Carbon Fiber Car Parts

[Pzych0]

Well this looks like a good place to start

Considering the fact most racing cars use carbon fiber parts

I am looking for helpp from anyone that can give me infomation on carbon. Making my own custom parts for my car.

Im looking for information on using Carbon Fiber and what quatities to use the expoxy resin's in.

Any and all help will be appreciated

[_mpr_]

Before you start with components it would be best to find an autoclave big enough to fit the largest component on your car. Most likely the hood would be the largest one. Without access to an autoclave you won't be making anything at all.

[Pzych0]

ok thanks ill have to start looking around

Thanks

[kwiksilver20]

where do i go to have some one make cf parts for my car?
any one out there know mk1 cf part makers??????

please help....

Wide body kits too......


Modified by kwiksilver20 at 3:37 PM 7-3-2006

[GreenandChrome]

Quote, originally posted by _mpr_ »

Before you start with components it would be best to find an autoclave big enough to fit the largest component on your car. Most likely the hood would be the largest one. Without access to an autoclave you won't be making anything at all.

next time, define autoclave...i doubt the young buck knows what it is. i'm sure one to do a hood won't exactly fit in the corner of the garage.

[_mpr_]

Quote, originally posted by GreenandChrome »

next time, define autoclave...i doubt the young buck knows what it is.

I find that dictionaries are a great place to start...

[im_a_local]

i'm guessing autoclave meaning oven. how many carbon manufacturers actually bake thier peices??? I know prepreg material must be hard to come by unless you buy it in bulk.... and whats wrong with vacuum bagging? I would like to learn more about this area myself.

[samurai75007]

I have seen some people make carbon fiber parts for their computers; some whole cases even. They usually put a few books on it to keep flat but I have no idea how you would make curved parts. I to am looking to make some things but it’s at least a $300 investment to try and I don’t have that right now being a college student.

[Hoadley]

How I've seen McLaren do it was they put the carbon fiber cloth on a mold, gobered it up with resin, vacuum packed it and then baked it. I assumed the freshly baked carbon fiber piece would just be lightly pried out of the mold, but I'm not sure that it stayed in the mold though the autoclave . Finding something to make a mold out of that can withstand extremely high temperatures would be the hard part, at least after you find an autoclave to use.

[mktwo]

and if you do suspension pieces, watch out for stray wings in your way

[ttengineer]

To find an autoclave for the size of a hood would run in the $100K-$300K. Vacuum bag is the way to go.....

The cheep way: Two sets of female molds. Hood and Hood under structure. Wet (resin) hand lay up with twill top layer and using fiber glass as a core then followed up with unidirectional dry carbon fiber. Vacuum bag and wait 5 hours. Glue two halves together with Pro-set glue. Done Selling price- Around 300

If you want to make it like an engineer working for an automotive company. Unidirectional Pre-preg ( you will need to store it in a freezer) with the top layer of Twill for looks. Nomax Honey comb for the core then two layers of Uni. Heat under Vacuum at 200 degrees F and 4 hours later.. Pop both piece out of the molds and glue together. Wait over night for glue to harden. Then paint with clear primer and a coat of clear. Done. Selling price around 1000

I am going to start making custom CF parts. Let me know if I can be of any help to you.

[jsa]

Grass Roots Motorsports magazine ran an article a few months back about making your own small carbon fiber parts using a vacuum bag method. Obviously, this isn't as professional as an autoclave, but you can affordably experiement. The article even gave a few sources for supplies, etc.

[ensone]

making any CF parts yet?
im looking for an mk1 hood.. either of of cf or fiber glass

[CaptainMo16v]

Its all depends on what your doing, Yeah you will need an autoclave if your making an airplane or a car of frame components. But seriously its blown way out of porportion, if your making small parts I.E. trim pieces, charge pipes, engine covers, even limeted structural peices you can use woven cloth and epoxy the same as fibre glass. ive seen one method were someone making charge pipes for turbo used flexpipe to make the shape in the engine bay, then fill it with expanding foam to hold a shape, remove from the bay, cover with one layer of carbon, then cut the peice in two pieces to remove the pipe, did another layer over that to put it back together, and did a finish layer with a carbon sleeve (sold at aerosleeves.com), sanded and polished the peices and now has all 1 peice carbon firbre charge pipes. GOOD STUFF. there are plenty of options out there aswell that dont include spending $100k on an autoclave, such as shrink tape and vacuum bags. dont beleive all the crap about autoclaves

[JohnnyDoyle]

http://www.cstsales.com/HowToArticles.htm
http://carcraft.com/techarticles/56999/
http://www.uscomposites.com/

Making simple carbon panels, etc. (for weight savings or just because CF freakin' rocks) really isn't super hard. Don't go replacing structural parts with garage-made carbon, though.

