I wanted to glass the body tubs to make them stronger. I also wanted to us the anti-zipper design. I started off with 3.1oz tight weave glass with a double wrap. The stock LOC coupler was very weak so I decided to glass the inside of the tube coupler to make it stronger as well. It got a double wrap of 6 oz glass.
I started off with cutting the body tubes to their correct lengths. The upper body tube is 30.250 inches and the lower section is 13.850 inches. Then the BT's where cut using my tube cutting jig. I cut them a little longer for sanding if needed from glassing the tubes. I then wicked in CA super glue into all the edges of the tubes including the tube coupler. Next I scuffed up the body tubes slightly for the epoxy to adhere to the tube.
I measured and cut the fiberglass to do a double wrap with about a two inch overlap for all three tubes. I then got ready to apply the epoxy. I made sure that I had wax paper under my project, a balloon and plastic bag for the tube coupler and latex gloves in place.
I mixed the epoxy and started off with the tube coupler. I brushed on the epoxy on the inside of the tube coupler. Then I rolled up the glass to put it into the coupler and started to expand it out to fit inside the coupler. Next I placed a plastic sack with a balloon inside and blew up the balloon with an air compressor and tied off the balloon. This balloon pushes the glass outward to make a nice tight fit with no bubbles. Then I set this aside on the wax paper to start curing.
The body tubes were next. I setup my makeshift tube holder and I was able to fit both body tubes onto the rail. I started with the bigger tube first by brushing on the epoxy on the entire tube. Then I started to lay the glass on the tube working from the middle outward. Just take you time applying the epoxy to the glass. I found that if I slow down, I don't get any air bubbles at all. Slowly rotate the tube and continue to apply the glass. When the second wrap starts to cover, you may have to apply some more epoxy. Try not to use too much. Continue moving until you are at the end. I dab on a little amount of epoxy at the end to make sure it stays down. You will have to sand down the edge later anyway.
I finished up the lower section body tube the same way. Next I setup my heat lamp to help the curing process. I will let them cure for a couple of days slowly turning them every few hours in the lamp.
