Instrument panel (4.3 hrs)
The construction manual encourages the use of leftover BID pieces on the forward side of the instrument panel (with proper 1” overlap, of course). It also states that BID orientation is not important.
I decided to use up some of my scrap BID, and continue laying it at a 45˚ bias (main fiber orientation).
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| Testing scraps of bid for fit over foam panel |
After designing my fiberglass pattern (above) with plenty of overlap, I carefully rolled the pieces, and laid them aside in the order they would be used.
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| Fiberglass ready to go |
With the foam panel properly covered in slurry, I placed the BID in accordance with my schedule, and added epoxy.
This is the fun part of the construction, but also incredibly messy if one is not careful. As you can see, plastic sheeting on the table is a must, as the warm epoxy is very runny.
With the first piece in position, and properly saturated, on went the second piece...
... and the third, and the fourth.
As I’ve done previously with all second layers, I elected to cut a whole new piece of BID to cover the entire panel.
At about this time my good neighbor Lou showed up, and was promptly put to work. Epoxy mixing duty at first, but later he got some hands-on time laying the third ply. This ply covers only the top half of the panel, and since Lou did such a good job there, he was also drafted to peel-ply where needed.
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| Mixing some epoxy for starving peel-ply |
The instrument panel backside turned out quite nicely.
The best part is that I might have found a capable assistant who only lives two doors down from me.
I’ll be knocking on your door soon Lou, thanks for your help.
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