-JD

[rogue108]

Quote »

Making simple carbon panels, etc. (for weight savings or just because CF freakin' rocks) really isn't super hard. Don't go replacing structural parts with garage-made carbon, though. -JD

Exactly...Ding.
Its still pain to lay up CF on your own, especially if you haven't done it before. I would start with sheets of fiberglass before moving to the more expensive CF.

[epjetta]

you dont have to have an autoclave to produce carbon parts. a simple wetlay process under vaccum will produce very nice parts when done properly

[3ternity]

extremely expensive, buddy of mine paid roughly 30gz to do a cf body on his NSX. He did all the work too, did'nt pay for labor.

[chois]

Quote, originally posted by epjetta »

you dont have to have an autoclave to produce carbon parts. a simple wetlay process under vaccum will produce very nice parts when done properly

Yep. No autoclave needed. But good luck getting your hands on fabric if you are not building fighter jets for uncle sam.

The wet layup process for carbon is just like it is for fiberglass, and you can acheive very nearly the same weight in glass with careful cloth selection and not over-building the part.

We wet layed, and vacuum bagged the chassis for our Sunrayce car back in 1995, but used fiberglass for the body, as it did not have the same structural requirements.

The GP rabbit that Chuck runs has carbon fenders, quarters, hood, spoiler/splitter and hatch. All wet layup parts, and all nice n light.



Modified by chois at 2:47 PM 1-18-2009

[werksberg]

You might want to check out http://www.compositeforum.werksberg.com for my composites help forum.

[anakinkenobe]

I have a 1984 Rabbit LS Diesel, anybody making any carbonfiber parts now that i could buy, im not so good at making them... Let me know
Jason

[Harpoon]

How much does raw carbon fiber cost?

[Kanoa9321]

last time I went and bought fiberglass I think the guy saif CF was $40 a square yard

[Harpoon]

Thats not bad. A yard or two is probably enough for a custom valve cover and some small interior pieces right?

[candela]

look up thatcher, me makes some quality parts from carbon..

[ric.cfs]

Hey I just recently went into business for myself and I have 8 years experience with carbon fiber, let me know if u are looking for anything.
check out my web cite
http://www.carbonfibersolutions.net
Ric R

[epocalypse]

awesome

[48texracer]

We have a guy that races with our series that can make and sell fiberglass body (Qtrs,fenders,hood,roof,etc) for MkII scirocco. Several guys running with us have switched to his vw scirocco body to save on wt. Costs about $1500 for whole body. Looks great,

[riffraff6369]

It's actually alot easier than it seems, using common sense of course.
I've been doing CF parts and repairs for 12 years, we have done CF "emergency" repairs on our race car numerous times, from 45 minutes to severe repairs that have taken 6 hours.
We've used vacuum bagging and have also made repairs without.
Vacuum bagging makes your repair look professional and will be the strongest.
It IS possible to do CF work and have a bitchin' piece that everyone think has been Autoclaved and or vacuum bagged. It's mainly a time and experience thing.
For anyone who says that you CAN'T do a CF repair without vacuum bagging, that's rubbish...our repairs on our Funny Car have made passes in the 1/4 mile in excess of 333 MPH!!!
http://www.fiberglast.com and http://www.infinityfrp.com are 2 places we purchase 90% of our supplies for CF work....another quick note, DO NOT use fiberglass resin on CF!!!!!
You must use Epoxy for strength and durability.
West System seems to be the best stuff I've used for this, I purchase it at http://www.aircraftspruce.com.
Hope this will help a little...just my 2 cents!

[riffraff6369]

...one more thing, if your making your own molds...without getting into extreme detail, don't forget release agent!

[racingrodent]

good guy who can make a vw bug shell out of carbon fiber. i want a kevlar/fiber blend. i am in the navy and have the money. i want it to be a show car and be a race car at the same time. i dont know alot about it but i know alot about kevlar and would like the strength of kevlar and weight of carbon fiber. if you can please get back to me.