Proj. MX/Neon

[psyense82]

ok, so ive done the research on all the fiberglassing threads on here. so i feel confident i can do this finally. this summer i plan on purchasing the Dodge Neon R34 front end. But, before i spend 350 bucks and mess it up, im going to do a mock up. i have the OEM neon front being donated, it was in an accident so im missing part of the driver side... but i dont care. im going to search some junkyards for an MX front end. my plan is to make a line 1 inch under the head light groove on booth front ends. then cut along the line, discarding of the upper portion of the neon, and lower portion of the mx. take 500 grit paper. and rough up the inside of both left over pieces. then take and fiber glass the gap. bondo the front to cover the insicion. this should work right? i mean, aggresive i believe is the one who has used a neon front end and said they do fit... and from what i have seen and noticed, our turn sigs. and theirs seem to match up. if not, i can simply wire a pair of theirs in, or trim the hole to fit mine.

keeping in mind, this will be first ever fiberglass job... seems simple, just a little surgery.. to those who have done fiberglassing, and or this type of project, do you think its advanced, or am i right in saying that this is simple...?

[Johns93GS]

Be very thorough - applying enough glass mat and resin to both sides (not just the inside of the bumper)

Sand A LOT - rough sand, fine sand, do it all, and milkshake the whole inside bumper for extra reinforcement.... use as little Bondo as possible.

Just expect to spend approximately 20hrs workin on it if its your first job.

[nos92mx3]

one problem with using glass both bumpers are plastic(eurathane) it wont work very well or hold up.
What id do is cut the 1 inch line and find some plastic adhesive (cant remember name) comes in 2 tubes usually both are held together. cut the bumpers to where you said and then take some left over urethane and cut a nice 1.5-2 inch strip (or what will fit) and use that as a backing for the glue and stuff. Take the mx top and glue it to the strip and then take the neon bottom and glue that to the strip and then bondo over and make look good.
on a second thought i dont know if the bondo will hold up, im thinking that it might crack?
can any others with experience in body work back this up?

[curtklze]

That eurothane glue is super strong and can be sanded easyly once its dry. if you apply enough of it to fill any gaps it should be all you need.

Then to finish it off use as little bondo as possible to fill any "SLIGHT" imperfections, and sand it it well.

[projectmx]

what is a dodge neaon r34? isn't r34 a designation of a skyline gtr?

[marshmallow15]

he means the r34 bumper for the neon. also known as the 'octane' bumper.

imo, using two stock oe bumpers molding together with fiberglass won't hold well when you're on the freeway. reasin is because fiberglass, even with proper prep, has a tough time holding/bonding bumpers unless its an aftermarket fiberglass bumper (which the r34 bumper would be, but it will still have a hard time holding to the stock bumper).

what you should do, is what you have planned, but an extra step. you should make a fiberglass copy of the upper mx-3 oe bumper to mold to the r34 bumper. this is the only proper way to do this safely to ensure that both fiberglass pieces will really 'grab' together and not come apart. this will involve a LOT of sanding to get smooth, but its the right way to do it.

[psyense82]

so take and make the mold first, ok. i forgot to mention, the mock up of the OEMs will NOT be put on my car... it is only a test subject so i can figure if this will work, i do plan on fitting it, just not actually drving with it... thats where the donor MX front end comes from, so i can still use my original. now my question is this, ive only read one site that explained the making of a mold... they used a plaster of paris type substance. actually... i had thought about fiberglassing the front of the mx part... 1 for when i do the octane front, 2 if this works and anyone wants one, 3 i can add my logo to it so it is imprinted on the bumper (seeing it will no longer be a neon or mx front end). thanks for all the input guys, i plan on posting pics and on all this for my personal documentation, and to let all of you know how its going. and yes i had already figured it wouldnt be a day project.. i figured at least a weekend project.

just to wrap up summin Marshmellow... when i mold my mx part, both that and the octane will be fiberglass, and i can fiberglass it all? 2.. i should only use a thin layer of fiberglass on the front, and a thick layer on the back? just making sure...

