Weve been working on some carbon fiber parts at work, and I thought it would be cool to share it with the fabrication guys. Its going to be an instrument shroud cover for a helicopter. I know its not 3rd gen, but I am wanting to do some real carbon fiber stuff for my car, without r!cing it out. What do you guys think would be cool in carbon fiber? I thought about a hood, but that would take alot of time, and if its not right the first time, Id be out around $600 in materials alone. I was also thinking maybe valve covers, or a radiator support. Maybe even an airdam or a shifter knob. What would you do with it? I could realistically build almost anything, as long as I can make a mold.

Well I for one would actually pay to have EVERY body panel on the car made out of lightweight carbon fiber, providing that it's all tested for direct fitment/bolt-on and has stock mounting points and all that jazz... Imagine how much weight that would be saved by having a 100% carbon fiber body camaro? The new corvette is made out of carbon fiber for its light weight characteristics. Then add an aluminum LS1 in the mix with chrome moly tubular suspension components and then you have a VERY light weight camaro.

yeah... well.. I like to dream...
haha
later

How about some CF Doors

Ray

f you made a center console, that was a better design than the stock one that would be cool, and you wouldn;t have to deal with the stupid little plastic screw on plates not lining up and crap. if its functional, or saves weight, i wouldnt call it r i c e at all, some might, but i think any functional carbon is bada$$. i work with carbon(which is amazingly cool to make stuff with) alot making parts for my sailboat, so i'm probobly biased on that though

First thing that popped into my head was a dash pad. I would imagine a direct replacement dash pad would be fairly popular if the cost wasn't astronomical. Such a large piece could have the rice look though, would have to see it first to know unfortunately.

How about a CF Camaro TPI air lid? (I modded mine using CF.) That mold for the glare shield (instrument shroud) looks like a good starting point.
Bill

was thinking bout this last night, a HSR plenum would be awesome looking, be MUCH lighter, and not get hot and heat soak the incoming air like the metal one, and its pretty much just a box so it wouldnt be too terribly difficult, i'd buy one for sure, heck i may go make one now that i think about it

How about fenders, or a bumper cover? I for one would love to have a GTA bumper cover that wouldnt warp or sag!!!

Id say ground effects or even an air splitter/diffuser kit for serious racers.

like this guys has had made:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3013212

pretty sweet splitter kit for his GTA
center console
shifters
steering wheels
spoilers

Im going to be using it to make a better trim panel for the Autometer Gauge cluster i made ( using the factory 91 cluster as a shell )

right now i have flatblack rattle canned cardboard.

and a cover panel for where my HVAC controls went to either house gauges or my megasquirt

i think a carbon fiber fuel door would be cool idk why or a carbon 91-92 camaro high rise spoiler

I'd buy both of those in a second!

I actually thought about trying an upper intake plenum, but it would be difficult. Not impossible, but it would have to be well thought out. And like I said a hood would be nice too.

Just for a cost reference, we have almost $600 in just this mold not counting almost 80 man hours. And then we have to add the rolls of fibers, and the resins.

We are going to make some little things for fun, right now. Maybe a keychain, or a small shifter/console cover.


We are hoping at work that if this works out as well as expected, we will start making more stuff out of the carbon fiber, and learn a little more about how to form it.

Do you have access to an autoclave?
Bill

I've got a vacuum bagging setup, a press, and some heaters, as well as the same resin in the photo above. If anyone is actually interested in a fuel tank cover PM me about it as I'm pretty sure that could be thrown together fairly quickly. As for my last carbon project:
http://s285.photobucket.com/albums/l...t=IMG_2792.jpg
The bathtub frame (think F1) is carbon and nomex.

Not really. We have access to room to build one, and we could isolate a section of the hangar, and control the temp. The resin we use cures at room temperature anyway. And we can vacuum bag it also, to remove any air bubbles. I would worry about a structural part with our set-up, but we arent actually building anything structural, yet. We are in the beginning stages with this, and like the progress we are making.


We are also making aviation parts, and the FAA is a bit more anal about stuff. After we get this built, there are months of paperwork, followed by thousands of dollars of engineering reports and testing and such, just so we can sell these things.

that looks fun.

too bad its asking too much to build structural parts. a carbon fiber flywheel and driveshaft would be awesome.
interior door panels?
the shift lever panel would look really good in carbon fiber.
I like the idea of a rear diffuser.
a carbon fiber dash pad would have some issues with glare.

You can get a high gloss clear, or a matte, or even colored finishes. The extremely glossy stuff you usually see, is a clear coat.

As far as the structural stuff, we just arent big enough. I know that the Skunk works, and Burt Rutan (sp?) can build carbon airplanes, and such. But they also have millions of dollars in equipment. We are just hand laying it. Think really strong fiberglass, that looks better.

