Okay, i’m starting my first project with carbon twill. I own a del sol with a removable roof. Just want to be reassured that i’m doing this properly, I want to overlay the roof. first sand down the roof surface, primer and paint with heat resistant black paint. paint UV protectant resin onto the roof, lay the carbon on top, paint UV resin on carbon (saturate), use a roller to push excess resin out. Let stand and cure then, sand out rough areas with 120-150 grit sand paper, wet sand, then polish, (or should a clearcoat be sprayed). 2. Or should i make a fibre glass mold of the roof and sandwich the carbon to the roof. then go through with the rest. I think the most difficult part of this project is figuring out how to perfect in wrapping the corners without having the carbon pull out of place. Unfortunately i do not have a vacuum bag system. Suggestions or If i’m completly wrong please send me in the right direction.
You’re on the right track, but I don’t think it’s that simple. After the carbon cure, you’ll need to add many more coats of resin before the texture of the carbon is completely covered. If you don’t have a vacuum bagging setup, try using saran wrap and tape or something else to hold the cloth down around the edge. It’s not anything that I would do myself so I can’t recommend it. As for making a fiberglass mold, it would only work if you cut out the metal roof and replace it with the carbon one afterward. Making a mold means you’ll end up with the exact same sized carbon plate that won’t fit over the metal roof. Hope that helps.
If you want to make a mold jst lay some sheet wax (google for sheet wax) on the roof, smooth it out and pull a mold from the part. then you have a female mold with clerance for the CF laminate. sheet wax comes in various sizes and thicknesses.
AN overlay would be easier though just glue the cf down with some spray adhesive.
bricklin are you saying to spray the glue on the roof and lay the carbon on top, or do you mean to glue the excess carbon to the under side of the roof so the corners won’t move out of place.
Thanks for the tips evan, but when i have finished with all the coats of resin, do i just polish the resin to a finish, clear coat it, or gelcoat for a final coat and polish that?
I think you have the right idea but your going to need a lot higher grit sand paper like 600 - 800 for the first pass and even higher for the second.
You do not want to put excess resin on it will make it more brittle if you plan on doing it with out a vacuum bag then you will need to use a squeegee to get the excess off.
The ratio of resin to carbon should be no grater than 1 to 1 in weight and in the highest strength applications the resin can be as low as 40% of the weight of the carbon. 40% will require vacuum bagging.
ok, finally got the carbon on the roof, “nightmare”!, i made a mold of the roof with the fibreglass, my intention was to sandwich the cf onto the roof, i used blue mold release, i guess i didn’t coat it enough, anyways when i removed the mold the cf came off with it. This was only 1 quarter of the bullsh*t i went thru tonight. But it’s finally on looks ok, it’s all cosmetic from here on. (lots of sanding and maybe a few more coats.) thanks for all the help.
make sure to post pictures when you are done!
ironically, I spent the day making a mold for a del sol roof
is for replacement panels, not overlays though
can’t wait to make a mold for the skeleton of the roof
pics pics pics 
I’m going to be fabricating a hard top for my s2k soon. can’t wait.
yah, I’m waiting on my friend to send me pics of the layup(we did it in his garage)… although I’ll be picking the mold up tomorrow, and hopefully taking it with me to evan’s this weekend… assuming the mold will fit in the trunk ok… it should, as the top does… but the flanges may make life difficult
was a fairly standard mold… posterboard and clay used to make the flanges… all got the pva and mold wax treatment, then gel coat, then 5 layers or so of 3/4 oz mat(the place I purchased from was out of 1.5 oz), a layer of woven roving, and a few more layers of mat… I would have layed up one more layer of the woven roving, but sadly, I rad out of resin
when you get the hard top done for the S2000, I have a couple people intersested in them. I don’t have the time to make one so I would gladly swing them your way
sure, I still gotta price it out. getting ahold of all the mounting hardware can be quite pricey.
so are you making a full carbon fibre roof replacement?
I was thinking of doing the same but i figured the stress from the two latch supports would damage the roof (eventually), plus to figure out how to mount them on the cf replacement roof would be challenging too.
Well i finally finished sanding the roof down (3 hours) put one more coat on it. It looks fine, but because i had the carbon lift off the surface of the roof, the roof was not smooth or flat i actually it is a little wavy in the middle. Times like this i wish i had a vacuum bagging system, sh*t a brissel from the brush fell into the PER any suggestions on how to get it out besides sanding 
and i think i’m gonna use a foam applicator next time so that this doesn’t happen again. Hopefully if i get a digi cam soon, i’ll have the pics up as soon as i figure out on how to load them up onto a thread.
Foam brushes have their drawbacks too. if you push on them they create bubbles. Before you use bristled brushes dab them on a piece of masking tape to get all the loose bristles out. As for removing them from already cured resin you’re gonna have to sand.
so are you making a full carbon fibre roof replacement?
I was thinking of doing the same but i figured the stress from the two latch supports would damage the roof (eventually), plus to figure out how to mount them on the cf replacement roof would be challenging too.[/quote]
yes… making a completely replacement panel… already have the mounting issues worked out… if it sells well, a hood and trunk will be following
yes… making a completely replacement panel… already have the mounting issues worked out… if it sells well, a hood and trunk will be following
Wow you gotta send me some pics, very interested on what you did, are you using the factory latching mechanism? Don’t you think they are too heavy for the cf roof.
I’ll post up pics when I’m finished… factory latches are to be used… basically just replacing the metal skin and skeleton…
yah, the latches are heavy, and it would be nice to come up with something to replace them, I just haven’t put much thought into it