How would I infuse this?

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#1

Or firstly…how would I make a mold for infusion?

I wish I had a side picture…

There are openings at the bottom of each vent facing the front of the car. I really don’t want to have to cut them out each time I make a finished part, especially if I plan to gelcoat them.

I’m thinking of extending the edges of the openings to be used as a flange, resin break.

Thanks!
Owen

#2

Sorry, I’m talking about reproducing the vents only!

#3

You’ll have to hand lay that up unless you fill in the openings than you can VIP or vacuum bag it.:o

#4

If youre saying you want to make molds for the vents that would be glassed into a hood later on…Id take the vents, and make the mold with the vent area blocked off so the mold had no holes.

Cut your cloth so that it didnt need to be cut out afterwards (still need to be trimmed Im guessing) and Id infuse them. The only problem I see is that youd need to be clever to infuse the bridges between the vents…resin can try to skirt areas on you when you infuse.

Although Im not sure why youd want to worry about it in the first place if youre going to make these as insert and blend peices…they will be getting worked pretty hard.

If the hood is one piece and youre going to make them for people you can just cut your cloth so the holes arent filled with cloth and tape off the area of the mold when you shoot gelcoat and peel it then do your thing…shouldnt be a problem.

#5

by the way…what car is that? Is that an old Z car from Nissan/Datsun? Im not a nostalgia buff by any means.

#6

NOT the answers I was hoping for…but they were the answers I was expecting:p

I guess I can have the customer trim out the openings. I read here about adding a groove to the mold which will transfer to the part, showing where to cut.

And yes hybridracers, it is a '73 Datsun 240Z. Formerly Chevy powered, now Mazda powered! Years ago, I started an online community which is now known as HybridZ.org.

Thanks guys!

#7

as hybrid said, you just don’t gelcoat the opening, and you cut out the fabric from the same area. You will have to trim no matter what, unless you use prepreg, and even then…trimming will always happen.

Yeah, you can add a scribe line/ridge to show where to trim.