Good vacuum bagging and proper wetting-out will do the job for non-structural automotive parts. That glareshield mold is a great starting point for a Camaro TPI airlid. Just do a top and bottom half mold / lay up, with the proper joggles, trim, and bond the two halves together. What if you teamed up with the guy on TGO making puffed-up Camaro TPI lids? Could lead to some thing $$. And, don't you just love the depth you get with a carbon fiber lay-up? I do.
Bill

It's a ton of fun, 46mph without a motor (and no tail wind). Shift lever panel could be done. While glare can be fixed, if you did the dash I'd advise painting it because I think that would look really cheesy if not. A shift lever panel would look cool although I'm not sure how much weight you would save. It's a pretty thin piece of plastic to begin with. That also would be simple however as it's really just a flat plate with some holes in it, on a camaro at least.
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You'd want to be careful with anything in the engine compartment as you would want a higher temp (and therefore probably heat cure) epoxy for that. I don't know how hot intakes get but I wouldn't want that breaking down chemically while I was driving. Epoxy is flammable after all.

Drummerdad- Good luck with your flight certs. Where I am we were putting a safety device on USAF birds and the flight certification process is a pain.

I also think CF gauge bezels would be nice!

boys, its time to move uphill from the office. lol.
the shift panel would be more of decoration than anything.

Im thinking about trying some valve covers. And maybe a radiator support. Eventually. Im a bit busy right now.

like jccaclimber said, you should be careful about parts in the engine bay. unless you have a high temperature epoxy or something.

I used an ambient temp cure resin from Hysol for the mod on my airlid. Under-hood heat has no effect on the layup.
Bill

How about Carbon Fibre hood blisters from the 91-92 Z's...

hey if you could mold a carbon fiber shiftknob that fit correctly id totally buy one, my buddy had a mazdaspeed shifter in his TII Rx7 and it fit perfectly in your hand, like comfortable to hold lol also you could probably make some good money reproducing the aero gfx for people who want them, theyd look pretty sweet on red camaros with black accents

dude, thats ****ing awesome!!!

I'd second a the front aero gfx in CF... that would be killer..

I want some carbon fiber stuff!!! How is it that they make a ton of stuff for all of those cheesy f%$#ing imports and almost nothing for Thirdgens unless its !@#&^%$ "universal" LOL

to sugar coat it : people just dont appreciate our thirdgens.

In reality: We're a dying breed of enthusiasts that have been looked at as redn3ck, hillbilly, moonshine lovin idiots lol. All those imports have "individual parts" for them because in reality nearly all honda parts are universal, nearly all toyotas can swap parts blah blah blah. We were left back in the 80's, before the import scene hit and its a damn shame that kids can see a civic all chromed out with EVERY decal you could find in a parts store and be like hey its a sweet civic. In the case of the thirdgen they either take the hillbilly approach or they fall in love with them so its kind of a hit or miss deal with us.

luckily there are still some of us "teens" that have learned to appreciate these cars along with learning a thing or two about building them...and we are not a dying breed of redn3cks, or hillbilly's...lol(or beaners in my specific case)....sorry for being off topic its just that I just had to exclude myself from that "crowd of teens" that like those decal filled civics...

maybe i pitched that wrong, sorry kinda late lol im in the teen group as well, just shy of 18 by a couple of days it kills me when people ask me why i rock the thirdgen instead of a new car, my favorite response by far is just: Well... we're takin it back (good movie if you know the quote)

In any case im serious about that shift knob lol i cant find one i like and if they're all so ridiculously priced its just insane.

that movie is a case where the sequal was probably better if not just as good as the first.

CF body panels would be ideal, but too expensive for a small production. That leaves interior plastic piece replacements, maybe ground effects outside, and random other little things. I wouldn't like ground effects, only because i live in the NE, and the roads are crap.

I would say a CF dashpad would be good. You can charge around 200 for one and it would still be considered a deal compared to the current marketed ones (15 year old stock finds). With any luck, you'll get enough orders to make 200 bucks a profitable number, though i doubt you'll spend near that much in materials, so it's just a matter of getting enough orders to cover the design/labor costs.

dash pad is the only thing i would really consider. Everything else would be too expensive to warrant CF in my eyes.

18 right here! yea its a shame how so many of us damn kids think civics can ever be "cool". but on topic, all this carbon fiber talk REALLY makes me want some

Guys, do some research about making small parts out of carbon fiber. Its really very simple to make some of the small stuff you guys are talking about.

Heres a great tutorial: http://www.theturboforums.com/PBcarbonfiber.php

The tutorial is for making a door.. which obviously is going to be more complicated than something simple.. like a dash cover.

hey now. We're talking dash pads. Not covers. It's gotta have venting ducts and what not.

The problem with CF is not that it's hard or easy. It's that it's very hard to automate the process of making CF parts, so it mostly all is done by hand. This makes it expensive, especially when you deal with small quantities. That's why i suggested dash pads, because they're expensive already for being such a simple part, so you have a much better chance at recoupping your cost because more people are likely to buy it, rather than a much more expensive shift knob or gas cap door (compared to just stock).

For the people who dont want some gaudy looking CF dash pad, you can always throw some textured paint on there to mimic stock plastic and you'll have all the strength and durability of CF, without the look.

Of course, you could always do it yourself, but selling stuff is a good way to fund your own projects, and you can't sell stuff if people dont buy anything.

