Or can I?

I'm attempting to make Ferrari tail lights that still say PONTIAC across them in light up letters. I'm modifying an idea Ausfiero came up with, but I have some questions.

I have a Kahines 1 piece Ferrari tail light panel. Its about 1/8" thick in the middle. As per Aus's idea, I want to cut a rectangular hole in the middle of the panel, a little larger than the PONTIAC on the stock tail lights. I then want to cut a piece of Plexiglass to fit in the hole. Once that modification is complete, I can mask off the letters and paint the panel. My questions are:

1) Whats the best way to cut the panel and the Plexi? Right now, I'm thinking Dremel with a cut off wheel attachment.

2) How do I bond the Plexi to the fiberglass to hold it in place? Fiberglass resin? Fiberglass + resin? Epoxy? Other kind of adhesive?

3) The plan is to bond in the plexi, then fill in any gaps with bondo and sand smooth. Then, mask off the letters and paint over everything else. Anyone see a problem with that plan?

sorry cant help much other than saying that that is going to look beyond bad A$$

I had used a structural epoxy before that should work. I just can't remember the name of the stuff. It was so COOL! imagine up to .020 gap fill with no loss in bond strength! I had used it when modifying a motorcycle's plastic fender support a luggage rack and not have any exposed screws. That held up for 6 years before I sold the bike. As far as I know it's still good!

I believe it was a Loctite product. It had an activator/cleaner and the actual adhesive. It came in a yellow bottle. That's all I can remember right now.

If the fiberglass surface is smooth, you can bond smooth plexiglass to it with cyanoacrylic glue, but remember that the cyanoacrylic can "etch" the plexiglass. CA is available at most hardware stores as "superglue". I think you can get CA in larger amounts at places like TAP Plastic.

also, you may want to rethink the plexiglass material. it's not UV inhibitive. it will stay clear for awhile but eventually will yellow. for outdoor use polycarbonate tuffak-XL is what i use. it is UV inhibitive and won't fade or yellow. price isn't that much more either. just a side note for you.

Found the stuff. Loctite Speedbonder 312
Hope this URL is valid
http://www.loctite.com/int_henkel/loctite_us/index.cfm?pageid=325&layout=2
Anyway, You could always go to their website and request samples! It couldn't hurt, and the sample may even be enough to complete the project.

Duramix 40/40

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Bobby from NW Indiana
93 Northstar and 5 speed Getrag
219customs@verizon.net
My 86 GT build thread
MY 88 Northstar build thread

quote Originally posted by GSXRBOBBY: Duramix 40/40

OOOOOOHHH! 40/40!!!!!!! the guys at work LOVE this stuff, it will fix an unbelievable amount of broken trim pieces!

Thanks for the tips guys! Looks like I have some shopping to do. Any recommended stores or other places to buy at?

Id use Lexan, lot less chance of breakage, even just cutting it out. Plexiglass can shatter pretty easily and you can cut Lexan by just scoring one side and bending it. You can cut out the letters in it with one of those special drillbits in a drill or dremel tool. I have some that are 1/32" from local hobby shop to do do cutting on my models.

Scott, TAP Plastics in San Jose sells fiberglass, carbon fiber, plexiglass, and polycarbonate supplies. I'm sure they'd have some great advice for you and could sell you everything you need. They're on Blossom Hill between Almaden Expressway and Santa Teresa. I've purchased plexiglass from them for one of my many incomplete projects.
EDIT to add link: http://www.tapplastics.com/

-Steven

[This message has been edited by Steven Snyder (edited 03-08-2005).]

Thanks Steven! Hopefully, I'll have time to check em out this weekend.