Hardcore - Fiberglass repair -Extreme

I have an AAR Hood that was launched do the hood pins being left out.

I figured I would fix it for the fun of the effort and well.... I'm too cheap/Broke to buy another one.

The Hinge mount area of the hood are MIA and the current structure partially de-laminated from the outer surface.

I have a TA hood and was going to use it to mold patch panels to replace the missing hinge areas. Since the Hood is fairly messed up underneath I figured on putting a metal structure inside the existing ribs for more support and possibly injecting a filler agent between the layers for anti rattle/strength.

I may be wasting my time but it will be a learning experience, good or bad.

My plan for making the mold was to cover the underside of the T?A hood with release agent, then some thin plastic and more release agent. Basically to prevent the fiberglass from seeping into the pores of the T/A hood since the underside is pretty rough from the factory.
I will then size and trim as needed to make the patch "fit".

Then I will attempt to build a structure to slide into the hood's existing ribs to add strength. After getting it all back together I'll inject a filler into the hood. ribs and stiffen it up and bond it to the structure.. This will be done mounted to a car so that I can make sure the hood is perfectly aligned.

So may questions are as follows.
1. What type of release agent and will Saran wrap work as the thin plastic to help make the mold?
2. What type of bonding agent should I use to "Glue"the de-laminated outer skin to the inner patch and existing inner structure?
3, Any ideas on a good filler to inject between the hood and structure? It probably shouldn't expand much if at all. I don't want to separate more of the hoods layers or bend the hood from expansion. Also it would need to take several hundred degrees of heat since it is in the engine compartment.

Any ideas or suggestions?

I'd find a marine repair shop that works on fiberglass hulls and take it by to ask a few questions. They are constantly repairing and reinforcing transoms and fixing collision damage on fiberglass hulls. They could tell you what works.

As far as the glue goes I'd use panel bond adhesive or the glue they glue vette's together with.

'Bondo'

Its gonna be a tedious job but but worth the effort

First you must clean al areas to be repaired to remove the dead resin from the surfaces ( resin is not UV friendly and shrinks(evaporates) over time)
Yes you can use plastic wrap to seal off surfaces but it will be difficult to prevent wrinkles. If the underside of the TA hood is painted you should be able to get away with mold release only
On exposed seams where you don't want resin to seep into you can seal with candle wax and smooth to fit
Resin will re-adhere the cleaned original and new parts Bondo (plastic filler) will not work as an adhesive.

I would suggest you make some practice pieces to test how best to join the new and old pieces for strength, a metal insert in the new hinge mount area wouldn't be a bad idea.
Thats my

I have seen people use aluminum foil to block off and form areas.

Thank you all for the advice.

I will hopefully work on it over the winter and post pics of the progress.

1. This sounds like a valuable, repairable,and historic mopar part.
2. To be blunt, your FG repair knowledge apperas is not yet up to the task to undertake this repair with without the high risk IMO of a non reversible failure.
3. You need to take some baby learning steps first.
4. FG can be very rewarding,and full of costly surprises.
5. I am not going to participate further as I see a potential train wreck
6. Sorry if my succinctness is not what you wanted to hear..

Lol ... a BIGGIE train wReCk !

There are LOTS of good fiberglass adhesives out there ... go to a good body shop supply store

West System 105 epoxy and 205 Hardener mixed with 404 adhesive filler to fix the delaminated glass. It is extremely strong but does not sand well. Mix with 410 microlight fairing filler for doing body work, it sands really well.
PVA (poly vinyl alcohol) mold release is what your looking for.

Thank you for the precautionary statement and advise not to do it. It reminds me of when all my friends warned me not to marry my first wife. In spite of all their warnings I showed them and got married anyway. We had 3 horrible years together, that ended in a costly and ugly divorce. Just like then, I'm gonna do it.

Okay well maybe that isn't the best example of how to handle a situation but I have worked with fiberglass. I have done multiple repairs but I have never made a mold before. Additionally it has been a few years since then and products have gone from resin and glass to a myriad of epoxy mixes and assorted techniques. A lot has changed.

I will look into the West Systems epoxies the other things mentioned.

All the advice, even the don't do it, has been great.

Thank you

Most everything I've learned has come with failure and success. Failure teaches how to overcome, if you chose to. Success is the reward for trying.
Its only a car part and not the only one on the planet so do your do-diligence and look up the how's and whys and give it a try.

My concern is is also for those on the sidelines, who might casually think this project is a walk in the park. I was rather concerned about "learning'" on such a valuable original item. I also personally have taken on many projects with little first hand knowledge, ,before the internet, and was nearly always told it was too difficult, etc.
Comment #3 is maybe were I should have ended my contribution.

And I have learned over the years, when most say "I told you so", its rather pointless, as it should already be self evident, and if not, they weren't paying attention in the first place, and therefore serves little purpose to remind those that didn't listen anyway.

I tell my guys, I'm the boss because I have made more mistakes, learned from them, and paid for them, then any of my associates.