hello,
im considering moulding a roof skin for my car. My question is, the way I have seen it done is that the existing skin has the bulk of the roof cut out and a 2-3" flange is left around the edge. The new composite skin is placed over the flang and bonded to it. What I dont understand is how to get the mould to be the exact size so it will fit over the edge of the existing roof? I would of thought it would need to be slightly oversize?
any help would be great
What car does it hav roof rail and and have u used carbon before? Whats ur lay schedule are u using a core material?
car has no roof rails, just a small rain lip at either side.
It will be infused carbon, 5 layers with no core material as the car is structurally solid due to weld in cage
Cheers for posting mate
was that enough info brainstorm
You will want to use a core regardless of cage or not.
I agree with TET on this one… you are going to want to use some sort of core. If you are going for race car light, then cut 3 layers of carbon out of the laminate and use a 0.125" or 0.25" core sandwiched between 2 layers of carbon
cheers fellas, will lookinto using a core, but can you tell about how to make the initial mould? does it havw to be slightly oversize or will it flex over the existing roof?
Yer that information is ok i wonded that if u was asking how to make a mold for a skin if u had any experiance. Also id look into making flanges off the rails. front windscreen and rear of the roof.
lol, I have done quite a few composite parts, the roof will have a 3" skirt around the perimeter for the infusion bag, but its the actual plug im unsure of, if I replicate the original roof the the new part wont fit over it, so my question is how do you get the plug to be the correct size so the new parts can fit over the existing roof?
Wax the top of the car lay up desired thickness of glass and take it to a body man to get it perfect. Wax that an build a mold on that.
That will get you a part that fits over the existing roof but. That’s pointless and a waste.
If you want to do it and get props replicate the sheet metal skin with carbon fiber. Also the tooling for this project should be well built so it’s not flimsy
Hello Dallas, thanks for getting back to me, unfortunatly this is the only way to make a carbon roof fit to this car, but I agree its a bit of a waste leaving the entire existing roof on.
I take you mean put say 2 layers of grp on the top of the roof, then sand that smooth and mould that? Could be a bit of tril and error with the size, I can see this being an expensive moulding exercise lol