CAn anybody give me some ideas for making a custom interior. I'm trying to decide between making my panels and stuff out of either ABS, aluminum, or stainless steel. How tough is it to work with ABS? Will a heat gun allow me to bend it to make some custom shapes? Or if I go with a metal, can I make simple bends and brazen pices together, or will I need to MIG weld? I think the ABS would be cheaper, but if it's all going to be a hassle, the look of polished steel or aluminum would be nice. Also, any comments on durability? Thanks.

 

hmm, interesting question, I too would like to know the answers to some of these questions. Sorry, I don't have any for you, I guess I'm just mooching cause I want to hear the replies to your question. One thing I could suggest though is fiberglass. I plan on doing a little interior work with it.

 

There's a couple sites out there that describe how to make your own vaccuum-former from an old oven and shop-vac. Then you can make anything shaped like anything from ABS. I don't have the link anymore since I lost Netscape, though, so you'll have to search for it (I think I found it with Google). Shaping complex shapes with just a heat gun is a little more challenging, though, especially if you want to keep the texture looking nice.

I don't know if I'd make a complete interior from any kind of metal, though. That's a lot of extra weight added up compared to plastic. Maybe just a panel here and there for accent.. If you do, though, you wouldn't have to have a MIG welder. I suppose you could get away with pop-rivets.

Anyway, I'm just here to give you ideas, suggestions, and solutions, not to tell you what to do. Check out the vac forming idea.

 

Where do you get sheets of ABS plastic?

 

The instructions for building your own vacuum forming table, creating pieces and using the oven to heat and form plastic can be found at the following link. Even though the guy isn't making car pieces, the process is exactly the same.
http://www.studiocreations.com/stormtrooper/main.shtml

 

Cool site. Thanks for the link!

 

That's the one! Ditto on the "thanks for the link".

I got plastic from a local commercial plastics supplier. I found it under "plastics" in the Yellow Pages.

 

So do I need to create clay models of what I want my dash pieces to look like, make the plaster molds and vacuumform to them? And how do I recreate the texture if I'm vacuumforming the piece? Won't the stretch smooth it out?

 

allright, way to cool, might have to try this now. Thanx

 

Where does one find backerboard for making new door panels? Did away with the arm rests on my '91 Camaro. Now have to make new door panels so I don't have the ugly holes from where they used to be.

 

Everyone is welcome for the link . Here is an automotive related link using the same process, but just not as cool. click here
AND another website that uses the same techniques. click here

Traumatech: You are almost right. You need to make a mold (not neccessarily out of clay, but clay is the standard because it is easy to sculpt and work with), then make a negative (inverse)plaster cast, AND then make another plaster cast (positive) out of the negative plaster cast (creating a duplicate of the clay), and then finally vacuum form the plastic over your plaster duplicate of the clay. You could use a junkyard dash, use clay to shape it or add contours/details and then plaster cast that. The whole thing doesn't need to made out of clay. What is most important is that you use a release agent so the first plaster cast doesn't stick to your custom creation.
The steps are very similar to the "A brief on subwoofer construction article" in the tech section. To see the article click here
The car hatch well itself would be the "positive plaster casting". The tinfoil is the "release agent" and the fiberglass matting is the "plastic". In this case you didn't need to make a clay mold and a "negative" plaster cast because you already have the finished shape to begin with!
As for the texture, you can add it, but you are going to have to be creative. I don't do this for a living so my imagination is pretty limited, but you could probably take a small paint roller with a "textured" surface and lightly go over your clay mold, so that the texture shows up in the plaster.

BJM323: You can just use really thick cardboard like from a refrigerator box, or balsa wood from a hobby supply store and create any shape or option you want. With the knowledge from this thread and the links, you could make a wood backing use it as your "clay mold" and follow the steps to create a plastic backing board. There is also a tech article and some contact info about redoing your door panels. To see the article click here