Slosh Tubz SEMA 2015 Build "BOOSTED BERTHA"

[Smooth68]

Excellent build!! I'm just recently catching up on this. Hoping to pickup a 64-66 project in my near future

[rmvlt1100]

That is one Beautiful truck!! Not sure a guy should say "Beautiful" or not but I will. I think your next trip should be to the AutoRama in February for the Ridler Award Entry!!!

Outstanding Build

[77BBGMC]

Impressive, looked even better in person!

[67cheby]

Originally Posted by Smooth68

Excellent build!! I'm just recently catching up on this. Hoping to pickup a 64-66 project in my near future

Thank you ! awesome !

Originally Posted by rmvlt1100

That is one Beautiful truck!! Not sure a guy should say "Beautiful" or not but I will. I think your next trip should be to the AutoRama in February for the Ridler Award Entry!!!

Outstanding Build

Thank you so much !

Originally Posted by 77BBGMC

Impressive, looked even better in person!

I appreciate that , now to get it all finished up ! I cant wait to hear this monster fire up !

[67cheby]

I am about done goofing off, I have to get back to work on it !

We are starting on a fiberglass headliner , I put my son on tape duty. This is my first time to try this so lets see what happens ! I have already screwed up they say I should have put a release agent to keep the glass from sticking to the tape. Worst case scenario I will cut the roof apart and surgically remove the steel headliner from the glass mold ! LOL....live and learn !

[JPutnam]

yeah the resin will stick to the tape. you can sometimes pick the tape off, but it will rip a ton and be a pain. if there were any imperfections in the tape, I.E. cuts or gaps, then the resin will be on the actual metal. that wont be pretty. if they are small enough the mold might just pop off with a good amount of tugging. lift a corner of the fiberglass when its ready to come off. spray a bit of air between the two and it will pop off most of the way, if not all the way. I usually just use automotive car wax. if you had put a good amount of wax on top of the tap the glass would come off real easy. Also hairspray works real well for a release agent. coat the whole mold with a thick layer of hairspray. then layup. once the resin cures it will pop off with no issue.

edit: Also if you are planning on making multiple parts off the fiberglass mold you should make it alot thicker. use thicker mat and/or do 5 or 6 layers. did you stiple the resin into the mat with a brush? any light colored area is going to have air bubbles or bridging. take a short hair paint brush(I buy the 30cent 2" and 1" brushes from homedepot and cut the bristles down to be about 1.5in long) and start stipling(poking the fiber with the end of the brush) the whole thing. it will remove the air bubbles and the bridging.

[67cheby]

Originally Posted by JPutnam

yeah the resin will stick to the tape. you can sometimes pick the tape off, but it will rip a ton and be a pain. if there were any imperfections in the tape, I.E. cuts or gaps, then the resin will be on the actual metal. that wont be pretty. if they are small enough the mold might just pop off with a good amount of tugging. lift a corner of the fiberglass when its ready to come off. spray a bit of air between the two and it will pop off most of the way, if not all the way. I usually just use automotive car wax. if you had put a good amount of wax on top of the tap the glass would come off real easy. Also hairspray works real well for a release agent. coat the whole mold with a thick layer of hairspray. then layup. once the resin cures it will pop off with no issue.

I am going to knock down all the high spots and then lay down two more layers of glass and resin and then I will start the fight to release it .......not looking forward to that !

[slammed427]

Bertha is beautiful Mike! Keep it up!

[JPutnam]

lol yeah its a ton of work. Sometimes I use the clear packing tape over stuff that doesnt need a perfect finish. or for wierd shaped air ducts. resin doesnt stick to the packing tape. Just make a crude foam mold that resembles the correct shape. cover it in packing tape then layup. after it dries poke some holes in the tape and dump in some acetone. it eats the foam. then pull out the tape and you have a relatively smooth inside of an air duct.

[JPutnam]

also I never really worry about the high spots. they just add strength to the mold. Unless this fiberglass is going to be the actual "finished part" but I would still probably just leave the high spots until all the fiberglassing is done. then knock it all down in the end.

looks like a fun project. Makes me want to make something.

[Bomp]

I use bee's wax as a release agent.

[watahyahknow]

wat i seen used mostly is aluminium tape over normal package tape , the package tape releases from he metal pretty eazy the aluminium stuff stays on the poliester
you could just take the piece out
sand the rough side up a little , cover it with a layer of thin foam spray gleu on again and then put the cover material on
the shell is made to fit the roof anyway so it should go back in pretty accurately
to hold it up you could screw the handholds through it intoo the sheetmetal of the roof structure over the doors and behind the roof light in the middle
if you make the mould long enough and thin enough you might even flip the rubber window seal from the front / rear window and the doorseals over it once its in
if youre not sure of the roof will bow out over time you could glass is a few strips of metal across the whole width
with the foam covering you prolly whont see it in the cloth or leather covering

[clemdaddy]

need doors? got doors. I want a day or two smooth out the inside and they'll be ready.

[sduckworth13]

Wow! Wow! Wow! Your truck turned out awesome Mike. I like everything about it.

[UKNOWME]

Sooooooooo...... How's it going?

[67cheby]

Ok so I am finally getting motivated to get back on her !

We popped the fiberglass headliner out of our mold.....that makes it sound easy, it wasn't ! LOL , since I didn't use any release agent it was bonded to it pretty good. I cut the roof all apart and then just started working around the edge of the headliner loosening the tape from the roof finally got it all released. Next I took the headliner to work and pressure washed all of the blue tape off that was stuck to the top

[67cheby]

Now on to the dash, trying to make something out of the stock dash with a custom look.....I still have a long way to go . It will have a removable dash cap that wraps down the front of the dash and gives it some more 3d shape it wont just be a flat panel. Anyway here is the beginnings
Next up a trip to Clems to rob a junk dash and get a set of doors to mock up some fiberglass door panels off of !

[Bomp]

Will you be keeping the dome light in the new roof inner panel?
Have my total attention on this. Looks good.

[67cheby]

Originally Posted by Bomp

Will you be keeping the dome light in the new roof inner panel?
Have my total attention on this. Looks good.

Yes but I will be using a nicer aftermarket light from Trique Manufacturing

[jonzcustomshop]

curious on how the roof panel is going together/will work, this might be an option for the headliner in my crewcab....

[67cheby]

well here is a little more progress trying to build a dash for Boosted Bertha . I want to make a home that is deserving for all the cool parts from Dakota Digital, Resto Mod Air, Clayton Machine Works and Trique Manufacturing

I am trying to make every part bolt together to make it easier to upholster once we get back to that stage

disclaimer #1. The metal work is quick metal work that will be skim coated with bondo and the foamed over the top of that before the leather, so I am not spending a lot of extra time trying to metal finish it

[clemdaddy]

Man... thats a bunch of work. Looks good Mike, keep after it buddy.
We want to visit your place to check it out and get some of the best Mex food on the planet.

[67cheby]

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

Man... thats a bunch of work. Looks good Mike, keep after it buddy.
We want to visit your place to check it out and get some of the best Mex food on the planet.

Thanks Clem, I was about to call you I might come over Sunday if you are going to be around so I can bring back your sander and come steal a dash

[67cheby]

Originally Posted by jonzcustomshop

curious on how the roof panel is going together/will work, this might be an option for the headliner in my crewcab....

it fit In super nice !

[mjh1965]

Mike that's a lot of work , but it's all in the game of modding, but it looks awesome . Making something that also comes apart makes the job and design a lot harder to do . I know this because of my job , a lot of the stuff we build has to be removable so an able bodied person can still drive the vehicle .