How To Patch Fiberglass Holes

Posted on: 2 August 2016

Most cars have several components on the auto body that are made out of fiberglass. This is beneficial to car owners because fiberglass is a relatively easy product to repair. You can buy a simple fiberglass repair kit at most home improvement or auto body stores. These simple kits include everything you need to fix small holes, dents and dings in a fiberglass auto surface. This article explains how to use a kit to make a professional looking patch.

What Comes in the Kit

Most fiberglass kits include the resin, a small tube of hardener, cloth, and a mixing tray with a stick. This small stick can be used to spread the fiberglass onto your car, but you will get better results if you use a plastic putty knife with a proper handle. You will also need some painters tape and auto body sandpaper. This is just like normal sandpaper except it has extra fine grit. Also, it needs to be wet when sanding to prevent scratching the paint too much.

Prepping the Hole

First, you might need to do a little bit of prep work to the damaged area before you can add the patch. By lightly sanding the area around the hole, you can remove any loose paint or hard edges. Also, you should use this time to cut the cloth to the right size. Make sure your cloth piece fully covers the damaged area. Then, use a few small pieces of tape to hold the cloth in place.

Patching the Hole

Next, you will need to mix the recommended amount of hardener with the right amount of resin. Once you mix these two elements together, the resin will dry quite quickly, so don't do it until you are fully ready to start working on your car. Quickly spread the resin over the cloth at the corners first. Peel the tape off once there is enough resin to hold the cloth in place. Be very liberal when applying the resin and don't try to make it perfectly flat and even with the contours of the car.

Once the resin is completely dry, you will go over it with sandpaper, where you can shape it and try to make the patch blend in with the auto body. Fiberglass will dry clear, but it's not going to look beautiful on your car. This is why, after sanding, you might want to add some touch up paint. However, even if you do not paint over the patch, you can rest assured that your auto body will be reinforced and your hole will not get any bigger.

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