Checked in the search and didn't find what i was looking for, so figured I'd ask away.

Are there any manufaturers of carbon fiber, kevlar or carb/kev doors for 3rd gens?

I've searched Yahoo and Google till my eyes started bleeding (j/k, lol) for any info, but nothing. I know how the process is done somewhat, except making some body panels, and I have connections and suppliers of the materials. So, if I can't find some doors already made, I guess I'll have to resort to making my own molds and building the doors myself. I know of some people in Indy that could do them also.

I'm sure there has to be some for drag racing or even road racing bodies. But I think if I were to make my own, I may do some research and engineering to make them "street legal" and hold glass or plexi windows that operate. I just wonder if anyone did this for 3rd gens. I'd be happy with non street legal C/F doors, but whats the fun in that lol. I want to drive to the track and roll the windows down, lol. Man, I need to quit being long winded, lol.

 

Well so far in my life I have only seen one CF part made for a 3rd gen and it was a CF hood custom made for a fellow forum member. Other than that, I have never seen any CF parts for 3rd gens. Its probably not worth it for someone to mass produce CF parts for 3rd gens because not alot of 3rd gen owners would buy it (only a handfull). If thats what you really want then you'll probably have to make it yourself or hire a local CF fabricator. One thing to keep in mind is the 3rdgen is a unibody car meaning part of the body's strength is in the doors (and every panel attached). Replacing the doors with something aftermarket might mess up the strength of the body (very hard to tell for sure) so you might also want to consider a rollcage or at least SFC's to keep everything tied together

I can understand why you want CF doors as the 3rd gen doors weigh almost 100 pounds each (ouch!). I went through the same problem when looking for ways to extremely lighten my drifting/roadrace Camaro. Unfortunately the only real lightweight pieces you can buy for a 3rd gen are fiberglass and they are all very expensive. $500 for the doors!! And considering the probability of crashing in my sport, it wasnt a good choice for me. The best solution for me is completely gutting the doors and converting to lexan windows. This also requires my rollcage be built to handle side impacts (like a dirt track car). So thats where I'm @ now, building the rollcage. This way I can shave about 65 pounds off each door and it still looks stock at a glance. The windows are also removable. My goal is a sub 3000 pound car (w/o driver) with a neutral cornerweight setup and a perfect 50/50 weight distribution. These things are needed for effective high speed drifting.

 

cravyhawian: you could save alot of time and buy a stock 91-93 240sx. but then it would not look as cool

i would look into a dirt style roll cage first... before spnding 500 dollars on having doors made

 

there is a fiberglass shop in St. Pete Fla that makes entire 3rd gen bodies and parts. Most of these places can also make them in kevlar/carbon.I'm at work, will get you the number asap.
Try fiberglass unlimited 727-345-2647

 

I'll be down there beggin them to make stuff asap

 

Well, SFC and a roll cage are already in the plans. I'm trying to get as much info as I can though before I start. To be able to keep it somewhat street legal, I'm looking to build the doors like Saturn doors, which we all know are mostly composites instead of metal. But I can remember if the carcas of the door is metal or composite and how the impact bar is in there.

I will also be remaking all of the window tracks and equipment with some strong aluminum. I have friends in a machine shop that can work this out for me. And as much glass as possible will be swapped with lexan. And the T-Tops, if equipped will be reconstructed with CF/KEV and the like.

The car will be show and race. Whats the point of having a fast looking car and not have the power to back it up? lol

I've also been looking into making some engine accessory mounts out of CF, like the alt and P/S brackets. But I may be dreaming there since I don't have a race car developing team at my disposal, lol.

I figure, if I were to make some of these parts with some success, I'm sure I could at least produce enough to have a return on my investment with the mold making and materials.

There are some other things I'll be doing body wise, but I'll keep those to myself since I know the flames and bad comments would be abundant, lol. :sillylol:

 

Hehe alot of people say that. I actually prefer a Camaro because of the longer wheelbase and low end torque. Its also cool to have a domestic out there representing. The only real downfall is the weight, so thats why I'm going crazy with the weight reduction. Japan drifters with big cars go through the same stuff. Right now my big weight reduction mods are aluminum heads, gutted doors (waaaay lighter), and I got a lexan windshield and lexan rear hatch comming in. As for the rollcage, we are using a dirt style cage as our template, but instead of buying the kit we bought the tube notcher so we can make our own stuff.

