1986 toyota 1 ton 4x4 build

rruff

Explorer
Most of mine is 17oz 1700 (45/45 biax), 10oz (0/90) (both of those are stitched not woven, bought from FiberglassSupply) and a 6oz very tight normal weave, that gives it a smooth finish. I don't recommend the 6oz though since it's a horrendous bubble trap. I recently bought some of this from ThayerCraft and like it much better: https://thayercraft.com/volan-finish.html. It hates compound curves though, even more than the 6oz I used, so keep that in mind. I bought 11oz carbon from FiberglassSupply also... plus tape from both, for corners and edges. Both companies have good prices; Thayer is best really but they only sell stitched cloth in huge quantities. Good selection and prices on normal weave, though.

The reason I used stitched FG was so that I could easily balance the direction to get more isotropic strength and stiffness. It's also a little stronger and stiffer for the weight. I did the floor/base in carbon (4x 11oz each side), and had originally intended to balance it by angling half the layers 45 deg, but quickly realized that would be a **********... plus I'd need to buy more cloth, so I just did it the normal way. It does make the layup weaker and less stiff on the diagonal, but... hey, it's a box and I don't know that it matters much. Bottom line is, you can use normal cloth and not angle them and it will be fine... I think.

I used that amount of cloth because it stood up well when I whacked it with a small sledge hammer. Weighs ~.5 lb/ft^2 on each side, and the foam weighs about the same.

You are going to have ridges at any overlap of cloth. Usually 50" is as wide as they go, so any panel larger than that will have ridges. The 1700 being the thickest, leaves ~.5 mm ridge, which doesn't seem like much but sure is noticeable! You can pretty much make them disappear by fairing with microballons mixed with epoxy.

I use Ebond epoxy. 1285 part A resin, and 1289 part B (slow) hardener. Seems to work fine, and it's inexpensive. They just raised prices to $36/gal and shipping works out to ~$13/gal from FL to NM, so <$50/gal total. You have to call them... ask for Barry.
 
Thanks for all the info! The overlaps are definitely something to consider.

I'm stoked to get started on the actual box! The truck is 1 solid day of finish touches from being a driver again, and then on to fiberglass work.
 
We have foam! 16 sheets of 1.5" 4lb pvc foam. Carbon core was awesome, showed up in under 3 weeks.

Im still waiting on epoxy and clothe. I ended up going through raka rather than fiberglass supply. I talked to them on the phone, their shipping was faster and cheaper, and overall the guys there seemed really nice.
 

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rruff

Explorer
I didn't even check Raka for cloth... they have a good selection. What are you getting for cloth and epoxy?
 
I ordered 40 yards of 50" 1700 biaxial, and 75 yards 1200 biaxial 6" tape to start off. I really have no idea what im doing, other than what ive read here and on some boat building forums. I know i'll figure it out, but its gonna be a learning curve.

I tried the ebond epoxy as well, solely for the price point.
 

rruff

Explorer
1700 is good stuff! At a minimum I think you'll want a tight weave layer on top of that. Makes finishing much easier. And you'll want to use at least as much cloth on the edges as elsewhere. If you have more than one layer, make sure the overlap locations aren't on top of each other!

I had 3 layers (1700, 10oz 0/90 knit, and 6oz tight) and always did them all in one session. That isn't one batch of epoxy BTW, but several. Sometimes it was a bit frantic on a big panel! Especially because the final layer was a bad bubble trap... spent a lot of time getting those bubbles out. If it's warm and what you've already laid starts to heat up it's best to wait.

Some tips: Get a scale to weigh the epoxy... much more precise... plus you can reuse the buckets forever because you don't need to completely empty and clean them. The Ebond I used, part B was .43 the weight of part A (lower density!). For instance if you estimate you need 8lbs of epoxy, divide 8 by 1.43... that's part A. Then multiply that result by .43 for part B. Have a cheap calculator handy.

What else... use the yellow/orange squeegees, plus get a good large diameter aluminum bubble roller. Have plenty of acetone on hand to clean them! Make some samples until you are happy with your technique. Ask questions! Good luck!
 
Are you glassing the inside too?

My planned order of operations are as follows, tell me if im way off.

1 - cut all sides/floor/overhang pieces
2 - epoxy each side/section together with the tape
3 - epoxy the whole damn thing together, with more tape
4 - finally cover the whole camper in the 1700, allowing the ends to "fold over" onto an adjacent side for extra strength

Am i better off making all the panels flat, and covering with 1700 THEN taping together? The first method appears stronger in my head.

I was intending on making an internal reinforcing structure out of wood to support the box while it is being assembled/glassed.
 

rruff

Explorer
Yep, both sides are glassed. I did pieces laid flat then joined them at the edges. It isn't hard to make the joint strong... fill and radius the gap with fumed silica+epoxy paste, and use layers of tape... it's an overlap like all the others.

If you glass the inner wall of the pieces first (both sides of the floor), then attach them to an internal wood structure, that might work fine... better in some ways. I had to build some wooden forms for the cabover part and the roof because they had curved surfaces, but they were pretty simple. The reason I shied away from what you propose is because of low clearance in the garage, and the difficulty of doing the roof and vertical walls (glassing and sanding). Flat surfaces are relatively easy... but the bad part is needing to store panels and move them around. My wife suddenly disappeared last Nov and it's been challenging to find someone to help me move a panel or flip it over. I'll be joining them together pretty soon, though...
 
Well, i got slowed down for a few weeks...lymes disease is no joke!

Yesterday i finally laid up my first few pieces! Epoxied and taped. Very happy with how this stuff cuts and sands. In the second picture the box is sitting backwards on the truck frame. 20210721_081325.jpg20210721_130800.jpg
 
So i've made some progress, and layed a little glass on the exterior. Im waiting on more epoxy currently. E-bond told me 3-6 weekz on the 15 gallons i ordered...but i recieved a shipped notification today, claiming delivery by friday, fingers crossed!

Im going to make a day of the next session, and get down as much as possible so i dont have to sand between coats.

Before i do the walls, ill be cutting holes for windows, likely 2 per side. Im considering a 3rd on the passanger side in front of the kitchen sink. My budget is running thin, so i might skip some of the luxuries for now, and add them another year. 20210810_103054.jpg
 

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