studying up on making 521 carbon fiber hood.

[uberkevin]

Anyone done any carbon fiber work at home?

 

 

[wayno]

I have, but they were repairs/modifacations to my carbon fiber hangglider, nothing like what your planning.

 

And yes everyone, I can't even leave a hangglider alone/stock. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Tucson620]

No, no help here.

 

But I'd like you to continue with your research and produce your badass 521 hoods in hand-built lots of 10, sell them at $189 to Ratsun members. Thanks.

[MikeRL411]

You quite possibly have a vanishing consumer population in the 410 and 411 community. 521 hoods should be able to be fitted to one of our antiques although the hood is not among the "most popular" crash replacement parts since the whole front end usually goes first in a front end collision.

[socaldatsun]

do you need to know how to make it or what steps to do?

[Xander_42]

I've done a bit of carbon work in my time. I'll try to answer any questions you might have.

 

This is a very brief overview of moldmaking, which will be your first step (and absolutely the most important part of any composite part is the mold, personal opinion)

http://www.fiberglasswarehouse.com/fiberglass_mold_making.php

 

It's a complicated topic, good luck.

[uberkevin]

awesome! Of coures I'm going to start small. But my goal is to

Do a good job on the hood so I can get them to the people that want them.

 

I know I would love to keep my 521 stock but having the CF hood would be awesome.

The main part that I don't really know how I'm going to do is the underside of the hood. The support you know? I'm sure ill get it but that's the only thing I could think of that would hinder my plans "at least for a little while"

 

But I've been reading a lot and of cours watched a few pros doing it on youtube. Haha

 

But I know ill run into some problems along the way .

Ill be as up to date as I can with pictures a what not too.

 

What should I begain with??

 

[wayno]

You need to make a mold of a good hood, which would likely leave the back open, so bracing would be added before the hood was removed from the mold, fact is everything would be put on it before it was removed from the mold, the mold is everything.

Carbon fiber is expensive, so you should use fiberglass first, I would make several out of fiberglass before I used carbon fiber.

[flatcat19]

Just paint a sun on yours and call it good.

 

 

 

 

:poke:

[Xander_42]

You need to make a mold of a good hood, which would likely leave the back open, so bracing would be added before the hood was removed from the mold, fact is everything would be put on it before it was removed from the mold, the mold is everything.

Carbon fiber is expensive, so you should use fiberglass first, I would make several out of fiberglass before I used carbon fiber.

 

^This is very solid advice. Fiberglass is basically free (okay, a bit of an exaggeration), carbon is very expensive.

 

awesome! Of coures I'm going to start small. But my goal is to

Do a good job on the hood so I can get them to the people that want them.

 

I know I would love to keep my 521 stock but having the CF hood would be awesome.

The main part that I don't really know how I'm going to do is the underside of the hood. The support you know? I'm sure ill get it but that's the only thing I could think of that would hinder my plans "at least for a little while"

 

But I've been reading a lot and of cours watched a few pros doing it on youtube. Haha

 

But I know ill run into some problems along the way .

Ill be as up to date as I can with pictures a what not too.

 

What should I begain with??

 

I have a recommendation of a place to start:

 

Supplies:

-Get some glass (actual glass, I call fiberglass "glass" as well) off the free section of craigslist, glass is a great tool for making flat panels. It is easy to release, scratch resistant, and you can get it for free.

-Buy some fiberglass and resin (do not buy it at West Marine, their prices are way too high). For learning you can use either polyester, vinylester, or epoxy (more on this later). What you are looking for is a kind of resin (either poly-,vinyl, or epoxy) referred to as "laminating resin".

-Get some wax, wax is a pretty good release agent, you could get actual release wax, or TreWax, or just regular car wax. (As a note about affordable release agents, I've wanted to try out RainX, it's fairly similar in concept to my favorite release agent, but I don't actually know if it works or not. My actual favorite release if Frekote 700NC, it's amazing).

-Buy some of the cheapest paintbrushes you can find (seriously, you're just going to throw them away).

 

Process:

-Release the glass. Put on as many coats as you can, if you feel like you've done enough coats, do two more.

-Cut kit (cut your fiberglass to size).

-Weigh out the fiberglass you're going to make a panel out of.

-Mix up the equivalent amount of resin, and be ready to mix up more (you're aiming for a 50/50 resin/fiber ratio).

-Paint a thin layer of resin onto the glass.

-Lay the first layer of glass on and get to stipling.

 

Wait for the resin to cure fully (based on the cure times on the can)

 

Pull the part. Good luck, if you did the release right, and you're lucky it'll pull relatively easily, if not, you now have a part glued to the mold that you'll have to separate by any means necessary. The likely tools are plastic scrapers and putty knives among other things.

 

Now a quick note about resin:

Polyesters and vinylesters use a catalyst that the amount you use determines how quickly the resin cures.

EPOXIES ARE NOT LIKE THIS!!!!!! Epoxy cure time is not based on the amount of catalyst you use, if you use too much or too little part B (catalyst), the epoxy will not cure to full strength.

[Royal Sierra]

I would buy one.

[Madmax]

I would buy one, i have 3 hoods all messed up someway or another!!!

[ratbones]

I would buy one too. Hell i would be happy with a fiberglass hood