Project -- CF dash
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 53
Likes: 0
From: Dallas, TX
After much thinking I've decided to to close the vents, andcut them out of the final product, The reason being that its impossible to get the mold right with shifted angle of the center console, so I went ahead and closed them down. The pictures look like crap, the are a lot better in reality.
I also removed a lot of crap from the inside the plug, to drop weight and keep it from warping when I am working with it.
I also lay down some reinforcement in the glove box to keep it nice and sturdy.
Looks like the structural part is almost there, I saved the worst for last - gauge tub.
I also removed a lot of crap from the inside the plug, to drop weight and keep it from warping when I am working with it.
I also lay down some reinforcement in the glove box to keep it nice and sturdy.
Looks like the structural part is almost there, I saved the worst for last - gauge tub.
You should make your mold out of fiberglass instead of CF. I'm not sure what your plans are for the mold, but do it with glass. Get your plug super smooth and lay a huge coat of mold release or wax on it. Get some tooling gelcoat and lay 25-30 mils of this on the entire part. Then get some chopped strand mat glass and some good vinylester resin. Use a couple of different sized stainless steel rollers to get all and I mean all the air out. The dobbing paint brush technique won't work for this. Put several layers of glass and resin down and build up the part thickness. Once it's cured, find the spot on the part with the largest surface area and drill a small 1/8" hole. Get your air hose out with a blow nozzle and force the air into the small hole. Your part will pop right off. Now, you will have 25-30 mills of gelcoat to sand and polish out any rough spots. Once you have this done, repeat the process excluding the gelcoat for the CF. Once you get good, you can set yourself up a vacuum bagging table and pop parts out all day long. Mold prep obviously is the hardest part, but the better you get the plug, the better your parts will turn out. Good luck, looks like a neat project!
This is one of the more involved single projects I've seen in a long time.
I think that turned out great.
Resin, fiberglass matt, or kitty hair is really your best options. Bondo really only needs to be used for very slight imperfections. If you take your time it will look great. I would recommend that you put it back in the car some time to make sure its going to look/fit right with everything else.
Here's a console I altered for a Quarter Stick: http://trepics.shutterfly.com/344
Here's a console I altered for a Quarter Stick: http://trepics.shutterfly.com/344
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Damn that is alot of work, and i bet it weighs a ton right now. Just curious how are you going to peel the carbon off the fiberglass when you get to that step. Is there a spray or film that you spray before applying the carbon fiber and resin?
