need some help making a part fit

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#1

im trying to make a set of carbon covers to stick on top of the existing wooden trims in the car,basically a self adhesive overlay.
so far i have overlayed one part and made a mold for a test piece,ive infused this piece and its come out great…but…it doesnt fit :frowning: i realise that if i just mold the stock part then the new part will be too small so on previuos advice i used 1mm sheet wax on the stock part then molded that,should work great in theory but the fitment is poor.is there another way of building up an even thickness equiv to 2 layers of infused carbon so i can try another mold? i really need to get these right as ive got loads of people wanting a set for thier car @ £200 a set…heres what ive done so far,yeah it looks good in the pics but its not saleable.

#2

ok i might have answered this myself,ive measured the infused part at 0.5mm so i have ordered a box of 0.5mm wax,hopefully this works…

#3

You doing the 2 doors and across the dash yeah?

Is that your Soarer?
Which version?
I had a twin-turbo JZZ-30. Fantastic engineering in those cars especially the active suspension model (UZZ-31?).

#4

yeah its my V8 :)and yes im planning on doing the full set inc dash…

#5

Cool! I have made molds for a couple of the interior pieces as well! The grey interior with the wood always looked not quite right (tan looks better with wood imo), but with the carbon it looks great. Anyways, although I have only done these as overlays (to test out the look/fitment), I found a bit of pre-sanding can be helpful because of the tight tolerances especially around the door handles etc. (I ended up oversanding the twill piece in an attempt to get it more flush… see 434) although this might not be an option for those who would want to preserve the pieces. Anyways GL and good job! The SC begs for the carbon treatment!:smiley:

http://www.clublexus.com/gallery/data//500/medium/Picture_0402.jpg
http://www.clublexus.com/gallery/data//500/medium/Picture_0471.jpg
http://www.clublexus.com/gallery/data//500/medium/Picture_0434.jpg

#6

are you attaching these to the OE trims using double sided tape or just a friction fitment?? curious because I do similar items

#7

both :)they fit well eough to hold themselves loosely on but use double sided tape also.how do you make your molds the correct size?

#8

You need to make a plug bigger than the original item you moulded from, thats larger by the thickness of your layup, then if you want parts to fit exactly hand lay-up using female and male moulds.

Probably will be fine though if you make plug a little bigger than the thickness of your layup, and fit parts using silicon sealant.

#9

I’ve mostly done temp overlays, ie. overlay on the OE part that is removed then sold and installed with silicon adhesive.
However, for molded “stick on” overlays I’ve used Duratec hibuild primer and then take the mold from that. Works out ok though.
But the sheet wax does sound interesting, never used it before. I wonder what the “molding” limitations of it are?

I’ve also thought of doing a vacuum formed cover over the plug but trying to maintain uniform thinckness is the sticky point for that method