Fiberglassing

By far the most challenging aspect of this project for us was the fiberglassing. This is partially due to the fact that neither of us have done it, or seen it done first hand. There is an incredible amount of information on the internet, but as with most things there is and overabundance of advice, which is often conflicting. Also we somehow couldn't find any good information about doing what we are doing, putting fiberglass over the whole outside of a camper. We also had trouble finding advice on how to do large, vertical surfaces. Maybe because it's not the best idea? Nah....

  

Before we just slop resin on the Pika we did a test strip. 

Harold told us to get these pumps to help us measure the epoxy and hardener accurately, good advice!

Just paint it on, not so bad.

The edges where the threads poke out are funky and caused us problems all over the Pika.

One thing we got from Harold and from our online sources, once that epoxy hardens on something, it will be there forever. So we took precautions and covered the inside of the camper with paper and cardboard. This is part of the bed that doesn't have the surface pieces on it right now, I didn't want us to fall in!

One of the things in our research that showed up each time was about wearing respirators. A lot of the people in the videos were not wearing them, but on each of those videos there would be comments from others that said "NEVER fiberglass without a respirator! Those fumes are toxic!" We are pretty happy to borrow a couple respirators from my uncle.

Ready to face the chemicals!

 How does the process work? First we cleaned the surface of the Pika with an Acetone dampened rag. The wood shouldn't be wet at all when you apply the resin. After everything is protected from drips and spills, mix the epoxy and hardener. We chose to use the epoxy resin, there are two choices for the resin, epoxy and polyester, we chose epoxy for its durability, ability to bond to a surface, flexibility and cost. Oh wait, not the cost, it costs a lot more. But if it helps this camper keep me dry for years it is worth it. A gallon of epoxy resin is $100, which I'll take from my savings on rent.

First we mixed the epoxy and hardener, one pump to one pump. We generally did 10 pumps at a time. We found that 15 pumps was a little more than we could handle before it became too sticky.

Evan rolled the resin on to the surface of one section.

Or brushed on to the small nooks and crannies.

While he was rolling, I was cutting the appropriate size of fiberglass fabric. This fabric acts much like any other fabric, except you need to be really careful that you don't snag, poke or bend it because that will make the fibers open up. We should have been more careful about this, and it would have been nice if the people who sold it to us at the shop knew it too, the cashier almost shoved it into a paper bag with the epoxy can and everything else!

We put the fiberglass fabric on the sticky surface that we just rolled with resin, and while one of us held it up, the other would roll or brush on another layer of resin, trying to force out any air bubbles that were forming. We also found that just adding more resin was the best way to get rid of the bubbles. Once the fabric was completely saturated, it disappeared into the surface.  

We didn't have to put the fabric on every surface, it is just to reinforce the wide open areas, and helps cover the cracks to the resin doesn't just flow through. For the edges and indents I brushed the resin directly onto the surface. 

The whole fiberglassing process was very stressful. First, it is a material that neither of us have worked with, so we couldn't say "oh yeah, I've seen that happen, it will be fine". Second it is EXTREMELY messy! The fibers from the fabric rip out, the resin is sticky, the strings stick to the resin, which sticks to everything. 

I've mentioned a few times that the resin is sticky, it's actually an incredible, and panic inducing process to get to the sticky point. First when you mix the epoxy and hardener it looks and acts like polyurethane, thin, brushes or rolls on smoothly. Then, after a few minutes it begins to cure. As it cures it gets stickier, and thicker. And stickier and thicker. It seems to be an exponential rate, we'll be working along, "oh yes, this is easy, roll roll roll, brush, brush, brush. Wait, why is it so much harder to make a smooth surface? Oh my gosh the brush is sticking to the wall! It's turning white! Quick get it all on before it becomes rock hard!" 

So the third way it is stressful is you have to do the whole thing very quickly before you get a mass of resin that is unusable. Oh and to add to the stress, it is all very expensive, and the brushes and rollers and everything the resin touches is ruined when the epoxy dries, adding to the cost. Also, while you have to be fast with the application of the resin, you need to be slow, or at least meticulous with the cutting of the fabric, because if you aren't perfectly parallel to the fibers, the fibers will rip out along the edges. 

These fibers were EVERYWHERE!

We realized it is much better to have the fabric go off the edge more than this, because when it is hard you can cut it off with a razor, but when it is just these little bits, they just bend under the blade and are extremely difficult to make into a smooth line.

We said the resin makes everything sticky, here is proof. 

As I said, once that resin hardens it will turn anything into a solid. Unfortunately we forgot to take the second foam roller cover off the roller handle and now it all stuck together and rock hard. Good for practical jokes but not much else. We also had a pair of scissors that are frozen into place for all time.

The resin soaked fibers are especially annoying and messy and get stuck to your shoes and the camper and the ground.

Again the curved edges causing problems... the fibers stick out all over.

But the end product is smooth and shiny, so all worth it! Hopefully the Pika will also be frozen into this shape for all time!