To those who have used COROPLAST

[Project84]

I've been looking online at Lowes.com and Homedepot.com and it appears they don't offer sheets of Corrugated Plastic for sale.

Where do I locate this stuff? I'm planning to make my grill block, and rear wheel skirts soon and I keep seeing everyone's mod pics where they've used coroplast.... what is a good source for this stuff?

There are some "Custom Sign/Trophy" shops near my area, should I check them out?

[TomO]

Sign shop is the way to go to get Coroplast, or wait until campaign season is doen and grab the Coroplast signs.

[VetteOwner]

hmm kinda the same idea so im gonan hijack your thread :D

well im plannign to build a hardtop toneau cover(i know i know not as light as a fabric one but 100X more secure meaning i can feel safe leaving expensive items under it) and im going to build the frame out of aluminum or steel angle iron, but im tryign to figure out whats the best top covering, either thin sheetmetal(strongest) aluminum(light but very expensive in large sheets, and would also have to be thick to get equal strength) or a large thicker sheet of plastic, what kind of plastic is strongest thats also the thinnest and cheaper or as cheap as steel? doesnt matter if its clear or not, gonna paint it all anyways has to be somewhat rigid (im making underside support braces but obviously has to span like 1.5 - 2ft gaps.)

[oneinchsidehop]

I've been looking online at Lowes.com and Homedepot.com and it appears they don't offer sheets of Corrugated Plastic for sale.

Where do I locate this stuff? I'm planning to make my grill block, and rear wheel skirts soon and I keep seeing everyone's mod pics where they've used coroplast.... what is a good source for this stuff?

There are some "Custom Sign/Trophy" shops near my area, should I check them out?

The only place I've found it was in a Michael's Arts and Crafts store. (they sell dried flowers and unpainted birdhouses and "Crafty" stuff.) But it was small (24"x36") sheets. The local sign shop said they could order it "but it ain't gonna be cheap" I think that means he's gonna mark it up a lot. I'd check a couple of them and then play them against each other, the place I checked is the only sign shop within an hour in any direction.

Good luck and let me know where you find it here in the states, it is great stuff.

[oneinchsidehop]

hmm kinda the same idea so im gonan hijack your thread :D

well im plannign to build a hardtop toneau cover(i know i know not as light as a fabric one but 100X more secure meaning i can feel safe leaving expensive items under it) and im going to build the frame out of aluminum or steel angle iron, but im tryign to figure out whats the best top covering, either thin sheetmetal(strongest) aluminum(light but very expensive in large sheets, and would also have to be thick to get equal strength) or a large thicker sheet of plastic, what kind of plastic is strongest thats also the thinnest and cheaper or as cheap as steel? doesnt matter if its clear or not, gonna paint it all anyways has to be somewhat rigid (im making underside support braces but obviously has to span like 1.5 - 2ft gaps.)

Home Depot has 4x8 sheets of shower wall, it's just heavy plastic. It's smooth and would paint well if prepped to take paint. I'd rather have coroplast myself. It's pretty rigid. If you go to the Post Office and look at the milk jug colored sorting bins they have, that's coroplast with a wire frame at the top. They last for years and take a lot of abuse.

[bowtieguy]

Sign shop is the way to go to get Coroplast, or wait until campaign season is doen and grab the Coroplast signs.

ah yes, the freebie. got mine at a hotel convention. here's the funny thing: i didn't even attend. got it while making a delivery!

[UfoTofU]

My girlfriend's brother-in-law owns a sign shop so that is where I got mine.

I paid $15 for each 4' x 8' sheet.

I also got some after campaign season last year for free.

[basjoos]

They also sell Coroplast at plastics supply houses (look up plastics supply in the phone book). This is the same place that sells the 4'x8' sheets of plexiglass, polyethylene, PVC, etc. Since this is where the sign shops buy their Coroplast from, you can usually get it cheaper if you get straight from the source.

[brucepick]

I paid $30 for a 4x8 foot sheet at a sign shop. Spent the whole summer retaping duct tape weekly, sometimes daily. If you're gonna use coroplast please consider something more durable than duct tape for fastening.

Next project I bought a sheet of 2.7 mm. lauan plywood for $7.xx at my local hardware store. Also bought a quart of oil-base house primer and a couple cheapo foam brushes. I haven't seen any deterioration and I put that sheet on the front of the car at the end of September. However the finish paint coat has been taking a beating, I have to admit.

