Non-metal FI Intake/Charge Pipes
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Just wondering if anyone has a non-metal intake or charge pipes on their forced induction car?
Will a fiberglass charge pipe handle say 20psi of boost and 200 degree IAT's?
I want to replace my Procharger air box with a merge pipe similar to the Incon TT "Butt Pipe", but with the complex curves and shape changes it may be difficult to make it out of aluminum or steel.
Will a fiberglass charge pipe handle say 20psi of boost and 200 degree IAT's?
I want to replace my Procharger air box with a merge pipe similar to the Incon TT "Butt Pipe", but with the complex curves and shape changes it may be difficult to make it out of aluminum or steel.
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Ive been thinking about doing this for a while. Heres a start.
http://www.vaglinks.com/Docs/Misc/CarbonFiberHowTo2.pdf
Great link as well
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothrea...ostid=30463164
http://www.vaglinks.com/Docs/Misc/CarbonFiberHowTo2.pdf
Great link as well
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothrea...ostid=30463164
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Ive been thinking about doing this for a while. Heres a start.
http://www.vaglinks.com/Docs/Misc/CarbonFiberHowTo2.pdf
Great link as well
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothrea...ostid=30463164
http://www.vaglinks.com/Docs/Misc/CarbonFiberHowTo2.pdf
Great link as well
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothrea...ostid=30463164
The VW forum has some great ideas.
Last edited by No Juice; 11-12-2009 at 09:02 AM.
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Ive been thinking about doing this for a while. Heres a start.
http://www.vaglinks.com/Docs/Misc/CarbonFiberHowTo2.pdf
Great link as well
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothrea...ostid=30463164
http://www.vaglinks.com/Docs/Misc/CarbonFiberHowTo2.pdf
Great link as well
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothrea...ostid=30463164
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Making your own "butt pipe" sounds like a difficult, albeit fun project.
Know that if you lay up your own fabric your mold doesn't need to be metal, just a rigid material. We often use plastic or even foam cores covered with bondo and treated in our research at school.
I don't know of anywhere to obtain curves from, but I know you can buy prefabricated carbon fiber and fiberglass tubes up to (and probably over) 3 inches ID in straight sections. Search the internet for roll wrapped carbon fiber tubes, these can be had for fairly cheap. Shy away from pultruded tubes as the hoop strength for fibers oriented longitudinally may not be up to the task.
Slightly off your specific topic, but if you did a fmic and got rid of the "butt pipe" you could use carbon fiber straight sections and black silicone couplers. Would be bad *** imo.
Know that if you lay up your own fabric your mold doesn't need to be metal, just a rigid material. We often use plastic or even foam cores covered with bondo and treated in our research at school.
I don't know of anywhere to obtain curves from, but I know you can buy prefabricated carbon fiber and fiberglass tubes up to (and probably over) 3 inches ID in straight sections. Search the internet for roll wrapped carbon fiber tubes, these can be had for fairly cheap. Shy away from pultruded tubes as the hoop strength for fibers oriented longitudinally may not be up to the task.
Slightly off your specific topic, but if you did a fmic and got rid of the "butt pipe" you could use carbon fiber straight sections and black silicone couplers. Would be bad *** imo.
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So I just looked around real quick and I realized that when I said "fairly cheap" I was referring to the smaller diameter tubes I work with. The big (3") diameter ones are pretty expensive.
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$5-$6 a foot for 3" sleeves doesnt seem expensive at all to me
Infact, seems hella cheap! http://www.solarcomposites.com/compo...20sleeves.html
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A quote from the website you posted: "reinforcing sleeves expand and contract around a shaft (the tiny binders are made of Spandex stretchable fibers)".
Those sleeves look like they are a single layer of cloth that hasn't been impregnated with epoxy yet. I mean you can make anything work, but with those you'll still have to lay them up around some mold and let it cure before they become rigid. You'll almost definately have to us multiple (probably more than 5) layers to keep holes from forming between weaves.
I guess the advantage of that is that you could potentially make curved sections (bad ***), if you can figure out how to get your mold out of the part once its cured.
An example of rigid tubes I found ($$$):
http://www.carbonfibertubeshop.com/large%20tubing.html
I'm sure there's a Chinese manufacturer somewhere that has the same stuff for a fraction of the cost.
Those sleeves look like they are a single layer of cloth that hasn't been impregnated with epoxy yet. I mean you can make anything work, but with those you'll still have to lay them up around some mold and let it cure before they become rigid. You'll almost definately have to us multiple (probably more than 5) layers to keep holes from forming between weaves.
I guess the advantage of that is that you could potentially make curved sections (bad ***), if you can figure out how to get your mold out of the part once its cured.
An example of rigid tubes I found ($$$):
http://www.carbonfibertubeshop.com/large%20tubing.html
I'm sure there's a Chinese manufacturer somewhere that has the same stuff for a fraction of the cost.