[psyense82]

was also thinking, what i have read on mold making was done for flat objects... how i go about making the mold for a curved item of this size?

[marshmallow15]

hm. you don't seem to know enough to be able to do this project correctly, meaning, if you make a mock-up and test everything to fit together, then you'll have to do everything again anyway for the real bumper. you should just do it once. use that donor bumper for the project, and keep the one you have now intact. of course it won't fit properly, thats what the fiberglass will be for.

the making a mold with the whole plaster of paris deal, you don't have to worry about that for this project. you don't even have to worry about making ANY type of mold with this project.

and you should put as much fiberglass on both sides as possible. not just a thin layer. and dont worry about it looking messy, you should be able to sand that out. any 'SMALL' imperfections should be dealt with a little fiberglass, if possible. if not, use bondo, but NOT A LOT.

and i dont think you should be making copies of the bumpers and selling them on this board unless you were a certified or legit business and had the ok with jeff.

[psyense82]

thanks marsh... i appreciate the input on this. but i guess my only left over question is this... u said to make a copy of the upper MX piece out of fiberglass. how do i do that wihtout the mold? thats where im getting lost, either that or im misreading your post. i wouldnt be able to gel coat the original, then take and fiberglass a copy, because it wont be the same size. thats why i thought u meant a mold, so i had an exact copy. sorry if i seem to be repeating myself, but this is my first attempt at fiberglassing of any type, and dont want to mess up a 350 dollar front end. thank you

note: the octane / R34 front end is NOT being donated, i had an OEM Neon being donated as to test this all... just added that to clear up and questions on front ends.

<small>[ March 02, 2004, 02:34 PM: Message edited by: []D s y []D h y ]</small>

[atlantamx3]

Thats why you just buy a damn bumper thats made for the MX-3 instead of a Neon.

Or, take everything to a shop that will do it for you. They will know how to do everything you are wanting done.

[atlantamx3]

Originally posted by marshmallow15:
he means the r34 bumper for the neon. also known as the 'octane' bumper.

Octane(not sure why its called R34, it looks nothing like the Skyline R34 front end... ):
<img src="http://imoto.com/shopsite_sc/store/html ... tanefb.jpg" alt=" - " />

I LOVE the R33 style better though...
<img src="http://www.fatboygaragesport.com/images ... R33FB2.jpg" alt=" - " />

<small>[ March 02, 2004, 03:08 PM: Message edited by: atlantamx3 ]</small>

[psyense82]

yo Perry... i thought about that one too... the would probably be cheaper and smarter... i didnt know tho if they would do the conversion for me tho.. ill have to call around, thanks

[marshmallow15]

what i meant by upper copy of the bumper is covering the mx3 bumper with something (foil or something) and then just laying one layer of fiberglass. then remove, and add layers underneath like 3-4 and pack it all in.. you can then sand the top layer and that will give you a very good base to fiberglass the bumper to.

as long as you don't cut off too much material from the neon bumper you got, then you don't have to worry about messing it up. just do it little by little and don't take off too much material. take off what you don't need, see if it looks good/fits, and do the procedure again if you have to.

also, the r34 bumper was taken and modified, and the generic copies of that r34 bumper is now called the 'octane' bumper. its true they're both different bumpers, but the octane was made from the r34.. something like an r34 style bumper actually.

EDIT: just saw your post perry. actually some r34s after 2000 came with that bumper.. i guess it came as an option. also i have a very clean pic of my mx-3 with an r33 bumper on it and i think it looks pretty good. no hosts though.

<small>[ March 02, 2004, 03:14 PM: Message edited by: marshmallow15 ]</small>

[psyense82]

hey marsh.. can u email a copy of that pic, so i can get an idea.. i know that the R34 n 33 are different, but it will give me a better idea of what im going to be lookin at when done. psyense82@verizon.net

Also.. this is what im looking at
<img src="http://www.importfan.com/images/product ... _fb_01.jpg" alt=" - " />

<small>[ March 02, 2004, 03:30 PM: Message edited by: []D s y []D h y ]</small>