[VetteOwner]

Home Depot has 4x8 sheets of shower wall, it's just heavy plastic. It's smooth and would paint well if prepped to take paint. I'd rather have coroplast myself. It's pretty rigid. If you go to the Post Office and look at the milk jug colored sorting bins they have, that's coroplast with a wire frame at the top. They last for years and take a lot of abuse.

i need it liek 5X6 tho, size of my bed or thereabouts, i want to make it one big smooth sheet but i may have to divide it up somehow if cost/availability becomes and issue.

is that shower wall stuff pretty ridid tho? can it withstand at least a foot of snow on it?, hot temps, cold temps, strong enough to resist shattering/cracking if something gets dropped on it? I think I know the stuff ur talkin about but i thought it was too flexable...:( i dunno ill look around.

One of my friends dads works at a machineing place and they can get huge sheets but its liek 4X8 or somehitng. there is a plastic supply store down the road i could pop into sometime, but i still dunno whats the bets plastic to use for my situation(ie extreme weather, possible impacts, lotsa weight)

[oneinchsidehop]

i need it liek 5X6 tho, size of my bed or thereabouts, i want to make it one big smooth sheet but i may have to divide it up somehow if cost/availability becomes and issue.

is that shower wall stuff pretty ridid tho? can it withstand at least a foot of snow on it?, hot temps, cold temps, strong enough to resist shattering/cracking if something gets dropped on it? I think I know the stuff ur talkin about but i thought it was too flexable...:( i dunno ill look around.

One of my friends dads works at a machineing place and they can get huge sheets but its liek 4X8 or somehitng. there is a plastic supply store down the road i could pop into sometime, but i still dunno whats the bets plastic to use for my situation(ie extreme weather, possible impacts, lotsa weight)

Your best bet is the plastic supply company for sure, but it I were going to do it I'd use fiberglass... DOH! They make locking fiberglass covers! Check with someone who sells truck caps.

[maxxgraphix]

Plastic suppliers sell to the sign suppliers that sell to the sign shops.

I'm a sign shop and pay about $9.00 per 4 x 8 sheet. Just check your yellow pages for plastic suppliers. There's also polypropolene and PVC Foam board.

[VetteOwner]

Your best bet is the plastic supply company for sure, but it I were going to do it I'd use fiberglass... DOH! They make locking fiberglass covers! Check with someone who sells truck caps.

yes true, BUT i want it to be a flushmount cover, meaning i dont want it hanging over the sides. THAT and I can build one out of all steel for less than $200, those fiberglass ones are like $500-$600 and none are flushmount(well theres one for $400 but it sags and cracks over time from what ive heard)

i will prolly head down to lowes and see what they got.:p

[broadwayline]

They sell it at Home Depot and Rona here.

[VetteOwner]

yea they had it, it would probably work but i would have to buy 2 sheets
($60) and it seemed almost too flexable.

so whats a lighter, better outsidoor proof plastic?

[lovemysan]

Vette, you can get a 10mm coroplast that would be plenty sturdy for a bed cover with minimal framing. Also the shower wall is a good idea. Sometimes home depot sells a fiberglass based shower wall thats pretty sturdy. You could get that and glass the frame to it. Another good source of sheet steel is roofing steel suppliers. We have one locally in tennessee that rolls 29gauge roofing steel in 15 different colors. You can go in and buy the flat stock also.

Project84

you could call these guys and see if they have it. Ask if they sell to the public

Aristech
7350 Empire Drive Florence, KY 41042
Phone:
(859) 283-1501
Business Categories:
Plastic Fabrics Film Sheets & Rods Manufacturers

[Project84]

Aristech is right down the street from my house..... lol

I'll give them a call

[VetteOwner]

Vette, you can get a 10mm coroplast that would be plenty sturdy for a bed cover with minimal framing. Also the shower wall is a good idea. Sometimes home depot sells a fiberglass based shower wall thats pretty sturdy. You could get that and glass the frame to it. Another good source of sheet steel is roofing steel suppliers. We have one locally in tennessee that rolls 29gauge roofing steel in 15 different colors. You can go in and buy the flat stock also.

Project84

you could call these guys and see if they have it. Ask if they sell to the public

Aristech
7350 Empire Drive Florence, KY 41042
Phone:
(859) 283-1501
Business Categories:
Plastic Fabrics Film Sheets & Rods Manufacturers


hmm interesting, ive held up some 26 guage steel and that seemed to be sturdy enough, 29 guage stuff or flashing as they call it i belive seems way to thin (i have a piece on my chevette, while its strong, it rips easy liek a popcan) yea that shower wall stuff seemed liek a good choice, BUT i would have to add bracing every 10" it seemed tho, i plan to put a slight arch (liek a bubble) in the middle so that will aid in water removal and strength:) :D

yea i will have to look around some more, id love to make the frame for it out of aluminum but its just way too expensive for 20+ feet of angle iron...

[lovemysan]

yea i will have to look around some more, id love to make the frame for it out of aluminum but its just way too expensive for 20+ feet of angle iron...

29 gauge steel you can't rip. Its difficult to even cut. If you want cheap aluminum braces look for old sliding glass doors. You'd need about three of them. Also look for window awnings. Add on carports etc. Keep your eyes open.

[VetteOwner]

i plan to weld the bottom frame and top frame then sandwitch the big sheet of whatever in between and secure with small bolts(so if it does break its easy to dissasemble)

i will have to see if my friends dad could get some scraps of different thicknesses then i can compare them(they have a HUGE scrap bin at his work but not useable scraps, im talkin like odd shaped small small triangles, curved chunks etc))

[Snax]

For a tonneau cover, I think ABS would be your best choice. It's not much more expensive than coroplast and it will take allot more abuse with a good frame supporting it. You can get it in a large range of thicknesses too, allowing you to adjust the amount of support you plan to build into the frame. Unfortunately you color choices at most places are going to be white or black. I'm not certain, but I think it's paintable however.

[VetteOwner]

For a tonneau cover, I think ABS would be your best choice. It's not much more expensive than coroplast and it will take allot more abuse with a good frame supporting it. You can get it in a large range of thicknesses too, allowing you to adjust the amount of support you plan to build into the frame. Unfortunately you color choices at most places are going to be white or black. I'm not certain, but I think it's paintable however.

well i plan to paint it black anyways:p yea i was thinking ABS, resiliant to cracking, temperature safe, somewhat impact resistant (well hard enough that if somehitng does fall on it it would make a big enough shock to set off the alarm) im betting the place would know the most about plastics and what thicknesses would work best.

now if they can get it in large sheets...:D

i will have to look up some local plastics place( i know of one but dunno the name)

[Snax]

I think 4'x8' is the largest you are going to find, so no matter what size bed you have, you're going to end up with a visible seam somewhere - unless you do something like cover it with UV resistant vinyl.

No matter what you use, just remember that anything that doesn't go over the bed rails is going to leak water into the bed. Be sure to provide somewhere for it to go unless you want your stuff getting wet.

[VetteOwner]

I think 4'x8' is the largest you are going to find, so no matter what size bed you have, you're going to end up with a visible seam somewhere - unless you do something like cover it with UV resistant vinyl.

No matter what you use, just remember that anything that doesn't go over the bed rails is going to leak water into the bed. Be sure to provide somewhere for it to go unless you want your stuff getting wet.

yea my bed is 5X6 and they dont make solid steel sheets like that. i know 4X8 they do tho. who knows maybe plastic is different.

which way would look better to make a seam? lenghtwise(from nose of truck to tailgate) or 1 or 2 sections going the width?(i will try to make it not as visible but i know its gonna happen)

but yea i plan to have it sit flush on the bed rails with a strip of adhesive window weather stripping between the steel frame of the cover and bed(prevent scratches and noise). i also plan to run a bead of silicone caulk between the layers of steel (keep water from gettign between the layers and rusting out and make it waterproof). prolly isnt going to be 100% waterproof but it will pobably be good enough so it doesnt soak whatevers inside.:D

[Nerds laugh at me]

Most recycling centers will have Coroplast signage year round free for the taking.

[Ryland]

I was thinking about useing Coroplast for the body of my CitiCar, but I would need to shape some of it, and glue seams, anyone know what kind of plastic it is made out of? PVC or something like that I would assume.
Any ideas on how hard it is to heat and shape? or does it just wrinkle...

[Zerfstead]

You could remove the signs that are posted illegally on the sides of the road. Many of them are Coroplast. We pay city employees to remove them!!!

[Hateful]

The Obama signs work best.

[basjoos]

Coroplast is made of polyethylene(PE). PE doesn't glue well, but can be welded if you're careful with the heat. I've heated and put bends into Coroplast, easiest to bend in the direction of the corrugations, but the corrugations tend to collapse if you put more than a slight curve to it. Works fine for 90 degree bends, that's how I did my side skirts.