I have a 78 242 that has the two spare wheel pits in the trunk almost totaly eaten away, and there was a slit along the driver's side floorpan in the rear seat area, about 28 - 30 inches long.

I went to a local fiberglass manufacturer who does retail sales (way cheaper than going to a jobber or retail hardware shop) and bought a gallon of resin, plus the catalyst, and 1 yard of matting, and asked the fellow filling up the resin can (he had fiberglass stuck all over his shoes) how to use the stuff.

First I practiced on some small repairs inside the trunk and the passenger compartment - under the rear seat - there were two holes where the rear sub-frame met the passenger compartment, just ahead of the rear axle.

Then I patched some rusty seams at the front of the trunk compartment, as well as a small perforation just above the left rear lamp cluster.

I was told to grind away the paint and apply the resin to bare steel.

Also - the battery tray was corroded to cheese, and I rebuilt that with a few strips of matting and some left over resin (always have a bit of matting and a "plan B" ready in case you mix too much resin - no waste)

I used what was left of the tire pits for a form, laid some wax paper down, duct taped over the big gaps from the outside, then I went to town and laid the resin and matting in the pits.

Now I have a dust free trunk and passenger compartment.

Areas that need greater strength are built up in two or three layers.

I usually keep the job to one area at a time, mix about 6 ounces of resin with about 12 - 15 drops of catalyst.

I use throwaway plastic yogurt containers and popsicle sticks (thereby necessitating adding these two food groups to your diet)

Make your own brushes from foam and popsicle sticks. Or buy cheap rollers at a $1.00 store and a cheap roller handle (2" wide) cut off 2" of roller at a time as you need.

Wear latex or non-latex gloves (way cheaper then trying to clean your hands later.)

If you are in a garage or closed shop, VENTILATE!! (Who needs a DUI on the way home?)

Country music on the radio helps!! :)

Wear eye protection if there is a chance of a drip or a splash to the face - this stuff irritates the skin. (like fiberglassing the floorpan from underneath)

You can work with this in any position.

We live on a gravel road, and most of the driving is on dusty gravel. I used to run the fan with all the windows up, just to pressurize the interior and keep the dust out. Try that on a 78f degree summer day - HOT!!

The fiberglass has been easy and fun to learn - I have modified my canoe, a repair project on my catamaran sailboat is next.

Anyone had any experiences or warnings I should know about??

If anyone has any questions or wants to try this - I'll be glad to help out on questions.

For $50 CDN ($33 US) I have done a lot of repair and have a better volvo.