Fabricating carbon fiber parts!?

[clement_ghost]

Have anyone tried or know how to fabricate carbon fiber parts?

I've found interesting the kits available on www.carbonmods.co.uk and videos explains well.

The only thing you need is time and patience!

I'm tired of having no carbon fiber parts available for my 99-00 protege so I would try making a fuel door... if it comes out great, I'll head for fenders and hood.
And maybe doors later... in my dreams! Lol, looks too much complicated with the window frame, etc...
Roof would also be a great idea but you gotta take out front and rear window to change it.

Thanks for tips, comments or any handy tricks!

Steven

 

[malcantry]

fabricating CF requires the mold, the material, the resin, and then sealing and vacuuming the piece while the resin sets. its not like fiberglass by any means, i wish.. good luck amigo

 

[speedracr79]

I've contempleted this myself I'd kill for a set of fenders for our car as well as a roof. I do have a fuel door though as well as the trunk hood a pillars and the misc dg interior pieces. But I wouldnt mind having some more. Like mirror covers, grill and there's a few others so lmk how it goes man

 

[clement_ghost]

fabricating CF requires the mold, the material, the resin, and then sealing and vacuuming the piece while the resin sets. its not like fiberglass by any means, i wish.. good luck amigo

They sell kits to fabricate the molds. Normal kits for small parts and large kits for bigger parts like a hood, roof, etc... Well big pannels.

As explained on the site, there's two ways of making parts; one with the vacuum pump and one "by band". The way I understand the difference, with a vacuum made part the finish is cleanier and closer to perfection. But anyways, all my parts would be painted. I'm more interested in carbon fiber parts for it's lightweight and "non-corrosive" material.

 

[clement_ghost]

I've contempleted this myself I'd kill for a set of fenders for our car as well as a roof. I do have a fuel door though as well as the trunk hood a pillars and the misc dg interior pieces. But I wouldnt mind having some more. Like mirror covers, grill and there's a few others so lmk how it goes man

Could you send me pictures of your fuel door? Inside/outside and mounting screws, etc.

Also some hood pics would be appreciated!

 

[yudkib]

i'm one of few people on here who can say anything about fabricating CF parts cause i've done it.

first off you dont have to vac bag, you can lay it wet like fiberglass. second of all, dont try making CF or fiberglass parts.

third, if you want a p5 or a protege gas cap, i have both, but they're being sold as a set. guess what i planned to do with them?

 

[yudkib]

also, there were people who made fenders and roof caps. between the two, it costs about the same as getting a 00 protege. so there's not a strong market. unsurprisingly, isport does not make CF for these cars any more.

 

[clement_ghost]

I think I'll give it a try anyways. I'll keep that car as long as I can so time is just a detail and my friend used to work in a bodyshop for 12 years... He's pretty good at it! I help him with mechanical and he helps me with body...

Thats why I'm not worried about the body techniques. My goal is through next years get a non-corrosive lightweight car... Well the most possible.

 

[yudkib]

to pull one set of fenders, you're talking about probably 200 hours worth of work and $500 in parts. not including another $200-300 in start-up costs, like tools and brushes and various goops. is it worth it for a one-off? up to you, but this is why its a hard market to sell to.

play around with the gas caps. i'll gie them to you at a good price. if you're dead set on this, i'll give you some pointers... but know, it is a serious, serious endeavor as far as work, and you can easily find yourself $500 in the hole and 100 hours deep with nothing to show for it. focus on small cheap stuff if you ever want to market it.

 

[clement_ghost]

I not looking to market it... We all know that there is no market for our platform... And even less with 99-00 protegs. I'm doing it to be unique, don't care of the price or time that it will take. If you've seen my car, you'd understand that price and time is a small detail.

I made myself a turbo kit because there's none available... Took me more than 50 hours to fabricate the header and cost me around 300$ of material. And I'm already well equipped with tools here, I'm a mechanic and my friend is a "bodyman". I have all the stuff to make another 1.6 turbo setup but I know I wouldn't sell it because nobody tunes their ZM-DE...

Have any tips? (Remember that all carbon fiber parts will be painted so you'll not even see it)

 

[speedracr79]

I want a turbo kit for my ZM DE. But I'm totally on board for uniqueness I've dumped quite a bit of money I to my 1.6 and I'm not done yet. I know its a lost cause but its mine.

 

[yudkib]

the best tip is to make good plugs and make good molds. get a mil gauge, learn how to use it, and put your gel coats on thick enough. use good epoxy but it is expensive. alternately use middle-of-the-road epoxy but make sure you put a UV stabilizing top coat on it.

get my gas lids. i'll price two-for-one. i can post pictures.

 

[CHIQLES]

if your taking request I would really love one of these

its a bonnet spoiler

 

[CHIQLES]

cancel that order(smash) not cost effective for anybody. Have you had any progress with your projects?

 

[clement_ghost]

Not yet... still have to finish wire tuckand get the car moving before doing useless things like carbon fiber parts.

 

[CHIQLES]

I understand.

 

[IllaNoizeTV]

Here's a video to do so:
https://youtu.be/T1-e4sY_n5g

I too would like to fabricate my own car. When I was younger I always wanted to be a car designer but things changed as life progressed. I still want to do it some day. It's def on my bucket list. Buying all the parts and tools is the first step which won't happen until years from now.

 

[thepope540]

Holy old thread batman!

 

[IllaNoizeTV]

Holy old thread batman!

That's how you keep this forum alive. Lol. Thread revival! [emoji106]

 

[xtreme velocity]

All this CF sounds like fun but a ton of work! I have decided that I will hydrodip anything I want CF. Hoping to get my dip tank and everything setup before too long! Got so much ugly stuff that needs to be redone!