OT: Fiberglassing help, RV Repair Options

[rtalich]

Thought I'd see if there are any glassing gurus out there in the World... and hopefully get some opinions. I have not had ANY chance to work on the car due to 'other' important issues. Suck when the car gets put on the back burner!! Anyway... I am in the process of rebuilding our RV due to water damage. I’ve gotten all the rotten wood out and am currently in the process of thinking about how I am going to build the front cap. The siding was constructed using FRP (Filon) laminated to plywood. My plan is to take the Filon material and basically glass it onto a wooden frame (see pic). I will be making some curved pieces of wood blocking that will go along the top so that when the Filon material is laid onto the wooden frame it will create the sweeping curve you normally see on the tops of RV’s. I was originally thinking of attach it using epoxy resin and fiberglass from the inside and plan to totally conceal all the wood in epoxy/fiberglass to protect it and will serve as a good water barrier. My main question is… which resin would be a better choice to use? Epoxy, polyester or vinylester? My initial thought was to use epoxy because I was not sure if the other resins will shrink at all causing the Filon to distort and not sit flat on the wood frame during the curing process. I want the Filon to sit perfectly flat on the wood frame and cave in or be sucked in which would result in being able to ‘see’ the framing from the outside (does that make sense?). On the other hand, if I could use either poly or vinyl resin, I’m thinking fiberglass mat would make for an easier application and can build up quicker. I also read that poly doesn’t really bond with wood like epoxy. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Rob

[r_towle]

Go to a wooden boat building forum and get educated.
The method and specific brand of epoxy will be clear.

[Mark Henry]

Go to a wooden boat building forum and get educated.
The method and specific brand of epoxy will be clear.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) That's where my epoxy F/G knowledge comes from, I'm building a canoe.

....and then cover it with Filon using contact cement.

You can use the Epoxy as a glue.
You also could just cover the whole roof with mat and epoxy bag the whole roof, then paint it with white gelcoat.


Just putting this out there as a cheaper covering...you could use Gaco Roof

I have Gaco Deck on two decks, which is the same stuff, it's just coloured and has some walnut shell in it. Tough stuff so far, two Canadian winters. Suppose to last 50 years.

It's how I'm going to replace the roof on a tent trailer I have, I'm just going to build it out of plywood, much like what you are doing and then paint it with the Gaco Roof.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSWFKrSh9xY