So trying my hand at making CF bits. Learned a lot... cf weave is neat stuff, can't really handle it much or it falls apart. Once saturated with resin and hardens, it is really strong. Need to learn to mix the resin without having bubbles form or it makes the final finish not as nice... Using the vacuum packaging thing that my wife has worked extremely well to hold the cf together as it cured and is probably the best trick I figured out . After the final coat of resin, using a heat gun helped raise and pop most of the bubbles in the resin.
Also found out it is too cold in the garage to get the resin to cure so had to set up shop in one of our bathrooms... good thing we have 6, even with my 3 daughters, my wife didn't notice I was 'using' one for a couple of days
I made these cf pieces that fit in the A pillar/seams - I think ruf or somebody sells something similar?. Made a cast using some light weight modelling material which becomes pretty strong/light when cured in the oven, then covered with cf/impregnated the cast material with resin. Polished up really nice. 'conformed' to the lip in the gutter so it fits snuggly. Going to glue them in with a few dabs of silicone. Will need to test at higher speeds to make sure they don't fly off

Making cf pieces is time consuming, no wonder they are so expensive. (these are my 3rd attempt making these, it's not straight forward working with this stuff - couldn't get it right the first two times/slivers in my skin from sanding cf pieces which become very sharp/proper dust mask is a must) I spent most of my free time the last week on holidays doing this. Will take some better pics when the weather is nicer.
Next up dive planes and then scoop for the air intake/tail. I have a good idea for a aluminum mould for making the scoop for the tail. Will update thread as able, but suspect it will keep me busy for a while.

 

Nice work! - sounds like a steep learning curve - I have done a fair amount of fibreglass work, but no CF - really like your just-give-it-a-try attitude.

I am not sure where the Soy Sauce comes into the formula though ..

Cheers,

Mike

 

Well done!

 

dammit, you stole my joke.

 

Thanx guys. The soy adds the right color to the epoxy (jk)!
Mike I'm pretty sure it's similar to fiberglass work, same epoxy stuff etc. I just found it takes forever for the long setting epoxy I got to cure and it stoops curing under 10 degrees Celsius which isn't good in our current temps. Also found it hard to keep the weave straight/timing things so the epoxy was sticky enough to keep the weave in place as I worked with it. The food storage vacuum bag worked really well for this. Also all the air bubbles I had in the epoxy and realized I was introducing the bubbles mixing the epoxy ... All trial and error.
I now keep thinking of things I can make in cf - I could make a cast/mould of the turbo script and make it in cf (that would be cool), air box, there's a thread about the door pocket carpet that could be covered in cf - wait, I deleted that piece ..

 

Do you ever stop !! With all your energy for creating you need to stop dicking around and just build a GT1.

Impressive as always.
Rick

 

Good job again Ryojo.

When you run out of things to do, you can make me a pair of carbon fiber eyeglasses, or we can just go to gym...

 

Hmm, I do have a spare engine... but I think you give me too much credit Rick!

That actually may not be that hard to do Tim, using my cf BLAC glasses as a template, I just need some precision cutting instrument to cut the cf. Although it probably could be done fee hand with a dremel... (gym Thurs evening?).

 

got a little distracted figuring out stuff to make with cf. Targa Tim suggested this piece so I made it. For Porsche content, I added a logo, but I'm more of a performance/utilitarian type of guy (don't do things just for bling), so used this opportunity to lose some weight. I've lost 4 grams compared with my usual low weight phone cover. I occasionally have my cell phone in my pocket when at the track (although I know it's a no no).

 

Hey I need one too.

 

I want to know who's gonna be taxed with keeping track of all of his mods, repairs, installs and fabrications he's doing until the track season starts again. :-)

 

Actually, how about making me a carbon fiber helmet (totally track related).

 

maybe I sell the phone covers, group buy! (JK ).

 

More bits as promised..
Dive planes, looks kind of funky, haven't decided if I like them, used pieces made from aluminum as a mold (saran wrap works better as a releasing agent than wax although the resin doesn't stick much to aluminum). They weigh 112grams so probably gives at least 112grams of down force to even out the down force from the gt2 wing. Couldn't quite make them as smooth/even as I'd like and the shinny cf accentuates the irregularities so I might paint them flat black.
I'll get better pics when the weather's better.

 

Thinking about it, I realize why I couldn't get the surface as smooth as I would have liked.. I had the mold on the wrong surface/side. Might make another set …