In this thread I’ll be showing the step by step of making a light weight, aero modified fiberglass 1 piece fiberglass front end from a stock steel front end. Many tricks and some mistakes that we learned from…:o
First, what was stock for this 1976 Mercury Capri MK2
and the end result…
The reason for this exercise was to teach my students how to make a full 1x piece fiberglass front end for a race car. I just happen to had one (I used to race at Irwindale Speedway mini stock class with a rare 1976 Mercury Capri II which was a former street race car of mine too).
After reading the class rules (I was a main guy helping them on the rules…) then after talking to the head tech what I wanted to do before I went ahead was: It has to be the same OEM size, height, width, length (I want to bob the front back 10"+ to get weight off the front end) and the body lines need to line up too…was their mandate.
Nothing about the fact that the OEM hood had a center carb bulb (V6 with the carb in the center) and then dips down real low on both sides & where the DS was the inline 4 cylinder carb (mandate Holley 350cfm 2bbl carb) rides in that low spot too. So I had to use shorty air cleaner (not the best for air flow in these high reving engines) with the stock steel fenders and hood (bonett for those overseas…)!
So I wanted the fenders extended back over the door skins, fill in the area at the Vent base of the front windshield (welded to the hood and both fender tops), fill up any light or turn signel holes and then sclupt a rasied up area on the hood to clear a 4" Air cleaner with a dome lid (Air flow directors in the air cleaner is illegal but I got around it legally) too, but equal across the hood. So some wood strip were ripped and arced that would still cover the air cleaner too…but blended to the front and to the back too!
Other bennifits would be a sloped front end to act like an air wing. Plus filling up the open head light areas and center radiator opening too (I use a Fiberglass Pinto fron nose with some cutting and jimmy riggin’ !
You have to make any all changes to the master plug before you make the mold to make the final part!
Ok, here goes the start of this master plug making finally:
Small 2" air cleaner…
Stock OEM sheet metal already removed and getting welded together…
Proper 4" tall air cleaner with dome top…
Spot welding extension on the front fenders to allow the front end to rest onto the door skins…using an old fender and scrap steel plate…
The welded and assembled rough steel front end (without the Pinto head light front panel added)…Here you also see the center raise section and lower sections too!
Mixing the Bondo (PER and additives)…on easy to clean HDPE sheet
Proper color mixing of Bondo…flesh tone
Applying the Bondo with a HDPE scrap piece to wipe it on…leave it thick and excessive as the cheese grater does the work fast and quick…
Cheese grating after the Bondo “B” stages…
The dark areas are low spots for more Bondo… lite areas are where the Grater to smoothing it out. Don’t over do it, leave some for sanding with rough grit sand paper too work on final smoothing…
After it fully hardens, using a air file sander to rough smooth it out…
half sheet jitter bug sander to smooth more…
Primer to find low spots…let it fully dry and then…power sand again…
Dark areas show low spots…
Finish primering…
We discovered that we needed more fender stiffeners (besides the mini table this whole mess is bolted too…) so…(the metal panel up by the base of the front windshield still isn’t welded in…yet…). You can also see more gaps that will be filled up with fiberglass or Bondo soon…
Attached by rivets (had to dig out some Bondo but…filler her up!)…
Well enough of this for now…more tomorrow!