Paul Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Hi all. just thought I'd post pics of my latest project, Carbon fibre stock air intake ! As this is so prominent at the front of the engine bay I wanted to tart it up somehow and settled on real carbon fibre cloth overlay with resin:) Got to be honest, it was a pain in the arse to get the process correct but I think it looks great, what do you lot think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kopite Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted May 21, 2006 Author Share Posted May 21, 2006 Cheers mate, so that's one vote 'for' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kopite Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Yep, thought i'd try and keep it short and sweet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Looks great. Wanna do me one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colsoop Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Great minds, i just finished my airbox lid in carbon fibre, it is a tricky job, trying to stop the bugger from fraying. What weave did you use Paul and what resin did you end up using. It looks great by the way I am now experimenting with some kevlar fabric i bought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted May 21, 2006 Author Share Posted May 21, 2006 Hi Col, yeah I know you were having a go too. Used Clear Polyester resin from CFS. Biggest pain was getting it on in even enough coats so when sanding it back I didn't go back through to the weave. After one f*ck up I decided brushing it on was too random so got a 4" mini roller with short pile mohair rollers (gloss paint ones) and although thinner coats they were more even. Finished by using 240/320/600/1000 grit paper then G3 then polish !! Can't remember the carbon, 2x Twill cloth or something???? Used a black contact adhesive first, let it go off a little then placed the cloth on, holds it in place better. I want to do the box next but am scared by the vertical strengthening ribs at the front. Any tips or pics mate? Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted May 21, 2006 Author Share Posted May 21, 2006 To stop the fraying I taped the overlapped edges with masking tape then cut through the tape, once the first coat of resin is on then you can trim back without the fear of fraying, worked well but depends on part really. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colsoop Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Are you going to finish with a clear coat ? I know what you mean about the resin. I did things slightly different i actually laid masking tape and foil underneath the box first so i could ensure if it went wrong i could just pull it off without damaging the box underneath as these are quite hard to get hold of on their own. I think if you go at it the way you did with the other part you will be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted May 21, 2006 Author Share Posted May 21, 2006 I got some 'top coat' with wax added which is meant to be used to put on top of the resin last thing. They say it can be polished and is a harder coating however I found it was crap to apply due to the added wax and it seemed no better than the resin itself which has set hard anyway. I tried a clear coat on the first run but you would need to lay loads on to be able to cut back to a shine plus the type I used didn't adhere to the resin well:) I found that cutting back the resin gave good results on it's own TBH. Gluing onto the surface isn't a problem, don't key it before just acetone wipe it. When the first f*ck up happend I just broke way the layers of resin and carbon and the original intake was untouched below. Any chance of a pic of your cover ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colsoop Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 I will try and get one up when i have layed the clear coat on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted May 21, 2006 Author Share Posted May 21, 2006 Cheers. Out of interest did you go over the raised ribs and tabs or stop short somehow as these areas seem to be the worst? Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colsoop Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 I went over them but then i trimmed it back so that their is a line where the tab startslike an upside down u shape. This first attempt isn't brilliant so what i think i might do is get hold of a second airbox lid and fill in the ridges with body filler to make it completely smooth then lay the carbon fibre fabric on top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason m Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 I'm sure I read somewhere that a small squeegee is one of the best tools for getting even, flat coats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted May 22, 2006 Author Share Posted May 22, 2006 I'm sure I read somewhere that a small squeegee is one of the best tools for getting even, flat coats. Not a bad idea. Better on flatter surfaces though as something like the intake would mean going over several times to get all the angles and might build up on the edges? Worth giving it a try though. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbeh Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 Very nice Paul. Your hard works paid off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted May 22, 2006 Author Share Posted May 22, 2006 Very nice Paul. Your hard works paid off Cheers mate, just got to make a small polished stainless plate to go over the right hand fixing tab to finish it off (cause I'm a tart ) Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren j adams Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 Looks sharp !! very impressed. D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobSheffield Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 looks really cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colsoop Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 Paul do you have a good source of carbon fabric ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psymon Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 Looks great... Where do you get you materials from ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_supra Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 That looks really good, I've been looking to doing some stuff in carbon fibre. How easy is it to get hold of the fabric and resin, and what rough costs are we talking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colsoop Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 That looks really good, I've been looking to doing some stuff in carbon fibre. How easy is it to get hold of the fabric and resin, and what rough costs are we talking? If you use cfs supplies about £50 I think Paul deals with high end materials and probably got a good price Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted May 22, 2006 Author Share Posted May 22, 2006 Got the Carbon cloth from Ebay about 18mths ago and the polyester resin from http://www.cfsnet.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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