 

I've got a race car chassis builder close to me for my cage. His son is in my car club. He builds a lot of Mopar and Chevy cars. I can get a cage done for next to nothing. He will also do some stiffening of the chassis along with all the Spohn and PA Racing stuff. He'll be helping me figure out how to get a 10 point in there and still have room on the doors for the 4th gen door panels. Kind of contradicts trying to save weight but keeping the full interior, lol. This will be an interesting project as soon as I get my other cars sold and buy my next 3rd gen.

 

Z28*****, do me a favor and tell them Rob sent you, I need to suck up to these guys, thanks

 

I've been toying around with idea of producing a few molds for various parts of my car to include the dash, the interior door panels, the door skins, and front fenders. Unfortunately, it's time, money and labor intensive work. I'm about halfway done developing and building some interior door panels so far, but that's it. I decided that I needed a durable template for this process, I bought an old door panel and transferred the outline to a piece of .032 7075-T6 aluminum sheet. I cut out all the holes and have a great template, but I'm a little short on time to finish the rest. I guess what I'm saying is that if you pay someone else to do this work, you'll have to pony up a lot of cash. If you've got the time, I'd recommend doing it yourself.

 

Han Solo:

The process for making the carbon fiber parts, requires a good investment in machinery, molds, raw materials, and labor, and big companies don't see 21 to 11 year old cars as candidates for that, even though we love 'em.
Carbon fiber, can be worked, as "real" carbon fiber, which involves making a plug (or using and OEM part as a plug, then making carbon fiber molds (so they withstand the heat and pressure). They are placed in a big oven that also provides vaccum to the underside and positive pressure to the outside and high heat (it's called and autoclave). When the molds are cured, the process is repeated, this time by laying up the material into the molds (after polishing, buffing and applying more release agent or wax). The carbon fiber itself, is not sold as the fabric or mat you commonly see that fiberglass comes in, but actually what is called pre-preg; the fabric comes pre-impregnated with resin, and is kept in refirgerators, to prevent the resin from kickin in and hardening from heat. The type of carbon, weave, and type of resin (and the resulting combination of all these variables) plus the number of plies used, the orientation of fibers, and the temps and curing times, is what gives the final part its lightweight and strenght.
Now you see... Even though I simplified it a lot, (there's more to it than that) that only race car fabrication outfits; exotic car, aerospace and other industrialized manufacturers, can take on these kind of jobs, not your average Joe, working in a two car garage, or the traditional fiberglass manufacturer.

The other way to use carbon fiber, is by a traditional lay-up, using epoxy resin. This is not as efficient, is heavier, not nearly as strong and done sometimes mainly for visual purposes, not where the true advantages of the material are realized. Sometimes, it is used only as a top layer, like some cheapie import hoods, to make it look like carbon fiber.

I think you would be better off making yourself all the part you need in fiberglass, or if you want to increase a bit the strength and impact resistance of the part, use some kevlar in the interior layers. Kevlar, can NOT be sanded, so never leave it as an exterior layer. It needs some special scissors too, since it is pretty abrasive. Of course you need more time and investment (molds require 3-5 times the amount of materials that the finished part takes), plus the labor. But...you could make your own parts any way you want, and use the molds later on for more parts, or sell the molds. Check in what other areas of the car you can shave weight, by swiss-cheesing, replacing steel with aluminum, using tubular parts, etc.
Just my $.02.

 

http://www.fiberglast.com/

 

That's a very good link TPI, actually, there's a pic of a car I built in that site. Check "pics and links" then "non-racing autos" on the column on the right, the next to last pic (silver and blue car) ... I built it with a moldless technique.
There's a lot of good books and videos there, so you get to know a bit more about composites.

 

Nice..

That site is great. Ive done some bogsleds local in CF.
I use to work for VEC TECH and we did WELCRAFT,LARSOn,HATERUS YAHTS, boat hulls etc. outa glass some custom cf stuff etc.

along with ingersal(sp)rand josh deer tractors etc.

Im doing my Targa Top for my 92Z outa a CF/Kevlar mix.
I started a mold for a CF superRam plenum but stoped that for a few other projects I had goin on.

I fyou have the patients and time the possibilities are endless.