Carbon Fiber Idea

gurley0916

gurley0916

Gurley=Last Name not girl
Mar 10, 2008
1,138
0
36
Columbus,OH
Well the foam came out ok got a little miss aligned and some how cracked the top mold. I tested some of the foam with acetone and it only dissolves the foam before it cures :3d_frown: so back to the drawing board. I'm not really sure where to go from here.

The angle does not line up right with the stock intercooler piece that is in the fender like i thought it would. I would have to make two different bends or else get a bent coupler to connect to the fender piece. I'm really just thinking of buying one of the ebay kits and fab up all piping the way that I want and then from there I can take those pieces that i want to make carbon fiber and make better, smoother, molds and have the pipe line up the way that I want it.

Edit: Velocity Freak I just saw your post and that is a pretty smart idea that I did not thing about. I think i will grab some balloons tomorrow and try it out. Any specific details on the balloons so just the regular clown ones?
 
V

Velocityfreak

New Member
May 28, 2009
33
0
0
New Hampshire
gurley0916;1334646 said:
Well the foam came out ok got a little miss aligned and some how cracked the top mold. I tested some of the foam with acetone and it only dissolves the foam before it cures :3d_frown: so back to the drawing board. I'm not really sure where to go from here.

The angle does not line up right with the stock intercooler piece that is in the fender like i thought it would. I would have to make two different bends or else get a bent coupler to connect to the fender piece. I'm really just thinking of buying one of the ebay kits and fab up all piping the way that I want and then from there I can take those pieces that i want to make carbon fiber and make better, smoother, molds and have the pipe line up the way that I want it.

Edit: Velocity Freak I just saw your post and that is a pretty smart idea that I did not thing about. I think i will grab some balloons tomorrow and try it out. Any specific details on the balloons so just the regular clown ones?
Click to expand...


Ya, they are the animal making clown balloons. You want to be sure to stretch them out a ton, that way they will blow up a little larger than normal, because i think the widest I have gotten them to blow up was 2 inches - but its a strait shot meaning no bends/max velocity, and the tubes can be made 3 feet long, so make 2 of them and connect with a silicone coupler. Maybe different brands have different sizes, Ideally I would like 2.5 or 3 inch. But balloons are great for carbon stuff, cause when ur done you just pop the baloon, and your left with a perfectly smooth inside maximizing velocity. The carbon fiber will also take the heat as long as its shielded from the exhaust/turbo manifold. I have some of that roll too, i think i got the medium weave 2.5 inch stuff.

I use wax paper on my carbon stuff, because my setups are all wet layup, and im looking for a smooth finish in the end. Wax paper is great, it just pulls right off, and then let the part sit for a couple days, and apply a clear coat and you have a professional looking piece - it makes it look like it was vac bagged.

Also, the way you are doing your molds is good. However, when you make your foam piece, you can sand smooth etc to get the desired piece, if you are using foam, be sure to get some that is attacked with a solvent, (dissolves in solvent) that way if you cant release it from the mold you can pour carb cleaner or gasoline on it, and the foam will literally melt. and you will be left with the desired piece, instead of struggling to get it out of the mold.

Personally I hate molds, because of the time input, and lack of creativity that goes with it. Half the time if there is no good release agent or the molds have some tiny imperfection it wont come out. Use all of the available materials you can think of and imagination, and you will soon find you can build anything without molds. For this I go to home depot and wander down the isles looking for chemicals, hardware etc, anything that may come in handy one day.

I use pam cooking spray and mold release wax - it seems to work the charm on any stubborn mold.

Heres a little preview of what im working on for a 4age engine, you can see engine intakes are my thing, and I use the tubing stuff quite often. For this I was using wooden molds, because my shape is odd, what I ended up doing was cutting the piece with a razor blade, because sometimes it wouldnt come off the mold, so then i just epoxied it back together (5 min epoxy - very handy), took a piece of carbon and epoxied the backside,and wax paper, and you cant even tell the piece was sliced, and it is even stronger now, so sometimes screwing up molds has its benefits.

http://img23.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=snc00112o.jpg





The throttle body has since been finished, and is awaiting install on the engine. it weighs less than a pound and should produce more horsepower than a 20v throttle body setup. The throttle plates seal better than any metal butterfly ever has. The air seal was made by using wax on the tube itself, and then epoxy, the excess was cut off and now creates a perfect seal.
 
gofastgeorge

gofastgeorge

Banned
Jan 24, 2008
944
0
0
Texas
I used standard craft styrofoam for a core for a custom fiber glass filter housing.
The stiff stuff, not the stuff they make packing peanuts out of.

It shapes easily with coarse sand paper (50 grit).
Then I covered it with plaster, samded it smoth, and painted it.

Did the 'glass work, and when it cured, just ripped the core out.

But that foam disolves with acetone just fine.
And if you go to one of tha art-craft stores, the also have it in round sections,
and donut rings that could be cut & glued together to form what you need.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom