I bought a 2000 Tacoma yesterday. The first thing I noticed is that it has no cupholders! After a diligent search, I have found that the aftermarket is also void of any good options. As such, I want to make my own.

The middle console has a couple spaces that will fit cans but I will need to create a mold out of fiberglass to make it work. Can anyone that has worked with fiberglass give me some tips? Thanks.

Jay

find a cylinder the size you want your cup holder wrap it with saran wrap and then fiberglass it..use cloth not mat its cleaner and easier to work with..
make the sidewalls and bottoms in seperate sections it will be alot easier....dremels and cut off disks will probably be a good friend to you in this......and if you goin to fiberglass onto vinyl or something of similarity....you will need to drill a few holes in it so that the resin can bite into it..

I am thinking about making a clay mold of the cup holders I want and then having several made in plastic to sell. I am CERTAIN that there must be others that this irritates.

BIG, MAN and Drink come from the same planet so that's a great idea you have. get it rolling and share the cash

Good luck with that !

are you sure there isnt cupholders? i just looked at the 2000 tacoma brochure and it says all models came with dual cupholders. never been in a tacoma, but in our tundra there are retractable cup holders underneath climate control. they are hidden and you have to pull them out. i bet you have them just havnt found them yet.

>

there are dual cupholders, in the back (under one of the jump seats). In addition to being tough to reach, they are also a poor design and do not work for cans.

>

Most plastic parts are injection molded, the molds are machined from steel
or aluminum, very expensive to have made, if you want them to look nice.
Usually you have to plan on making thousands of units to justify the cost of
such molds. I have made a few different molds and depending on the complexity
they can be a real pain.

Do you have to make the mold from some form of metal? Couldn't I make a mold from some other substance simply by making a clay model of what I want and then putting into a box of some sort to make a mold? Then, I could pull the model out and use the box mold for the product. I have never done this before but it seems like that should be doable.

As far as fiberglass molding doggy would be the one to ask.
A simple pour type mold you would need a material that is
soft enough to form and heat resistent enough to hold melted plastic
until it dries without distorting. E-mail me some sort of sketch and I
may be able to help you out.
I saw the pic in another thread, nice truck.

>

thanks Randy. I will shoot you an email soon. I ended up finding a great deal on a 2000 Tacoma so I didn't get a new one. More money for the project car....