shippershack

I have an infestation of spider cracks in the fiberglass hood. How could I prep it to save some dough before paint?

black_sheep454

iTrader: (9)

If the cracks go all the way into the fiberglass you probably want a professional to do it. It needs to be ground down into the fiberglass and re resined or glassed to stop the cracks from coming back. If just sanded and reshot they will come back.

shippershack

What would a good job typically cost? I have 3 spots of cracks, yet, I am sure the whole hood would need to be done. If I were to prep it myself, and take it down to the fiberglass, what would you use?

black_sheep454

iTrader: (9)

Just thought of something else, with your car being black there's a good chance it's not spider cracks in the fiberglass but it's what's called paint checking. Usually happens on dark cars, and has to be stripped to primer and reshot because it will come back through aswell. The dark color holds the heat in and causes the paint to crack and spreads over the whole panel. You cam paint strip the panel and sand it down to primer, just be carefull not to dip the fiberglass with a sander because that will take alot of work to fix. All in all I would still let someone with some experiance do it.

BADLS2CAD

Use a dremel tool or die-grinder carefully and trace the cracks while digging them out about a CM deep into the fiberglass. After grinding out the cracks sand the area around the cracks with 180-220 grit sand paper. Blow off the panel, mix up some mar-glass or body filler and spead into the cracks with a bondo speader. Wait for filler to dry and sand with a block til smooth with 180-220 again. Re-apply a skim coat of filler again if needed and resand with 220-320 grit. Blow the panel off and prime with 2 coats areas with a high build urethane primer then spray guide coat over the primer. Wait til the primer dries and wet sand block with 400 until the guide coat is gone. You shouldn't break through the primer. If you do break through the primer something isn't straight or right. Personally IMO if you don't have the experience leave it to a pro but good luck and hope this helps

The Bronx Bull

It's a Firehawk. You have something special and thus it should look flawless. Let a professional do it if you have little or no experience with paint or body work!

phantomzer0

iTrader: (17)

Not only that, but if you don't do it properly, even by a little, you could end up paying more in the end for the pro's to redo everything.