Couple Questions

General Composites Discussions Composites Talk
#1

Ok…so since the weather is slowly coming around I’m getting my ideas in order for my summer of experimentation. I previously had a carbon fiber hood and spoiler on my car. I got rid of them and am thinking of doing up another hood and spoiler of my own design this time around. Now…for the questions.

1.) On the fabric. I’m thinking about Texalium. My car is Greystone, so the carbon fiber was too dark. I’m not sure if the texalium would be too light. Does anyone have a sample they could send me so I could check?

2.) On the spoiler, I’m thinking of shaping it out of foam first for a plug and then pull molds. What kind of foam should I try? I’ve tried the floral foam and it was more of a mess than what it was worth.

3.) On the hood hinge mounting points. Are nutzerts in wood strong enough? Or should I have a plate with nuts welded to it?

Here is a picture of my car for reference so you can see what I mean about trying to match the fabric better to the color of the car.

#2

I’d suggest just using a top layer of 8oz carbon, 3 layers of 10oz glass in the middle, and another layer of 8oz carbon. Then when it’s done, just primer and paint so it matches your stock car.
IMO, don’t think you’d like the silver texalium. It will look almost white on your car, maybe like bare metal from far away.

#3

Or how about this its called Arctic ice (bluey silver) i know its in the uk but hey you must have this in the US.
http://www.carrreinforcements.com/

Baz

#4

Thanks for the link. Nice stuff! I’ve sent them an email to see if they have a US distributor for their products.

#5

What about the darker texalium? I’ve seen one that looked like a dark grey before.

#6

You might also think of trying the same way that the old Myers Manx (Burce Myers has been over my home a time or too…) metalflake finish…

Spray in clear gel coat, let it gel, spray in more clear but with transparent tinited blue (?), then do your lay up with Tex. or …?

Or, after the first clear coat, spray a lite (see thru) coat of the same body color paint, let it dry and then lay up. But experiment first on some small test pieces to perfect this process first!

#7

Personaly on stuff like that I dont see why people dont paint over most of the hood…

you could easily tape off the vent areas of the hood and paint match the rest of the car.

The off color of regular carbon can be nice if its used as an accent and not a panel.

Ive painted a bunch of stuff like that for people…always looks nicer than a carbon panel.

You DONT want to try the tex…youd be really pissed of trying to get it to lay up in that hood shape. If you did a stock version maybe…but with all that going on in shape…youd burn your house down in frustration.

#8

I’ve gotten an email back from carr for their US distributor. I may see what prices are for some of their fabrics. Soller said that he won’t be dying any cloth for about 6 months. I’ll let you all know what I find out.

#9

As for mounting the hood. You can either build up the area around the mounting holes with a few more layers of CF or FG. You can also get FB blocks (g10, etc) and insert those into the layers, that way you have room to drill. You can also get composite hardware through companies, both nuts and bolts. Might need core for the nuts…who knows.
maybe even sandwiching metal washers (coated in resin or FB first so it doesn’t corrode) in the right locations for extra strength!! Make sure they are LARGE washers.