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Carbon Fibre Engine Bay Dress Up


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#31 craggem2006

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Posted 03 October 2009 - 07:02 PM

How are you going to make a rocker cover skin with prepreg? it is VERY hard to do double curves.

Why would you need to make any of these out of prepreg? Why would a 'cover' of any sort need to be any stronger than 'wet lay'

Resin system? There is no 'resin system' in prepreg.. because it is exactly that 'pre preg'.



Hi benpopham


For this RESIN SYSTEM the temperature is ramped up slowly from room temperature to 125 centigrade over the space of an hour or so, then stay at temperature for an hour and a half to 2 hours before being allowed to cool back to room temperature before de-bagging, the pressure ramps up fairly quickly.

If there was no resin in 'pre-preg' it would not cure and essentially be dry cloth. pre preg is short for 'pre-impregnated' as in 'pre-impregnated with epoxy resin'

see this link from one our our suppliers to be proven wrong (2nd paragraph)


http://www.ambercomp...ystems/prepreg/


and the reason i am making them out of pre-preg is that i use it everyday at work,we dont use wet lay up as F1 teams (our customers) VERY VERY RARELY use it anymore, if they do its usually just trackside repairs, we run about 5 autoclave cures a day between 2 autoclaves,

and double curves are not a problem, they are actually pretty damn easy. that is, if you know what your doing and do regular vacuum debulks.

craig.

#32 craggem2006

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Posted 03 October 2009 - 07:08 PM

Also am i right in thinking at the moment your building a light weight mini for hill climbing perhaps?


Hi sam,

If you were wondering if i was then im afraid not, would be nice though! but wouldnt fit in our autoclaves :)

cheers,

Craig

#33 Sam Walters

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Posted 03 October 2009 - 07:31 PM

Not you
Ben

#34 mini-man-dan

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Posted 04 October 2009 - 08:16 AM

It is possible to make them with the finned tops, as I have one :)
I have no idea who made it or when it was made, as I bought it off eBay. Was one of those things I just had to have!

Looks very tightly woven CF though, I'm no expert about this but is that a good thing?

And I'd be interested in one of those covers, simply to match that ^ and any other engine bay parts at a reasonable price (something under £100 sort of range)
Dan :)



Hi Dan,

looks to me like they have used wet lay up with brass coloured resin for the fins, the carbon itself is what we call plain weave (equal squares like a checker board) the components i produce are made from 2x2 twill which is the more stereotypical weave with the diagonal stripes, i do have plain weave and could produce products in plain weave as to match your existing cover upon request.

the resin system i use is clear so you dont have to laquer the component providing the mould is of good surface finish. the resin system i use would not form in fins. for this reason i could not produce them with the fins, i plan on producing covers that fit over the standard rover rocker cover with a flat top, this way i can use only a few plys of carbon to keep the price down.

i would need to get some tooling block machined to my design and then take a mould from this first, then lay up the component.

cheers.

Ah right, fair enough. Sounds like a good plan. As said, I'd be interested in other cf bits at a reasonable price :)
Cheers
Dan :)

#35 benpopham

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Posted 04 October 2009 - 08:23 AM

How are you going to make a rocker cover skin with prepreg? it is VERY hard to do double curves.

Why would you need to make any of these out of prepreg? Why would a 'cover' of any sort need to be any stronger than 'wet lay'

Resin system? There is no 'resin system' in prepreg.. because it is exactly that 'pre preg'.



Hi benpopham


For this RESIN SYSTEM the temperature is ramped up slowly from room temperature to 125 centigrade over the space of an hour or so, then stay at temperature for an hour and a half to 2 hours before being allowed to cool back to room temperature before de-bagging, the pressure ramps up fairly quickly.

If there was no resin in 'pre-preg' it would not cure and essentially be dry cloth. pre preg is short for 'pre-impregnated' as in 'pre-impregnated with epoxy resin'

see this link from one our our suppliers to be proven wrong (2nd paragraph)


http://www.ambercomp...ystems/prepreg/


and the reason i am making them out of pre-preg is that i use it everyday at work,we dont use wet lay up as F1 teams (our customers) VERY VERY RARELY use it anymore, if they do its usually just trackside repairs, we run about 5 autoclave cures a day between 2 autoclaves,

and double curves are not a problem, they are actually pretty damn easy. that is, if you know what your doing and do regular vacuum debulks.

craig.


I know that there is eposy resin the pre preg carbon, but what i mean is that, it is already in the cloth, its not 'your system' that you add.

I appreciate that you use pre preg carbon at work and it is there for you to use, but if you are trying to make 'cheap' decorative non-structural items why bother with the extra costs?

Ben

#36 benpopham

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Posted 04 October 2009 - 08:23 AM

Also am i right in thinking at the moment your building a light weight mini for hill climbing perhaps?


Yes, quite afew.

#37 markking

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Posted 04 July 2020 - 10:50 PM

Super thread revival. Did you end up making the carbon coil cover?
Or does anyone know where to find one?

Thanks.

#38 Midas Mk1

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Posted 04 July 2020 - 11:01 PM

Ben (CarbonWeezel) - THEEEE person to make carbon mini parts. 



#39 markking

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Posted 04 July 2020 - 11:45 PM

I checked his website (amazing stuff on there) but no coil cover or bracket unfortunately.

I’ve emailed archangels too. (I have one of their elite bootlids, great bit of kit) just waiting on a reply.

I’ve been checking the classic vw forums too as they always have some innovative ideas but again. Nothing.

#40 nicklouse

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Posted 04 July 2020 - 11:52 PM

I checked his website (amazing stuff on there) but no coil cover or bracket unfortunately.

I’ve emailed archangels too. (I have one of their elite bootlids, great bit of kit) just waiting on a reply.

I’ve been checking the classic vw forums too as they always have some innovative ideas but again. Nothing.

drop them a mail.they dont have every thing on their site.






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