One piece Suburban rear door build

[tygaboy]

I'm going to build a one piece composite rear hatch for my '52 Suburban and rather than include it with the rest of the build, I thought I'd post it in its own thread. My 'burb build is here:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=249457

The process I'll follow will be to start with a set of clam shell doors, make molds of the inside and outside of the top and bottom, bond the inner to the outer to make replicas of the original parts. Then I'll bold the top and bottom parts together to make the one piece hatch/door. Since I'm starting with less than perfect parts, I'll then need to bodywork this one piece door, fill unneeded gaps, etc. until it looks and fits the way I want. Next, I'll make a mold from this one piece door and finally, make the "production" part.
The goal is to make the entire door weigh about 20 lbs. I may use carbon fiber and honeycomb core to get the stiffness I want. We'll have to see. So, let's go:

A fellow Suburban enthusiast had a spare Clam shell rear hatch/tail gate set and loaned it to me so I could make the molds. These are in OK shape but since I'll have to make it all one part and do a bunch of bodywork anyway, it's not a big deal that these have a few dents.
Here's the top hatch. I taped up all the hinge and latch cut outs since I'll have a custom set up for all that.

[tygaboy]

Then it's mold release waxed and has a layer of PVA release film applied. Let that dry and lay up the fiberglass. I used a polyester resin and chopped strand mat as that lays down into the tighter corners more easily than a woven fabric.
This is a "splash mold" anyway. It's a quick and dirty mold that's barely useable since all I need it for is to make a part that will be a duplicate of the dented, scratched original. No sense spending much time or money or supplies on something like this...

[tygaboy]

Let that all set up and we have 1/4 of the molds we need to get started! Here's the inner upper hatch splash mold.

I'm not sure if I'll make the entire upper and lower doors and pull molds from them or bond the initial "dented" pieces together and make the full on piece door then pull a mold from that. We'll see as I get closer.

More updates and pics as I make progress.

[Mordachai]

hey, good to see another mold-maker on the site.

have you done anything more with this project?

[89cutlass]

Hey how is the rear hatch Coming? I have a 50 Burban with Clam shell door and I'm looking for a nice option to try...

[55dude]

wow! pretty cool stuff but that still makes me itch when i'm around it. i used to cut raw glass for building 48' and 58' fishing boats. that carbon fiber stuff looks pretty cool though. keep the pic's coming always interesting reading.

[tygaboy]

Not much progress - I have been landscaping my yard and building my shop! Finally! It's all but done so I'll be back working on all this pretty soon. I also got a '51 Chevy pick up that will be DRAMATICALLY modified and I may put that one on the front burner and "park" the Suburban project.
Anyway, here's a pic of the shop, the new driveway and the '51.

Happy Holidays to all.

Chris

[50adrod]

Originally Posted by tygaboy

Not much progress - I have been landscaping my yard and building my shop! Finally! It's all but done so I'll be back working on all this pretty soon. I also got a '51 Chevy pick up that will be DRAMATICALLY modified and I may put that one on the front burner and "park" the Suburban project.
Anyway, here's a pic of the shop, the new driveway and the '51.

Happy Holidays to all.

Chris

what are the plans for the '51?

[Mordachai]

sweet. I'd really like to see this one day down the road.

[89cutlass]

Any new updates?