greenmonster80 Posted July 23, 2005 Share Posted July 23, 2005 I was visiting a friend of mine last week and in his garage he has a huge roll of mil-spec carbon fiber designed for use in aircraft. My first thought was how cool would it be to have a hood and hatch made out of this stuff. Of course other things could be made as well. It does have the thin yellow stripe every 12" to designate it as mil-spec. Problem here is I do not have the tools and skills for molding I can provide the material if someone here knows a shop that does this. Believe me there is a ton of this stuff. More than enough to go around if someone is able to make the parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Would you be willing to sell cloth by the yard? If so, how much per yard? What’s the weight of the cloth (oz/yd^2)? I’m currently in the process of making a custom hood. Instead of a mold, I made a wooden frame consisting of plywood cross-members and pine stringers. The plan is to fill gaps between the stringers with foam, then cover everything on both sides with composite cloth. No mold, no vacuum bag, no oven. Just shadetree-type stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZROSSA Posted July 27, 2005 Share Posted July 27, 2005 Oh dear Michael. You do not know what you are in for. Unless you are planing some new style hood then just save and go buy one. I have been doing a one off body kit for my corolla and have months in the sanding and filling needed to make it look ok...... from a distance. Next time I will make a mold. If you must continue along this path go and get some foam that's designed for composite molding. It like the floral foam that Terry O. likes to use but you can get it in 4' by 8' sizes. It is super easy to sand and light so you just glass to it and it becomes a part of the hood. Then do the other side and you will have something pretty strong and light. May as well use normal glass though. Hand lay up's with glass and carbon will be about the same weight. Cheers, Douglas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 Douglas - Point taken. I'm trying to be realistic about my results. Had a stock or stock-like hood been usable, I would not have done this. But, with the firewall relocation and other mods, I need a hood whose front lip begins somewhat aft of where the stock 280Z radiator "frame" is located, and which ends at the windshield, and which has about a 1/2" bulge to accommodate the air cleaner (any higher and my forward line of sight would suffer, as I'm short but I have to sit way back (Kirkey sheet-metal sit up against the rear wheel well). So far I have a spider web of thin wood planks, forming a structure akin to balsa wood model airplanes of the 1930's. I used a similar approach to built a sort of stubby G-nose, which is bolted where the original hood hinges bolt. There the finish was mediocre, but acceptable for my tastes. The foam which you mentioned - what is it's brand name, and what sort of retailers (home improvement stores? boat stores?) would carry it? Would it dissolve if covered with polyester resin? I prefer polyester resin to 2-part epoxy (very tolerant to incorrect mixture ratios of resin/hardener, very long working time), but the polyester resin has a solvent which eats away white insulation-type foam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZROSSA Posted July 28, 2005 Share Posted July 28, 2005 I will give the guys I bought it from a call in the am. Yes its usable with polyester resin. That why i bought it. I am in love with it. It sands really nicely. I have used it for my undertray on the z and a clam shell type nose cone that I am making for my corolla. I doubt you can get it from a home depo or similar place. Not here anyway. The Fiberglass wholesalers should be able to track it down by the description. The guys I got it from were custom fiberglass developers. Came across it by chance. I forgot that you had done all that work to your z. How's it coming along? I have also done a mini g nose with a air dam. http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=948&cat=500&page=1 Old photo but you should get the idea. We should be pretty close to paint on mine. 3.5 years to get it there. Bloody "while I am at it " strikes again. Cheers, Douglas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZROSSA Posted July 29, 2005 Share Posted July 29, 2005 Stoped by the fiberglass place I was talking about yesterday. They said it was urathane (sp?) foam. Douglas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenmonster80 Posted July 30, 2005 Author Share Posted July 30, 2005 I have been lacking in responding to e-mails. Sorry. I have been able to contact Vintage z. Hopefully he will be able to make me a hood then I will offer up the rest to him to build more hoods or what ever for others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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