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>POR-15 doesn't contain styrene and thus cannot melt fiberglass >> cloth like resin does." > >I don't see how styrene "melts" glassfibre. Any insight on this, JJ? >Luckily glassfibre boats don't melt even though there is styrene in the resin >used with the glass. There is no resin that I am aware of that will melt fiberglass. And it is true that POR-15 does not contain styrene....it is a polyurethane based polymer. Stryrene is one of the chemicals in polyester and vinyl ester resins that are commonly found at your FLAPS or boat shops. It is the styrene that you smell when using these resins. What is likely being referred to is the "sizing" on the fiber. Chemical sizing is applied to glass fiber to make it process easier with less breakage and to act as a "primer" of sorts to ensure a good bond between the glass fiber and whatever resin you are using. Components of this sizing do "melt" (actually combine chemically, but the notion of melting is close) to make a good interface between the resin and fiber at a molecular level. There are glass fiber materials out there that are "sized" specifically for a certain type of resin. However these are pretty specialized. The vast majority of glass fiber products (mats, fabrics, and tow) are "sized" for a broad range of resins. The glass manufacturers have no way of knowing what each customer is going to use for resin, so they use a general sizing that is compatible with polyester, epoxy, polyurethane, and other common resin systems. It may not be optimized, but it is compatible and will provide a good interface between the resin and the glass fiber. The POR-15 will certainly bonded to the glass fiber and makes a good composite that is very tough. The biggest problem with using it as a resin is that it is very thin and wets the fibers very well. The wetting is a good thing....gets the POR-15 to coat the fibers well. But the combination of good wetting and the thinness makes it hard to get it to stay where you put it....it tends to run and wick everywhere. When I did Sophy's floor pan I covered the holes (about to about a quarter sized) with duct tape from the bottom and then used glass fabric and chopped glass with the POR-15 to make the repair. afterwards I removed the duct tape. It has held up very well for over a year and 20,000 miles, including one Michigan winter. Later, John Jaranson '71 FI AT Fasty (Jane - Darkside Project) '66 Square (Sophy - Daily Driver) About Half a Late Square (Organ Donor) http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jaransonT3/jaransonT3/ http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jaransonT3/notavwclub/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org