Here is something im doing for a friend who is racing in the uk time attack series.Its a bootlid for a classic subaru impreza.Part was infused with ver.top skin only weighs 3.5 lbs.he didnt want to buy any of the mass produced stuff because of the high fibreglass content.this was just out of the mold ready for trimming and clear coating.Next molds are for the 4 doors,front and rear bumpers,bonnet and roofskin.Will post more pics as I do the stuff
I own an 06 WRX. How many layers is that? Did you use a core?
Looks really good.
Good job!
I have a GC8 race car with a lot of carbon parts.
Thanks guys.the part has no core as there is an inner frame.It was made with 1 layer of 2x2 twill and 3 layers of 6 harness satin.Guy wanted the inner frame same as the original part.Kevlar was added in a couple of places for strength where the high level rear wing is mounted.Just out of interest the standard bootlid weighed 22 lb,one from the leading big name carbon manufacturer was 17.8 lb,not much saving there and it cost £650.00.Below is a pic of the mold for the inner frame.Still needs to be polished.Probably get it made this weekend as things are a bit hectic at the minute as im moving into bigger premises.
pure perfection.
Want…
I’d like to make parts for my car, but I can’t see ripping it apart to make plugs for molds… 
hi were from the ni are you from?
Hi mate,Just outside ballymena.What bout u ?
Don’t be afraid to take it apart. It’s just a stock Subie! If you mess up the stock panels making molds and never make composite parts, just repaint the originals and put them back on.
Or don’t bother, as there are a billion companies making parts for that thing. Although nothing very good.
ps- Please resize that enormous picture.
outside ballymoney mate, i was thinking of starting into composites. your not the lad ive heard of that works for ur place in galgorm, wrights? i was talking to a supplier and he mentioned he supplied stuff to someone…would love to call over see your work someday…might get a few tips on bonnet mould making.
Yep Im the one that works in Wrights at the minute.Word travels fast.Just got a unit to work out of last week.Been trying to do this at home but ran out of room so had to get somewhwre bigger.Was it rodney from fibreglass sales u were talkin to ?.He helped me out a lot sourcing resins etc.If all goes well im planning going full time at the composites in the summer.Its a scary thought walkin out of a good full time job to have a go at this.Im still moving stuff into the unit but when im up and running your more than welcome to come up and have a look about.Have the doors comin for the time attack subaru to do the molds from next week and a stack of stuff for the glanza boys.Talk to you soon
Davy
yea lad, it was rodney. Ive been considering getting an ecommerce site made, costly but could pay off. I was considering taking the risk of leaving full time job in I.T to follow this up also, but spare cash to people is low with people over here at the minute.
Deetech, that bottom frame for the “trunk” looks good…i take it that is just the mold? The skin looks great.
How do you make sure there is no bridging on the under frame of the part? I deal with curves like this daily and get bridging all the time. I’m no expert in composites though. I just need tips on how to prevent all briding when laying up ( infusing ) with 1 layer of carbon and 2 layers of 6oz fiberglass cloth.
Nice work btw. I too am scared to leave my good full time job to do only my composites business. I too am getting ready to move into a bigger place. funny eh?
Mate im far from being an expert in any way at composites either.I have learned most of what I can do from Werksberg.Guess I have just been very lucky that most of the things I have tried have came out ok…I only have been doing this for 8 months.Information on this type of thing in northern ireland is non existant and anybody who does know anything gaurds their knowledge very well i have found.Im actually a fabrication engineer by trade, this started as a hobby. As for the bridging, i try to use spray adhesive to hold the cloth down as best I can.Not easy with the heavier cloths.I also use stretchlon 800 bagging film as its high stretch and pulls down the cloth pretty well.the guy wanted the underframe of the part done with the twill showing same as the top,Im trying to talk him out of it as it will be a bridging nightmare as you say.The pic is just the mold.it scares me a lot as well packing in a good job to do this full time.Im giving it another couple of months to see how things go before I make the decision.
where did you get the strechlon 800? i had bought my stuff from airtech a long time ago and they didnt have the 800… their green bag doesnt stretch at all and its a nightmare… i got a nice elastic bag from r-g.de though… but everyone says nice things about the strechlon800…
I got the stretchlon from tygavac in the uk.They are the uk distributor for airtech.Only problem was the will not split rolls and a full 3000ft roll cost £457.00 +vat !!.I started with the green bag also,not good.
tell me about it…i have a full roll too! i think it’s around 100m length… originally we were gonna do an order of about 25 subaru bonnets but my friends bailed out, each because of his own reasons… well, the materials stayed with me :rolleyes: (i’m the only one who does composites anyway)
did you try Diatex 150XD ? its 1000% and its better than any stretchlon and it`s 3.5m width
Lad did you infuse this? I was speaking to Rodney a few weeks ago telling him to get me infusion resin as he never had any?What did you use?When i get time im going to start by making a mould for a bonnet not sure which car yet, probably my 5 gtt or evo 4 and see how that goes.
DT: How are you planning to bond the two halves of the bootlid together?
The OE parts tend to be bonded by some automotive panel adhesive which fills up the large tolerances between the two. I have seen (on parts made by others with polyester) that by using this it warps the finish on the outer skin quite badly as the solvent seems to pull.
The part looks great so far btw. 