How to drill into fiberglass jetpack for metal hooks/clips?

[joe]

I'm having trouble finding information about this that really explains the process.

I have a Bobamaker jetpack fully painted and weathered. How do I safely drill holes so I can attach the metal hooks and clips into the jetpack?

I don't really have any special tools beyond a power drill and some basic drill bits.

Based on what I see... I need a countersink drill bit, a normal drill bit that I use in reverse to start, and masking tape? There is no way to prevent gelcoat cracking? However, the thing I'm most concerned about is that I completely crack the fiberglass and the jetpack falls apart or loses integrity and the clip/hook becomes useless.

Can anyone shed some light as to what they did or maybe mistakes they have made with other fiberglass parts? I see on youtube there are some "tutorials", but they don't instill confidence in my understanding and the fiberglass they're drilling is usually on a boat. Boat fiberglass seems way thicker than the jetpack fiberglass I need to drill into too.

 

[Darth Voorhees]

Your probably overthinking this, though i get thats easy to do with Fett and such pricey parts! But you can drill into it with a normal drill bit with no problem. I have installed many many sets of full metal fett's hooks and clips on a few different makes of jetpacks, including my own, and made of fiberglass and also some of resin. Even if you chipped the gelcoat a little bit, it would be covered by the hook plate itself. Full metal fett also provides a backing plate that goes on the inside so your sandwiching the fiberglass body between the hook and the back plate, which makes it even more sturdy. The gelcoat provides very little structural strength. its mostly a surface to give you a nice finish thats easy to paint. Most of the strength comes from the fiberglass laminate behind the gelcoat.

 

[joe]

Your probably overthinking this, though i get thats easy to do with Fett and such pricey parts! But you can drill into it with a normal drill bit with no problem. I have installed many many sets of full metal fett's hooks and clips on a few different makes of jetpacks, including my own, and made of fiberglass and also some of resin. Even if you chipped the gelcoat a little bit, it would be covered by the hook plate itself. Full metal fett also provides a backing plate that goes on the inside so your sandwiching the fiberglass body between the hook and the back plate, which makes it even more sturdy. The gelcoat provides very little structural strength. its mostly a surface to give you a nice finish thats easy to paint. Most of the strength comes from the fiberglass laminate behind the gelcoat.

Thank you very much for the response Darth Voorhees. I appreciate it.

It puts my mind at ease since I agree with you about me overthinking it.

 

[ConvergenceProp]

If you're wanting as clean a job as possible, you'll want to go as slow as possible while using the sharpest drill bit you can get your hands on. Cobalt drill or the like would be ideal. Just make sure you take the lightest chip ya can and you shouldn't see any cracking. After that I'd lightly countersink the tops of the holes so as to reduce the chance of cracking in the future

 

[joe]

Also as an update for any forum lurkers... my Bobamaker jetpack actually has the part that touches your back (part that you put the metal clips/hooks on) as ABS plastic so drilling it should be relatively straightforward since plastic is way easier to deal with than fiberglass.

 

[NikTrooper]

I just drilled mine today. Just took my normal drill to it. Worked fine. Nothing fits though.

 

[joe]

Just wanted to follow up. Thanks everyone for the advice.

I just used the drillbit that came with my power drill, which is just a twist drillbit.

I did mess up two of the holes in chipped a tiny bit of extra paint around the hole, but it's hidden underneath the metal clips so it doesn't really matter since the plastic didn't crack or anything.

I'm so glad the back is ABS plastic. It was way simpler than I anticipated since I've never drilled anything in my life.