Thread: Oh no not another Willys Gasser build, this time a Willys shop truck

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Had a good day today and got a fair bit more done, the rear that I had started was finished off & the topside of the fllor that meets the rockers finished up.









Next up was the rear panel joint to sort, a piece of flat wood was screwed to cover the joint and pull every thing flush and glassed in.











Next I turned my attention to the firewall, I found that the centre was bulging out slightly so this needed to be pulled back slightly, this had the added bonus of giving sufficient clearance for the dizzy to come out which saved me some work. A suitable prop was made in some scrap timberand screwed in place.









I glassed up 3 layers of matt on a piece of Melamine (this is great as it don't stick to it) as panels to cut to size.







The panels were cut to size and held in place with tape so the could be temporarily fixed in place with some bridging paste, then 3 more layers of matt will be applied to the inside to fully glass them in.












That's as far as I got.

Looking good, Steve. Thanks for posting. I'm thinking of making up a pair of flat hood side panels for the '33 one of these days, and your approach of forming on a piece of melamine is an easy way to do flat stuff.

Originally Posted by rspears

Looking good, Steve. Thanks for posting. I'm thinking of making up a pair of flat hood side panels for the '33 one of these days, and your approach of forming on a piece of melamine is an easy way to do flat stuff.

Its also great for making shapes etc etc, there are loads of tips & tricks with glassfibre, do you guys have Cellutex over there ?

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Originally Posted by roadster32

Its also great for making shapes etc etc, there are loads of tips & tricks with glassfibre, do you guys have Cellutex over there ?

I'm not familiar with Cullutex. When I Google Cellutex it comes up with plastic table covers?

Originally Posted by rspears

I'm not familiar with Cullutex. When I Google Cellutex it comes up with plastic table covers?

Sorry Roger bloody predictive text on my phone, it should of been Celotex, look here Celotex Insulation Board 25mmx1200x2.4m | Wickes.co.uk
Its good stuff because it can be sanded and cut to shape very easily and the resin doesn't melt it when you glass over it.

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Originally Posted by roadster32

Yes Ryan but one other thing to do is drill multiple 1/4" holes where you want to bond, it links both sides together.

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Yup,,good idea on the holes.. Whenever I do a glass over ply,,I aways sand the ply well,or with disc grinder,,and slop a good strong coat of resin on it,,and let it sit over night.. Then scratch it up well in the morning,and get a good key to the top surface.. After a while,,(years) I have found a bit of de lamination with polyester resin,to ply..
I have been using a product called''bendy ply'' (down here),,on the 32 chassis,for a form fitting floor,,available in varying thickness..The last sheet I used was 1/4'',,with three layers of 600CSM mat over the top,,and another three on the bottom.. Makes for a bulletproof floor,,about 1/2'' plus thick..If we do a simple GOP floor here in NZ,,we have to put steel inserts inside each hole we drill through the floor,,to satisfy our certification process..

Glad to see I'm not the only one to use melteca(melamine) sheets for laying up flat sheet stock..Usually got a bit of varying thicknesses in stock,for the little jobs that pop up..

Originally Posted by lamin8r

Yup,,good idea on the holes.. Whenever I do a glass over ply,,I aways sand the ply well,or with disc grinder,,and slop a good strong coat of resin on it,,and let it sit over night.. Then scratch it up well in the morning,and get a good key to the top surface.. After a while,,(years) I have found a bit of de lamination with polyester resin,to ply..
I have been using a product called''bendy ply'' (down here),,on the 32 chassis,for a form fitting floor,,available in varying thickness..The last sheet I used was 1/4'',,with three layers of 600CSM mat over the top,,and another three on the bottom.. Makes for a bulletproof floor,,about 1/2'' plus thick..If we do a simple GOP floor here in NZ,,we have to put steel inserts inside each hole we drill through the floor,,to satisfy our certification process..

Glad to see I'm not the only one to use melteca(melamine) sheets for laying up flat sheet stock..Usually got a bit of varying thicknesses in stock,for the little jobs that pop up..

Yeah I use bendy ply all the time, amazing stuff, I did the floor of my Coupe with bendy ply and with 3 layers on each side its like a 3/8" steel sheet !!!

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Originally Posted by roadster32

Yeah I use bendy ply all the time, amazing stuff, I did the floor of my Coupe with bendy ply and with 3 layers on each side its like a 3/8" steel sheet !!!

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I think I will be using the bendy ply more often now,Steve.. Seems a little more cost effective than a solid glass floor,,that I have used in smaller floors.. Darn stuff costs as much to ship it down from Auckland,,as the cost of the sheet.. The good thing is,,that it comes with about three packing sheets,to protect it,,so I will never run out of stuff for patterns..

Originally Posted by roadster32

Sorry Roger bloody predictive text on my phone, it should of been Celotex, look here Celotex Insulation Board 25mmx1200x2.4m | Wickes.co.uk
Its good stuff because it can be sanded and cut to shape very easily and the resin doesn't melt it when you glass over it.

Yes, we do have Celotex insulation board, but I'll honestly say that I never considered it for forming for glass. I've used florist's foam which comes in blocks of varying thickness which can be hot glued together and then very quickly sculpted but I can really see that Celotex could be a great tool for doing something like a console. I assume that one can hot glue it together, too, to give bulk for rounding over edges, etc?

I've also never seen the bendy ply you describe, but it appears to be available here, also tagged "flexiply" by some. Amazing stuff for making a curved wall, or for laying a floor atop the arched frame rails of a vintage car replica.

besides using the strofoam type things I have also used a lot of foam rubber that comes as packing material in all the Pro Charger blower kits----it is 2 or 3 inches thich, smooth on one side and kind of egg crate hill/valley?? on the other---------I use it oftin over transmissions, rear end housings or other objects where I want some clearance---put a piece like a blanket over the trans/etc, cover it with freezer wrapping paper and glass away----------allows a nice curved panel (trans hump)---I'll look for some to get a pic------

Steve, when you form a new piece on melamine or some other surface do you ever lay down a layer of gel coat first, or just go raw glass? I assume that the gel coat might provide a surface that's a bit more friendly to priming & paint? Just wondering, as I've never done the gel coat thing myself.

Originally Posted by rspears

Steve, when you form a new piece on melamine or some other surface do you ever lay down a layer of gel coat first, or just go raw glass? I assume that the gel coat might provide a surface that's a bit more friendly to priming & paint? Just wondering, as I've never done the gel coat thing myself.

Yes I usually put down a Gelcoat first but didn't have any left Roger, Its better with Gel

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Originally Posted by roadster32

Yes I usually put down a Gelcoat first but didn't have any left Roger, Its better with Gel.

It just sprays on like a heavy top coat and is allowed to dry before glassing atop it, right?

Originally Posted by rspears

It just sprays on like a heavy top coat and is allowed to dry before glassing atop it, right?

Usually just brush it on Roger, I've not sprayed it myself

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Originally Posted by roadster32

Usually just brush it on Roger, I've not sprayed it myself.

Even easier! Thanks! I'll have to order a can of gel coat before I jump into panel fabs.