Any of you experts out there see any obvious problems that I don't?
Also thought of making a CF Cobra body the same way.
Been kicking around the idea of using my existing nosecone as a male mould and covering it with with prepreg carbon fibre and vacuum bagging it in a
hot box and hey presto you have a carbon fibre nosecone that just??? needs a bit of filling with clear surfboard resin followed by lots of sanding and
polishing to make it nice and deep looking.
Any of you experts out there see any obvious problems that I don't?
Also thought of making a CF Cobra body the same way.
You need to take a mold of the nosecone first and then make your CF part in the mold.
quote:
Originally posted by nitram38
You need to take a mold of the nosecone first and then make your CF part in the mold.
Well you will be making the part heavier for starters so the carbon will only be cosmetic.
I guess another option might be to build the nosecone you have up with glassfibre and get it just how you want the final product to be before THEN
using it to make a proper mould. You could then make a lightweight carbon nosecone, and possibly importantly..... make another one if required at some
stage. Lots more work obviously but might be worthwhile
I don't care - I want one
How much you thinking of flogging them for
Fancy doing some front / rear arches as well - super wide ones for 205 tyres front and 225 rears
How much you thinking of flogging them for
Yep the South African postal system will flat pack it for you FREE of charge...lol
There are no short cuts to a decent piece of body work in carbon.
I still stand by my reply.
Apart from the problem that your carbon one might not pull straight off of your fibreglass nose (some molds are made in several pieces), I can't
see you getting a good finish on the CF.
Fair enough - I knew it wouldn't be easy - and just like Ebay - I never check item location
Oh well - best go rob a bank then wire it to Carbon Mods 
quote:
Originally posted by nitram38
There are no short cuts to a decent piece of body work in carbon.
I still stand by my reply.
Apart from the problem that your carbon one might not pull straight off of your fibreglass nose (some molds are made in several pieces), I can't see you getting a good finish on the CF.
i want one too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
has anyone attempted to build their own autoclave?
With respect to the finish - it all depends on how much effort you put into the finish - I believe that making and finishing off a mold would be as
much work as finishing of the CF nosecone done my way.
As far as pulling it off the "buck" my feeling is that if the buck came out of a non-split mold then the CF should come off the buck.
Anyway - it seems like it might be worth trying some time so thanks for the feedback guys.
I saw a link to this somewhere where a guy made all sorts of carbon bits for his bike,including tank,mudguards,air filter plenums etc.Some bits he
made plugs and laid the carbon on the outside and some bits he did the proper way,but I have to say he made a good job of all the bits.I will have a
look later and see if I can find the link.
Here we go Linky
[Edited on 22/4/08 by triumphdave]
[Edited on 22/4/08 by triumphdave]
I'm about to do a full set of carbon bodywork for a local.
I may take orders later. Don't hold your breath though!
Oh, and if you have to ask how much,.......ah, don't bother. 
Cheers,
Syd.
quote:
Originally posted by nitram38
There are no short cuts to a decent piece of body work in carbon.
I still stand by my reply.
Apart from the problem that your carbon one might not pull straight off of your fibreglass nose (some molds are made in several pieces), I can't see you getting a good finish on the CF.
I can supply pretty much anything you want in Pre-preg carbon. Have moulds for cycle wings that will cover 205/50 profile tyres or equivelent. Also
have a mould for 95mm diameter rear lights, transmission tunnel, (Dax Rush), dash blank, (again for a Rush) and am in the process of making moulds for
the rear wings, (Rush again).
Anything else can be made to order but as someone else pointed out it aint particularly cheap to start from scratch unless you want to supply the
mould. These have to be made with high temp. resin, NOT polyester.
I don't know what you are calling 'hi temp' resins Mr iiyama, but 65degC stuff has been around for too many years for me to remember.
80C is now more common, but even this is curable at 60, just takes longer and a post cure.
Some of the prepregs I work with can need as much as 200c or more, but these aren't exactly your normal everyday materials, and for very specific
applications.
Most of the prepreg used these days is cured below 130C.
And, some of the top end poly resins have better properties than the lower epoxies, so poly is not necessarily 'bad'. Just the garbage that
most kits are built with. Commonly called 'reprocessed'. Old stock and what gets scraped out of the vats. Mix it all together,
'reprocess' it, and it's the cheap junk that nearly all small outfits buy.
Cheers,
Syd.
quote:
Originally posted by Syd Bridge
And, some of the top end poly resins have better properties than the lower epoxies, so poly is not necessarily 'bad'. Just the garbage that most kits are built with. Commonly called 'reprocessed'. Old stock and what gets scraped out of the vats. Mix it all together, 'reprocess' it, and it's the cheap junk that nearly all small outfits buy.
Cheers,
Syd.