a write-up. Glenn scored these skirts damaged/partially repaired. They came to him missing some mounting tabs and one side was cracked/plastic welded. I offered to repair them for free if I could use them to make a mold to make another set out of fiberglass/kevlar and he jumped on my offer and shipped them to me.

So the first order of business was to use one of the unharmed mounting tabs to create replacement tabs for the other skirts. So I masked the area off to make what I call a mini-mold of the tab


Then I applied my mold material to the tab(after a healthy coat of mold release of course)


Here is the mini-mold after it has cured


how it will create a nice replacement tab for the busted ones:


layed up some fiberglass and kevlar layers into the mini-mold and vacuum bagged overnight to cure (twice, for two replacement tabs)


the replacement tabs





how they fit




Now, to "mount" the tabs, I drilled a few 1/8" holes through the tab and skirt, then used a countersink on the "outsides" of them so that when epoxied, the epoxy would create a self-rivet effect so these CANNOT come back off. I truly think these tabs are not the strongest part of the skirt haha. I held them in place with a machine screw, then removed it and countersunk the whole and epoxied that as well.











The next order of business was to smooth out where I had the holes drilled to mount the tabs, as well as address the cracked/plastic-welded area on the one skirt. This ended up being a gigantic nightmare as whoever did the crack repair used an incorrect material that was MUCH softer than the ABS plastic of the skirt and caused serious issues for me with getting the bodylines correct when sanding the filler.





I didnt take too many more photo's of this process, because it was rather frustrating....but I had to prime it and guide-coat it multiple times to get it close enough to lay in high-build primer for finishing purposes.


finally got it close after probably 14hrs of sanding/filling/grinding out bad plastic weld/filling/sanding, repeat. Layed in high-build primer:



I have since guide-coated (mist dark rattle-can paint so when the dark color is gone you know you have a straight surface) the skirts....I have to give them a "block-down" which is using a special high density foam black with sticky-backed sand paper on it to get them perfect. then it's mold-makin' time and I can ship these back to glenn so he can have them painted on put on!

(I did a proof of concept mold of the foglight bezels, I am going to do a quick lay-up of these to see how a reproduction will come out before deciding if I am going to build the mold for the skirts this way)


That's all for now, I'll update with progress as I block out the skirts and mold them!

Oh yeah, I saved the mini-mold for the tabs......so if anyone needs to replace their tabs, I can make you some and you can use this writeup to repair yours. PM for details on that if need-be

[-Rudel-]

Put me in line for a set when you finish. You're doing a superb job there. Lookin' forward in the splitter construction.

[S2inProgress]

projects like this remind me of how much I hate picking up where someone else left off. for the most part, the skirts blocked out beautifully....except for where that dang plastic weld was done. Its VERY VERY CLOSE now, I just came in from laying another coat of high build primer on that portion of the skirt. should be able to block it out tomorrow and that ought to be the end of it. Should be able to mold sunday night, remove monday night, and then be able to send them back to Glenn.

[miragesmack]

I won't ever need any of this stuff, but just wanted to say "Impressive Work!"

[S2inProgress]

well guys, I got pictures from last night when I layed them up in primer sealer. All in all, I am VERY happy with the results. They came out great in my opinion. I just came in from setting up the mold, but the temperature has dropped back down.....this rollercoaster of weather is messing with my process haha...hoping it dries by tomorrow so I can pull Glenn's skirts out and ship them out.



hmm, didnt realize it was that cloudy out there when I took the picture....haha, I had JUST finished spraying.

here are some close-ups of that horrendous spot I was dealing with....finally straight and true!







the camera makes it seem like you can see right through the sealer...I did do a second coat after this pic....camera is dead otherwise I would have some shots of the mold....should be able to post pics of the mold tomorrow

[-Rudel-]

Looks really nice!

[NZWINRZ]

I have to agree, splendid work

[S2inProgress]

Well, long story short.....the mold failed. I learned a valuable lesson.....

I thought I had enough material to make the mold, and ran out halfway through.....ran out to buy more, and by the time I got back and started to finish it the initial pour had started to cure.....I figured it might be ok, but when I pulled the skirts today, it became apparent that the two different pours cured differently. I have to start all over on the mold.





you can see in the pictures how there was a gap and air pockets created by doing two pours. I have to bust out all of this original pour and do another one tomorrow.

[toshindo]

Wouldn't mind getting as set of these from you when you get them done. Great work so far from what I have seen. Really appreciate people like you who have the skill and know how to go the extra mile for projects like this.

[S2inProgress]

Busted out the old mold and started over.....this is looking MUCH better. should be able to pop them out tomorrow night....

[Zetecpwr]

I'll take a set as well! Great job on these by the way!

- Mike

[S2inProgress]

Started getting them pulled from the mold last night, but ran into a big spot that hadn't dried yet....hopefully tonight is the end of it haha. I've been waiting for these to be done to do a proof of concept with the fog light bezels....if I can rep those with the same process and they come out good I know these will be a snap to make.

[S2inProgress]

Ok, the mold is finally set and the skirts are pulled. I actually already have them packed up to drop of at fedex to send back to glenn tomorrow.



now, I have to do what's called "tooling" the mold.....basically I have to smooth and straighten the surface now to make up for any imperfections from the molding process. I think I have to buy some more fittings for my bagging setup to be able to vacuum bag something this size, but other than that I'm just about set to go for these!

[Zetecpwr]

Mike likes this.

- Mike

[NZWINRZ]

Installed to check the NEW tabs S2 made, good fit!

I drilled the SQUARE holes out to 10mm for the plastic push rivots in pic


Here's a look at the rivot installed on one oem mounts, second is the S2 fabrication..he did GOOD


Driver side...I'll most likely clean the rough edges before final paint




Passerger side