Roadster interior strip out & carbon fibre replacement

[Darkangelv2]

My main focus now is on mastering Carbon Fibre part manufacturing, cos the options are limitless & i find absolutely fascinating.

I agree - during lockdown I dabbled with it to repair a cracked seat stay on my carbon road bike that had sat unused for 4 years after I got knocked off it. Back then, all advice was to scrap the frame and start again. How times have changed!

Bike is now repaired and stronger than ever. Now I have the bug and some left over materials.....

 

[Phil40]

Big stuff

 

[beanie]

I’ll be following this with interest

I’ve always fancied having a go but never taken the plunge.

 

[kis]

First job will be to decide which parts to do first. Then start by making the moulds.

Start small surely? How about the bonnet? :wink:

 

[Ladderman]

I’ll get all the parts out and take votes .

I have a set of soft top side covers. They are an easy shape to take a mould off, but the covering material that is the same as the dash will come through. I would have to mould a copy first in fibreglass then sand out & polish the face area before I make Carbon Fibre ones.

I will need to make a silicone mould of the plastic retaining lugs, then use casting resin to make the part.

I have just started learning how to use Fusion 360 CAD,CAM software, cos my intention is to buy a 3D printer, then I can design & make small items such as trim clips.

Just out of curiosity, would members be interested in buying things like side covers? I could make the purely out of Carbon Fibre, or a combination of Carbon Fibre for the face layer & fibreglass as the main body. That would be a cheaper option for anyone wanting them for aesthetic reasons over weight saving. I have bought some black pigment that is specifically for fibreglass resin so the fibreglass section would be black to match the CF.

If I do decide to make a set first I’ll make them completely out of CF. 4 layers @ 210g 2x2 Twill 3K CF cloth = only 1mm thick.

The reason I purchased a large roll of fibreglass is because I want to make a set of tyre trainers for my Z4. I will mould them off my tyres so they conform exactly to the shape. I will use black pigment & a Gel coat to achieve a smooth gloss finish. Comparable to that of a boat hull.

 

[markplant]

You could buy another car if you start making the side covers

 

[Ladderman]

You could buy another car if you start making the side covers

Side covers it is then. stay tuned

 

[ronk]

I think side covers will sell - If you're confident that you can produce them, I think you could justify taking some preliminary orders to gauge the the market.

 

[GMANLAW]

How about making Front N/S O/S Lower Inner Slash Covers, which are an absolutely crazy price from the stealers Not as a weight saving measure but if you could reproduce them at a fair price I think there would be a fair few members who might be interested

 

[Mike6]

I cannot remember how the aircon belt arrangement works on the Zed. Presumably its belt driven with all the friction associated with the pulley even when its not running. Just taking that out will give efficiency savings let alone the weight reduction in removing the rest of the aircon components. On my Esprit the aircon rad was mounted right on top of the other rad so simply removing that component meant better air circulation.

 

[Ladderman]

Front N/S O/S Lower Inner Slash Covers

sorry , but I assume you mean “Splash Covers”. At some in the future I’ll be stripping the front end down then I’ll see what I can come up this

 

[Ladderman]

I cannot remember how the aircon belt arrangement works on the Zed. Presumably its belt driven with all the friction associated with the pulley even when its not running. Just taking that out will give efficiency savings let alone the weight reduction in removing the rest of the aircon components. On my Esprit the aircon rad was mounted right on top of the other rad so simply removing that component meant better air circulation.

yes it’s the same on A Z4. I will have to change the tensioner pulling as Liam did on his E86 race project https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=112593&hilit=Liam%E2%80%99s+race+project&start=150

 

[Rich8]

The reason I purchased a large roll of fibreglass is because I want to make a set of tyre trainers for my Z4. I will mould them off my tyres so they conform exactly to the shape. I will use black pigment & a Gel coat to achieve a smooth gloss finish. Comparable to that of a boat hull.

A set of what?
What do you mean tyre trainers? Wot do they do?

 

[Ladderman]

A set of what?
What do you mean tyre trainers? Wot do they do

]They stop flat spots on tyers when your car is off the road & long periods of time

 

[Rich8]

Ah. OK. Ta.

 

[ronk]

I was going to ask the question as well!

 

[markplant]

How's this progressing

 

[Ladderman]

How's this progressing

Unfortunately because of the lock down it changed my priorities & I have had to focus on my property maintenance business.

In my spare time I’ve been turning my garage into a dedicated workshop for the Carbon Fibre & ABS vacuum forming . I've been insulating the garage cos I need to be able to maintain a working temperature around 20c. I’m also in the middle of constructing the ABS heater & vacuum former.

I hope to start on production in about two weeks time. Fingers crossed

I have added a lot more wall sockets & lighting. Once I've completely insulated the walls & ceiling, I'll cover everything with white hygienic board.

I've made the heater box out of 18mm MDF & fully insulated it. I bought three 1200 watt quarts heaters form Screwfix, They should produce enough heat to get the ABS to it moulding temperature. I've stripped them down to the bare units & still need to fix & sort the wiring, cos I need the control switches on the outside of the box.

 

[markplant]

Top work

 

[Ladderman]

Top work

cheers . I just hope I can get the production right.