attaching a metal bracket to fiberglass?

Dairdevil9 · Post by **Dairdevil9** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 4:51 pm

Hello,
I have a 1970 manx style buggy and i want to make my hood tilt foward instead of putting a hole in my hood for the gas tank. First i havent started theis project yet so any tips or hints you guys have on what brackets or hinges you used or fabricated would be great. But my main question is how should I attach the metal bracket or hinge to the back side of my fiber glass hood without putting any holes through the front of the hood. Thanks brad

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 6:29 pm

Brad,
I woul simply fiberglass a piece of marine grade plywood onto the hood. Whatever brackets you design you could mount the bolts through the back side of the plywood, attach the plywood to the back of the hood with some adhesive, and then glass in place. You could also fabricate a metal plate with the studs for the hinge as well. A little more fabrication, but if you can weld then thats what I would do.

letterman7 · Post by **letterman7** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 7:27 pm

Brad,
"guest" (you really need to sign in or join!

) is correct. Boat builders have been doing that for years with plywood. You just have to make certain that after attaching the hardware that you seal the attachment points really well with silicone or even more resin. If not, you run the risk of having water enter into the fiberglass/wood sandwich and starting a rot issue in the wood. I've seen new boat transoms rot out in as little as a year because of this.
Another idea would be to mount a light bar or something purposeful on the hood, and use those mounting points underneath for the hinges as well. Just a thought..

Rick

Dairdevil9 · Post by **Dairdevil9** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 11:01 am

Thanks for the info, thats what i was thinking about doing. my 1st idea was to fiberglass in a metal strip or plate to work off of, but would wood be better?

letterman7 · Post by **letterman7** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 11:18 am

Well, in a related thread further down, I'm not a big fan of fiberglassing metal plates. It does work, sometimes, but you run the risk of having the fiberglass and/or gelcoat crack because of the thermal expansion differences. You could, if you're slick enough, figure out where you are going to mount your hinges, and build up a thick layer of 'glass or carbon fiber, say 1/2" thick, and embed some nuts or helicoils into it to receive the hinge mount bolts. You wouldn't have to cover the entire hood, just where the hinges are going to go. I can't imagine the hood being very heavy, and as long as you have some sort of support rod to hold it up, I think you would be fine. If you choose to "pot" the nuts/helicoils, make sure you use alternating layers of mat and woven roving. Mat alone is not strong enough to take the stress.

Rick