The Restoration of The ITALIEN

November 15, 2006: (cont)

The only thing I knew about fiberglass was what you got from the little kit
that was used to patch a hole in an old canoe. You know, they came with a small patch
of fiberglass fabric, and small bottle of resin and a smaller bottle of hardener that was added to the resin.

I figgured I better do a little more research on the subject before I attempted
to make the nose trim so off to Google I went.

I found Fiber Glast Corporation
They have a lot of helpful information on their website for newbies like me
and they offer anything you need for fiberglass fabrication in small enough
quantities so you don't feel like you have to go into the fiberglass manufacturing
business.

I ordered the supplies that I learned from their website that I would need for my project.

I would have to build a mock up or "mule" as we call it in the fiberglass
business, of the nose trim.
For this I need a hood to work on. I just happened to have a couple
unrestorable 1961 hoods out back. I took one of them and cut off about
8" of the front of it and brought it into the shop.
I secured it to a couple saw horses with clamps to keep it steady
while I worked on it.
If you didn't know it, the "bird" on the hood of the Italien has
about a 6" wider wing span than the production cars.

From the pictures on the previous page, I could pinpoint very close
to the exact width by lining up the wingtips of the bird with the
vertical lines in the grill below, and the hood scoop above.

I left the production stainless nose trim and eyebrows in place on
the "mule" and I took a production Hood Bird and clipped it's wings.

I cut them off on both sides of the neck feathers.
I removed the
pegs from the back of the bird and adhered the pieces on the hood
with epoxy.
Then I perforated the "mule" with a bunch of holes in the
area that the nose trim would cover so that when I built up the "mule"
with body filler, it would ooze into the holes and be sure to stick
firmly to the hood section.
I built up the area between where I
spread the pieces with body filler, and using some 1/8" floor tile as a
thickness gauge, I filled between the wingtips and the eyebrows on
each side with body filler as well as down to the stainless trim.

Since the finished product is going to turn out exactly like the Mule
it is necessary to finish the Mule so it looks like the finished procuct
you want.
After I was satisfied that there were no major imperfections in the Mule
I sprayed 2 coats of High Build Primer on it and then sanded it out with
180 grit paper. That was followed by 2 more coats of HBP which
was followed by wet sanding with 600 grit paper.
Next I sprayed 2 coats of black acrylic enamel on the Mule so it would
have a nice smooth shiney surface.

Then I was ready to make the mold.
I had to fence off all around the Mule so the Resin wouldn't all run onto
the floor. I used cardboard and masking tape to build a "box" around
the trim area that I wanted to duplicate. When that was ready, I coated
the Mule with a couple coats of "Mold Release Agent" letting each coat dry
the prescribed amount of time. When dry, I spread over the release agent
a couple coats "White Gel Coat". After that was dry to the touch it is
ready to build up the resin and I spread about 1/32" thickness of Resin
inside the mold over the gel coat. The resin sets quickly and was followed
by another light coat of resin in which I embedded a layer of fiberglass
fabric.
Earlier I fabricated a metal plate with 3 studs welded into it that line
up with the holes in the hood where the Bird Emblem attaches. I perforated
this plate so the resin would hold it firmly in place inside the fiberglass
trim piece. I embedded into the next coat of Resin followed by another
layer of fiberglass fabric.

I purchased some threaded inserts used for woodworking with the barbs on them
to hold them in a piece of wood when they are tapped in. I cut off
the front strip on the underside of another junk hood that has the holes in
it where the screws attach the stainless hood nose and eyebrow trim.
I put one of thefastener inserts at each hole and inserted a screw
into it to hold it in place on the strip.
The strip fit perfectly inside the mold at the front edge and I poured
Resin in all around it. After The Resin set up, I removed the screws
and have perfectly placed fasteners to attach the new trim piece to the
front of The ITALIEN'S hood.
Now comes the hard part.
I had to let it set up over night before I could remove it from the mold
to see how it looked, and I was anxious.
It was a long night.
I had a little difficulty getting one end out of the mold and it
took a couple small chunks out of it. Nothing serious so a little
body filler was used to repair it.
Then I gave it a couple coats of primer and wet sanded it with 1200 grit
paper which is the finish the Chrome shop wanted.
The plastic insert for the neck feathers was easy as that area is the same
as the production birds so I simply cut the neck feathers from a
typical plastic insert.
For the wing insert I used a piece of clear plexiglas
I put a new blade in my table saw, lowered it way down so it only stuck up
about 1/32" and turned it at a 45 degree angle so just the points on the
edge of the plade stuck up.
I scored the back of the plexiglass numerous times advancing the piece
slightly each time to get the grooved back like the production pieces
Then I cut it to fit inside the Bird Frame, I had to heat the plexiglas
to bend it to fit, and then I mixed up some paint and painted the back side.

I all turned out pretty nice and since it was all a little different
than what I've usually done, the whole fabrication was a lot of fun.

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