Quote Originally Posted by metalmaker12 View Post
It's all good, but I will test it some more, since you feel the opposite, I have both resins on hand so I can play with them
Quote Originally Posted by carbon fiber View Post
sorry if i was testy with my response, i was in a bad mood when i got on here, didn't mean to sound so sharp in my response. the experience i've had with it was bad. it didn't show up right away either, after time though, it partially delaminated. it was properly prepped but was under extreme loads and didn't hold up. (repairs on a fiberglass bucket on a bucket truck for a friend of mine) it may have been the types of resins. it suprised me though, as i'd heard as long as the vinyl ester is fully cured, it's not a problem. even on US Composites website and other forums there is conflicting opinions about the subject. i'm just going on experience. it may also not have been a problem with something that wasn't under as much stress. epoxy does bond stronger than vinyl ester there's no doubt, but there's also chemicals in the vinyl ester that can cause the epoxy to not bond properly. (usually when it's still curing) either way it's just cheap insurance to me after the problems i've had.
Quote Originally Posted by Goldwing View Post
Bonding anything over epoxy, you do have to clean off the amine blush. It's a waxy coating that develops on top to assist in the curing process. I believe that's why bonding to partially cured epoxy gives problems with other resins. I'll look into the chemical bonds between the resin types, but mechanical bonds should be decent on the back sides of the body pieces anyway with the rough texture. I like working with epoxy over poly resin due to the smell. Haven't worked with vinyl ester before though. I have some learning to do.
Thanks guys for commenting and expressing your views. We are all (mostly) learning here and all want the best results we can achieve and I believe to help our fellow builders.

FYI, the closest I've been to working with fiberglass is on my sons and I project '77 Vette. It only had a 1" long crack/blemish that repaired before starting the painting process. So realize I basically know nothing about fiberglass repair.

Today I went to Fiberglass Hawaii, they seem to know what they are doing and have a pretty large operation and were very busy. Car guys, boat guys, and surfers all in line buying and asking questions. Dutch the Operations Manager assisted me. So here is what I bought
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And to get an idea of cost here is the list
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As you can see I purchased vinyl ester resin. This is not readily sold on the counter, he filled a gallon container for me from the warehouse (smallest amount they would sell). He said I would have been fine with using polyester based resin (at less cost), but that the vinyl ester does have some corrosive resistant properties. I told him I wasn't really concerned about the extra cost, that I wanted to make sure I didn't have a problem showing up in the paint a year to two from now.

He told me that for patches to lay up 4-5 layers of the mat, about 45-60 mins apart to get to the same thickness as the FFR body parts. Clean everything with Acetone.

I am going to cut out the vent area of the trunk lid and replace with flat fiberglass, so he sold me some Mylar sheeting to use as a "form" as the resin will not stick to it.

I will also be adding some layers of fiberglass in a few areas to strengthen. I will post pics as I get into it.

So please comment as you see fit so we can all learn, thanks in advance.