I would love to get a dash pad made out of CF!!! master_disaster and I both live in AZ and the sun EATS them ALIVE here!! I hate to spend 300+ on a new dash pad only to have it cracked 5 years later (Such is the case with my 90 RS, with 4 year old pad) 200 bucks.... I'll take 2 of them right now!! LOL Plus it would be cool to watch the honda crowd S##t a brick when they see a carbon fiber dash in an "OLD" car!!

First of all i dont consider my car "OLD" if you think about it our cars are very modern considering they were one of the most aerodynamic cars still into the mid 90's and the styling was circa '82 and remained mostly unchanged for 10 years and STILL looks good should say something.

keep in mind most of these honda boys are rockin cars not much "younger" than our cars infact the popular honda is a mid 80's early 90's hatchback.

I've seen a CF hood but it was made in japan and the fit was EH

+1 to the dash pad, it would look sick imo fortunately the previous owner of my camaro had a bit more money than i did and he replaced the dash right before i bought it but a CF one wouldnt look too bad

i was thinking about attempting to make cf dash pad that was ***** lookin and some door panles too.it would be sweet!

I just purchased a carbon fiber hood from a company in Cal for 499.00 for my 02, they also make one for a third. Will let you guys know about qaulity as soon as it gets here. Price was good.

What was the company? Do they have a website to check out?

Cheers,
Richard.

http://www.visracing.com/newcatalog/...oducts_id=8008

how hard is it to paint carbon fiber? if were to get a cf hood or somthing i more than likly want to paint it looks kinda ricy left alone

LOL, saigon_bob!! I put "old" in in quotes for a reason!!! LOL I go to a car show every fri and my yellow 86 IROC gets lots of compliments... Then at least 3 guys hanging out in their 350-z or acura nsx or honda s-2000 will tell me that its pretty cool for an "old" car. I was quoting them!! LOL, my thirdgens are not old cars, if they were then I must be ancient!!! (I am the first owner of my 90 RS, still have the window sticker) LOL.

As far as I know, CF is no harder to paint than Fiberglass....

What about various interior trim pieces? Making a mold would be super easy and I would be willing to send you the parts to do it for a Firebird. Things like the gauge trim cover or various other small parts. Being that the molds would be easier to make is this something you would be interested in doing?

Carbon Fiber really isnt much harder to deal with than fiberglass. Im no engineer, but Ive read alot about it. And we are doing a little at work. Heres what I know:

It costs ALOT more than fiberglass.
It gets laid up basically the same. Its strong because of the strength of the actual fibers. If you take a couple of strands of it, and try to break it, its not happening. Very strong.
As a composite, its strongest when laid up in a cross section like an X. Ive read that 25-45 degrees seems to work best. And NO air bubbles. If it takes an autoclave, or a vacuum system, fine. No bubbles. Some guys have built bike frames, and wrapped them in electrical tape. Compression works also.
If you have to cut it, or sand it, it chews tool bits up pretty quick. And if you have to sand or cut it, you must use gloves, and a mask, and preferably a suit. The problem with a carbon based fiber is (again, Ive read) the body wont reject it. Glass or metal will eventually fester, and work out. Carbon wont, because we are carbon based. If it gets in your lungs, your screwed. At least thats what Ive read.

Im sure we have some engineers here who can get more specific. Im just an Airframe mechanic, who likes the look, and has convinced his boss at work we need to get more into it.

As for making panels, its easy. You can make a mold from clay, or even the actual part, or from floral foam. Lay one or two layers of real thin fiber over the outside, after spraying a releasing agent, and then when its dry, lay the rest up on the inside. And you can cheat and use fiberglass inside, to save cost. Or use Kevlar for an even stronger part. Again, I dont recommend anything structural. Leave that to the experts.

Id make some parts for my car, but I dont want it to look r!cey. You have to be careful what parts to make. The gauge bezels, and interior trim pieces are use way to much in the import crowd.

So does that mean you would or wouldn't be interested if I provided the interior parts? It wouldn't be much, probably gauge bezel, door sills, the shifter surround on my 4th gen console/ash tray lid, and a couple other small pieces.

Ok, having worked at a company that makes carbon bike parts (Including Lance Armstrong's time trial wheels), the purpose of a press or vacuum bag is to mostly to squeeze out extra resin. This provides better compaction of the fibers yielding a stronger, lighter part. For the most part the layup is like fiberglass. However, the fibers do not bend as easily so they are a bit harder to work with, especially on curved parts. Foam, fiberglass matting, and balsa wood are common fillers, and in some cases make a lighter part at nearly the same strength (think of it like the composite equivalent to an I-beam). Kevlar isn't as strong as carbon, but has some other advantages. It is more abrasion resistant and it is fuzzy rather than sharp when parts fail. Also, when kevlar is used in carbon parts, the kevlar tends to hold when the carbon fails because it in more flexible. As a result, parts that would otherwise have completely separated are held together, even if they are broken.
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1bdbrd, I'm interested in making some carbon cosmetic parts if you provide the templates. Drop me a PM and I'll give you my e-mail address.