Glass Fiber Auto Body Construction Simplified [PHOTOCOPY] (Paperback)

by John A. Wills (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
In 1950 the first "fiberglass" automobile body was brought to the attention of a few members of the general public when the author showed the "SKORPION" and the "WASP" at the first Motorama in Los Angeles after World War II. The fiberglass bodies of these two little cars were sold as a kit usually for the widely available at the time, Crosley chassis. Motor Trend magazine featured the Skorpion on the cover with cover story in the 1952 April issue.

These events triggered an explosion of interests from the war-hungry sports car enthusiast, particularly, when they found they could build their own sports car even of their own design. Because of the overwhelming flood of inquires I received, in self defense, I put out a small booklet telling not only how to build a car from our own kit, but how to build the necessary full size models molds, and parts of their own design. Thousands of reprints, re-writes, and expanded editions later by 1960, Post Publications had sold more than 40,000 copies. By the time Dan Post had died in the mid eighties, more than 65,000 copies had been sold. I bought back the remaining stock of the 1965 fourth edition from the Post Estate in 1991 and added them to my other books for sale. I had considered a complete re-write of the book at the time, but was urged by my many auto historian friends to preserve the book as a classic, but to include an up-date as an insert. When the stock of books purchased from Post ran out in 1998, the book was reprinted as is except the up-date is now printed within the book and the photos are much enhanced. This is still the"hands-on" Bible of basic shop manuals for building anything from "fiberglass" whether it be an auto body, boat, aircraft or any commercial product.

Product Details

• Paperback: 101 pages
• Publisher: John a Wills; 5 edition (June 1965)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966713303
• ISBN-13: 978-0966713305
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #608,697 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Take me back to the old days, August 18, 1999

By A Customer

If I were in 1955 I probably would making a killing right now making fiberglass cars with this book. However , I found the book to be stuck in exactly that era...It seemed kind of dated and predictable. The items used to construct the molds (which is what most people want to know) was state of the art...(in 1945) when they were building Jeep Willys. However, I really have no interest in doing things the "hard" way. Since I have no access to a vacuum formed mold I have to build one myself. The book has a guy using plaster of paris to make his mold (full scale!!) and another picture using clay. This would probably cost about 2000 dollars just to make the mold of clay, but the plaster of paris is a designers nightmare to work with. It absorbs water, is messy and really is to tedius to deal with on a full scale. I wanted to know how to use TODAYS materials not Ronald Reagan's when he was 17. Overall the book (wasn't that helpful). I would love to find a real book that designers use or private kit car builders use...any ideas? guess I'll just have to be an apprentice in a auto shop to learn the real deal. This will be quite a neat trick to do since I am a full time professional during the week.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than you'd think, April 20, 2003

By	CC "vintage racer" (CT United States) - See all my reviews

OK, first off, let me say that this is a photocopy of an original book. The photograph reproduction does leave a bit to be desired. But pretty pictures is not why you're going to buy this book. You will buy this book because it is full of *useful* information.

The techniques illustrated in this book go back to the birth of the fiberglass auto body industry in the 1950's, and to be quite honest, things haven't changed all that much since then. Sure, the resins have gotten better, they're stronger, and they won't destroy your central nervous system with a single whiff. The techniques shown also won't need the Bank of Monte Carlo to finance your dream project. You could use CNC milled patterns for your carbody and spend upwards of $10,000 US to get them, or you could follow the plaster over plywood method outlined in this book and put the other $9,500 in your piggy bank.

Buy the book, it's money well spent if you'd like to get into this interesting and enjoyable field.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Insperation, June 13, 2009

By	Casper C. Moth Iversen (Denmark) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Its a good book, and have some good tecnichs in it.
I personally good a couple of ideas to make some changes on my project because of this book.

I really recommend it!