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-   -   looking for a carbon fiber/plastic/fiberglass EXPERTS !!! (http://www.the370z.com/exterior-interior/85685-looking-carbon-fiber-plastic-fiberglass-experts.html)

Zeetah 02-12-2014 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minato (Post 2691186)
I made a positive mold of the stock hood out of fiberglass mat and polyester resin, it's the cheapest way to make a mold.
I used the hood pins for ease and cost. If I wanted to hook up the hinges, I would need to make a mold of the underside of the hood too, not just the outside, which would double costs of the mold and make it more complicated.
Vacuum pump is a necessity to make sure the CF sucks into the mold without air pockets.
Their are 3 different liquid systems, epoxy is the strongest and most expensive, polyester resin is the cheapest, stinkiest, weakest (This is what you find at lowes)
The most popular mold release agent is called polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Good stuff.

Mold making is really the hardest part of the whole process, you need it to be thick enough to be stiff, not any big air pockets, and you need to make it bigger than the hood (or whatever you're making). You can do that by gluing plastic or covered cardboard on the underside extending out, then laying the fiberglass over and wetting it all down with the resin.

Here is an excellent resource, which is what inspired and taught me how to make my hood. Warning: you will probably spend the next 6 hours straight reading through everything.
Sub 2500 lbs. 96 Mustang Cobra Project... - Ford Mustang Forums : Corral.net Mustang Forum

nice find btw, i know there are alot out there with info, but its pita when you have a virus and the comp shuts off or restarts once evry 5 mins.

Zeetah 02-12-2014 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minato (Post 2691186)
I made a positive mold of the stock hood out of fiberglass mat and polyester resin, it's the cheapest way to make a mold.
I used the hood pins for ease and cost. If I wanted to hook up the hinges, I would need to make a mold of the underside of the hood too, not just the outside, which would double costs of the mold and make it more complicated.
Vacuum pump is a necessity to make sure the CF sucks into the mold without air pockets.
Their are 3 different liquid systems, epoxy is the strongest and most expensive, polyester resin is the cheapest, stinkiest, weakest (This is what you find at lowes)
The most popular mold release agent is called polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Good stuff.

Mold making is really the hardest part of the whole process, you need it to be thick enough to be stiff, not any big air pockets, and you need to make it bigger than the hood (or whatever you're making). You can do that by gluing plastic or covered cardboard on the underside extending out, then laying the fiberglass over and wetting it all down with the resin.

Here is an excellent resource, which is what inspired and taught me how to make my hood. Warning: you will probably spend the next 6 hours straight reading through everything.
Sub 2500 lbs. 96 Mustang Cobra Project... - Ford Mustang Forums : Corral.net Mustang Forum

i havent heard of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), you say its popular, why? cheaper? which is better PVA or epoxy.

and cant i practically use anything as a mold such as clay and foam which would be the easiest?

and the white thing that looked like a half inch mattress foam was not the honey comb thing you stated, it looks exactly like a mattress just alot thinner, dammit wish i saved it in time before comp crashed.......

Minato 02-12-2014 10:36 PM

You could probably just mold the hinge area on the underside instead of the whole underside, that would be a lot cheaper and easier. Then attach the two parts with epoxy.
The PVA i was talking about isn't resin, it is what you put on the mold before you lay up your CF so that it will separate from the mold
You can pretty much use CF/FB (If you go with FB would recommend S-glass, much strong than regular E-glass, almost as strong as CF, quite a bit cheaper)
For your final parts, definitely use 2 part epoxy, much stronger and better bond than other resin.
The stuff I used was honeycomb (looks literally like bee honeycomb), which is outrageously expensive, but you saw the white foamy stuff, which was just high density foam. It achieves the same thing in the end, making a sandwich composite.
For your mold, you want it to be stiff and cheap, so you should use fiberglass mat/poly resin.
Just a VERY quick guide on how to make a hood to get you a picture:
-coat stock part (hood) you want to replicate in wax, wax, wax. Along the edge, attach plastic (coroplast or something) on the underside, then fill in the gap between the plastic and the hood with clay. Cover the whole thing in PVA.
-brush on poly resin nice and thick, try to let it gel a bit. add first layer of fiberglass.
-add more poly resin, add more fiberglass, til you have 6-7 layers. You will probably want to fiberglass sticks of wood in or whatever to stiffen it up as much as you can (for big objects like a hood)
-once it's all cured, you can wedge the mold away from the hood, now you have your mold, and you have a nice flat edge around the outside (from the plastic you attached to the hood) so you can have an oversized part that you cut down to stock size.
to make the final part:
-wash the mold, wax, wax, wax, PVA. (don't wax the outside edge)
-coat mold in epoxy resin, then lay in CF.
-lay honeycomb or foam sheet in, then coat again in epoxy resin
-lay a layer of CF, make sure it is wetted through, add more epoxy if needed
-lay perforated plastic over wet cf, then cotton absorbant over that
-cut a large sheet of plastic to cover the mold, stick/tape to outer edge you made and didn't wax
-attach vacuum pump
-wait for cure
-pop part off mold, wash.

that is really brief and there are a ton of little steps in there and lots of measuring/cutting. There is a really good write up in the link I sent you that goes into a lot more detail, including materials you will need.
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Zeetah 02-13-2014 02:42 AM

i think my toughest task will be getting these items locally.

"You can pretty much use CF/FB (If you go with FB would recommend S-glass, much strong than regular E-glass, almost as strong as CF, quite a bit cheaper)"

you meant CF/F"G" right?

im sure once i do something small, like the pillars on the Z and or something else thats small and when i get the hang of it, it will be a breeze, but of course time consuming, cool man, thanks !

Minato 02-13-2014 07:37 PM

Yes, meant fiberglass, don't know why I said FB instead of FG... *shifty eyes*
I never found any epoxies or exotic fabrics locally, you will probably have to order online


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