When we left off last month, we had just finished the fiberglassing of one of the most important pieces in the incredible Alpine Civic Si -- the dash. I've always believed that there's a point in any car audio project build-up when you have to decide just how crazy you want the system to be. Rebuilding the dash really separates the men from the boys, and it seems like the wildest show cars tend to have a lot of dash work. I think there are three reasons for this. First, any installer will tell you that taking out your stock dash and completely rebuilding it is no easy task, so there's the difficulty factor. Second, the dash is one of the first things you notice when you look in the car, so modifications here are very noticeable to spectators and judges. Of course, let's not forget the excellent sound quality that a very symmetrical dash area can provide. This month, we'll finish up the dash on the Civic, so follow along as we show you how it's done.
Last time, we had applied Dura-Glass to the dash surface while it was still in the car to avoid warping the relatively large panel. I can't stress this point enough -- always apply your first layer of Dura-Glass filler while the panel is still in the car! Panel warping is probably the biggest problem that most installers have while using fiberglass. Another point to keep in mind while using fiberglass is the resin-to-hardener ratio. We only use 5-7 cc's (or milliliters) of hardener per quart of resin. This prevents the fiberglass from heating up excessively, which also causes warping and poor resin strength. Believe me, it's faster to wait a little while for the resin to cure than having to rebuild the whole piece.
With the fiberglass and Dura-Glass cured, it's time to remove the dash for the first time. This can often be tricky, since there are a lot of contact points that need to be separated from the car. We use plastic wedges to drive into the seams, prying the fiberglass from the car surfaces. Also, don't forget to remove any bolts or screws that hold the underlying framework to the car. After a lot of pulling and prying, the dash will come out, so take some time to remove any foil or tape stuck to the bottom of it. Here's a trick -- use an air nozzle to blow the foil off of the bottom surface of the panel.
The first sanding step on the dash is done with an angle die grinder and a 2-inch, 24-grit sanding disc. The purpose of this process is to remove the excess Dura-Glass and also any high spots in the fiberglass. After grinding, the dash should be relatively smooth, but it won't be perfect. To make the dash really smooth, we used Rage Gold body filler. To use this stuff, you mix it with the supplied hardener and sand it with rough 36-grit sandpaper. We always sand our Rage by hand to make sure the surface gets very smooth. Use Super 77 spray glue to stick the sandpaper together, giving you double-sided sandpaper pieces. One of the most important steps with the Rage is to sand it before it totally cures. Rage reaches a point where it feels like clay during the curing process. Sanding it at this time is much easier than waiting until it's fully hardened and this will save a bunch of time.
Once the dash is smooth, it's time to put it back in the car to finish the rest of the surrounding panels. We're going to show you a new method for forming small fiberglass panels that's quick and easy -- it's called the tape mold. To build the small triangular pieces that trim the dash on each side, we decided that a tape mold would be the way to go. To do this, first use masking tape (3M green or blue is the best) to cover the area to be fiberglassed. The key to this technique is that the tape needs to form the shape you want to achieve, so practice pulling and sticking it in different ways to get the shape you want. Once you cover the entire area with tape, use 3M Super 77 spray glue to attach some heavy-duty aluminum foil to the surface of the tape. I never fiberglass directly onto the tape, since it makes a sticky mess on the bottom of the piece that is very hard to remove. Don't forget to cover the surrounding areas with foil as well to protect them from dripping or running resin.
With the foil in place, mix up some fiberglass resin and apply five layers of 3/4-ounce mat to the foil to create the piece. Apply some Dura-Glass, and once it's cured, the piece can be removed and finished in the same way as the dash. Once both pieces are smooth, you will need to put them back into the car with the dash to see how the seams fit. Often, it's necessary to use more filler to get the edges perfect, and this may need to be done several times to get the fitting right.
Now, the entire top of the dash is smooth and ready for primer, so it's time to build the last dash panel. This piece goes under the steering column, and we decided that it would be easiest to build a quick frame out of MDF to form the shape (the same process that was used to make the dash). The area was taped and foiled, then strips of MDF were cut to make the desired frame shape. Once these pieces were attached to the car with super glue, grille cloth was stretched over the frame to create the surface of the panel. Resin was then applied to the cloth to harden it and it was allowed to cure.
Applying fiberglass matting to any upside-down panel like this is tricky, so take your time. The first layer is always the hardest, and we often use Super 77 spray glue to hold the first layer of mat in place while resin is applied to it. Usually, the following layers are relatively easy to apply since they stick to the previous layer. After five layers, the resin is allowed to cure, then Dura-Glass is spread over the panel. After letting the whole thing cure overnight, we removed it and finished it just like we did with the upper dash pieces.
After some edge fitting and sanding, the dash area is basically complete. From here, we'll move on towards the back of the car, so check it out next month. Keep those questions coming to sbrown@alpine-usa.com and check out SteveBrownUniversity.com for some unique opportunities to learn these techniques hands-on.
 01: The sides of the dash...  01: The sides of the dash were created by first taping over the area between the main dash and the A-pillars on the Civic. Aluminum foil was then attached with spray glue to form the basis for the panel shape. |  02: Fiberglass mat was then...  02: Fiberglass mat was then applied over the foil to create the panels. The black strips on each side contain snaps to fasten the panel to the car. |  03: Dura-Glass was then spread...  03: Dura-Glass was then spread over the fiberglass surface. It's important to keep this piece in the car while the Dura-Glass is applied to be sure it doesn't warp. |
 04: The panels were then ground...  04: The panels were then ground down and Rage Gold body filler was applied to the surface and sanded to get the final shape. |  05: Moving to the bottom of...  05: Moving to the bottom of the dash, the area was taped and foiled to allow the MDF framework to be attached to it with super glue. The completed frame can be seen here. |  06: After covering the frame...  06: After covering the frame with grille cloth, fiberglass resin could be applied. |
 07: The fiberglass resin was...  07: The fiberglass resin was allowed to cure before strengthening the panel with fiberglass mat. |  08: Fiberglass mat was applied...  08: Fiberglass mat was applied to strengthen the piece. Working upside-down like this is difficult and messy, so it's important to use thin, 1/2-ounce matting. |  09: The mat is now completely...  09: The mat is now completely applied, and it will now be allowed to cure. |
 10: Notice the box of fiberglass...  10: Notice the box of fiberglass mat on the left side of the picture. We always pre-cut our mat to save time while laying it down. |  11: Dura-Glass was then applied...  11: Dura-Glass was then applied over the surface and the piece was removed from the car for final finishing after it was fully cured. | |