Need some help with Carbon Fiber

[astroracer]

I am in the process of redesigning and rebuilding the doghouse (engine cover) on my Astro van build and I want to cover it and the dash with this:

Roswell Carbon Fiber from Fibre Glast Ind
It needs to be smooth of course and I am proficient in laying up glass but I have never done the bare carbon fiber. I can build the carcass for the new cover but I am stumped when it comes to laying on the carbon fiber and getting a nice, smooth look.
Any help out there? Suggestions
Thanks
Mark

[70 Chevelle]

Are you are using the original doghouse and the carbon will only be an overlay ? If so, use an unwaxed resin and apply a thin coat to the entire dog house AFTER you have painted it black. Allow that thin coat to green stage (partially cure) while it is still tacky carefully lay th carbon on. you can then flood coat the entire part. You need to paint the part black first or the color it is currently will show through the carbon.

[John510]

There is a place in Arizona that can cover almost anything in carbon fiber. I will try to find the name and post it up when I find it.

[astroracer]

Thanks for the help guys.
This is what I have to work with. I cut the original engine cover in two and bolted the front half in place. This is the gap I have to fill. The back piece is out of the donor van and I will not be using that. I will be using the stock front a rear pieces as you see them in the seat photos below. I plan to bridge the gap with some steel strip stock, cover that with some stretched t-shirt material and glass that in for a smooth transition.

It's really not that bad, it will get kinda tricky on the drivers side but once the floor and flange area's are rebuilt, making a new glass cover is fairly straight forward.


Got one of the new seats set into place.

There is a lot more room than I thought there would be.

Thanks for looking.
Mark

[CRead01]

You had mentioned using t-shirt material for glassing... I usually use polyester fleece. It's thicker to hold more resin and usually t-shirt material is cotton. I am curious to see where this goes though because i have been thinking about doing some carbon parts too. check this site out. racingcomposites.net lots of info on overlays and complete carbon parts.

[astroracer]

Thanks Chad,
I checked out the site and registered. I'll ask the same question over there.
The t-shirt material is cheap and it will stretch over the buck to smooth things out. Once I get the material where I want it I soak it with resin and let it cure. This provides a nice base to start laying up the glass. It prevents a lof of sagging and chasing of the glass as it supports the lay up while it cures.
Mark

[70 Chevelle]

You can use some 3/8 fuel line and temporaily hot glue it to the underside of the dog house. Cover the tubing in aluminum foil or get yourself some pva so the resin does not stick to the tubing. The tubing will give the base lyer something to drape over. Once all your glass is cured you can flip the dog house over and remove all the tubing from the backside. Get yourself a material that is more strechable than cotton. Alot of the glass guys use a material called Ponte its very strechable and cheap. If I rember correctly resin hardener and cotton cause a bad reaction you'll have to double check on that .

[BuzzKillian]

We use cotton flock mixed with resin (where I work) to make a paste. For attaching frame work to lay-ups. We also use the paste for fillets. So I don't think the cotton is an issue. Unless you get it too thick(3/8" or so)

[gak68]

Dragging up an old thread. I just needed some final clarification, as I wanted to make a center console that tied up into the center dash. After I stretch my fleece and let the resin cure up, I do my body work, then after paint the entire console black before laying the carbon fiber. I am just curious what is the proper resin to use to get that nice deep clear finish? Also can you wet sand/ buff for a final finish? Any help is appreciated. ***Edit: One last after thought, do you just keep brushing on coats for resin and sanding in between coats to get it smooth, sorry for the novice questions, I am probably more capable than I sound; I just like to ask the dumb questions to make sure haha.

[astroracer]

You have the process outlined pretty well. I haven't finished any of my parts yet but that is the process.
As far as resin goes I ordered this:
http://www.fibreglast.com/product/Cl...0180/Gel_Coats
If you don't need it right away wait for it to go on sale... They do that a lot on that site.
After you get your final coat of resin sanded down bury it in clear. I will be using a BC/CC clear (Dupont Nason). Yjay will give you plenty of UV protection and you can polish that easily.
Mark