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Carbon fiber door panels


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As I look at the panels, I see that these are really setup for more of a race-prepped interior. There are no provisions for the door handle or window crank. I am assuming that you've removed these on your car?

 

Tsk Tsk Tsk! Nothing a little work with a drill or RotoZip wouldn't solve.

 

Frankly, I like the "Blank" nature of the panels, because as someone with BOTH RHD and LHD vehicles, and knowing the panels are different between the two it would be nice to 'trim to fit as needed' a universal door panel, and not have tobodge together a patch for holes that are there that aren't used on one application or the other.

 

Anybody ever find a set of S30 Door Panels with proper Electric Window Switches stamped in them? These look perfect for that application. As well as the interior of my 73 ZT...

 

Watching this one till I get home. Looks like I have a phone call to make!:D

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As I look at the panels, I see that these are really setup for more of a race-prepped interior. There are no provisions for the door handle or window crank. I am assuming that you've removed these on your car?

 

No, the picture is from the first set we created. We had not yet drilled for the door latch, window crank, and door handle. Those are just holes to drill. You can attach the stock parts just fine. I'll post a pic later of the parts installed.

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Mark went on your website and it is fantastic.

The car is absolutely beautiful.

 

Can you take some photos of where you have your Accusump? I havent yet mounted mine, and would be interested in how you have done it.

 

thanks & regards

 

essentially it's mounted just under the intercooler which is normally where the radiator would be. The radiator sits just behind that. Not a great location but it works.

accusump_thumb.jpg

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Wow that isn't cheap!!!

 

Looks to be about $30US/yard - which is $50AUD!

 

I can get fibreglass matting for about $5AUD/Metre!!!

 

Might just stick to the fibreglass :-)!!!

 

good luck making a set that looks good. CF isn't cheap to start with but the trick is to make a mold that is flawless and that you can actually pull a part from. I watched two extremely seasoned guys work with the door panel part for countless hours to get it right.

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I have seen CF cloth on ebay in a variety of colors, and patterns fairly reasonably priced.

 

Where do you even get Carbon Fibre from?

 

I am in the process of making some Fibre-Glass front guards for my Zed, would love to make them out of carbon fibre - guess it's not cheap - but who actually sells the stuff, how much does it cost?

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essentially it's mounted just under the intercooler which is normally where the radiator would be. The radiator sits just behind that. Not a great location but it works.

 

Hi Mark thanks for that.

Where did you plumb the accusump in? Between one of the lines that goes to the oil cooler or somewhere else? Does yours have the electric valve or manual?

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wasnt someone on this forum offering carbon fiber door panels for like $480ish??

 

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=105320&highlight=fiberglass+door+panels&page=13

As posted earlier in this thread, those panels don't include the header - meaning you have to ruin your stock panels in order to install the cf panels. $20 more without having to destroy the stockers seems like a pretty good deal to me. I may have to give this guy a call. Does the $500 include shipping?

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Guest 280ZForce
As posted earlier in this thread, those panels don't include the header - meaning you have to ruin your stock panels in order to install the cf panels. $20 more without having to destroy the stockers seems like a pretty good deal to me. I may have to give this guy a call. Does the $500 include shipping?

No, those were prices w/out shipping.

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"good luck making a set that looks good. CF isn't cheap to start with but the trick is to make a mold that is flawless and that you can actually pull a part from. I watched two extremely seasoned guys work with the door panel part for countless hours to get it right."

 

Is that you you learn't by making your own carbon fibre guards? or being told by the guys you are paying to make em for you? Thats pretty much the same story I have been told by most of the local fibreglass fellows I have come across as well - however, doesnt mean you can't not make a flawless mould and still end up with a decent product - just take's a lot of effort after you remove the final version from your mould - lots of bogging, sanding, adding more Fibreglass, etc, etc, etc!!! I take it you can't do this when using Carbon Fibre?

 

$500 for a pair is a pretty good price - but is it just the outside skin of the door mate? or did these fellow do the inner door skin as well and bond them together?

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just take's a lot of effort after you remove the final version from your mould - lots of bogging, sanding, adding more Fibreglass, etc, etc, etc!!! I take it you can't do this when using Carbon Fibre?

 

 

Depends on if you want the LOOK of CF or just the strength, I just wanted a layer of CF to help stiffen a FG part I made, as CF is structurally stronger. If you paint it you can have a shitty mould and bog the hell out of it without problems, but if you want it to drape well and look seamless and pretty with a clear resin exposing the CF weave, theres no chance of bogging in hollows and sanding down humps will likewise ruin the look.

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"Depends on if you want the LOOK of CF or just the strength, I just wanted a layer of CF to help stiffen a FG part I made, as CF is structurally stronger. If you paint it you can have a shitty mould and bog the hell out of it without problems, but if you want it to drape well and look seamless and pretty with a clear resin exposing the CF weave, theres no chance of bogging in hollows and sanding down humps will likewise ruin the look."

 

Oh okay, so you can basically work with the Carbon Fibre the same way you can work with the fibreglass!!! that is pretty cool!!! But get your point - if I wanted it to have the Carbon Fibre look basically got to have it pop-out perfect!!!

 

Well if I were to use it for body-panels I would be painting it anyways, so wouldn't be to worried about it poping-out with imperfections, just the fact you can work with it like FG makes it a possibility - price is still a bit of an issue though :-)!!!

 

Do you use the same sort's of resin's, cataylist's, wax, PVA release for CB as you would for FB? Do you use a gel-coat/tooling gel like FB???

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Used exactly the same stuff as FG, West System 105 resin and 209 extra slow 40min hardener catalyst. not surprising as I was making a motorcycle front wheel mudguard out of FG interlaced with CF.

 

broke the front mudguard so I glued it together with plastic cement, covered it in a couple of sheets of gladwrap/saranwrap/plastiwrap sitcking and moulded a plaster of paris mould around it. the two sheets meant the PoP came off the part easy and I had a casting mould. layered FG matting cut into 2"x10" strips interwoven with 1"x6" strips of CF so the CF was interleaved between the FG and each bit of CF touched several other bits of CF. I then used bungee cord to hold the two plaster of paris moulds together while it cured, and finally soaked off the PoP and scraped off the gladwrap, trimmed and sanded my new CF reinforced FG mudguard. works fine for single one off pieces when perfection isn't required.

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