sorry this has probly been brought up alot.......i was searching the internet but i couldnt find anything,....how do you make things into a carbon fiber piece and can any average loe with a bunch of tools do it. Without a doubt it must be expensive but i was just wondering if anybody knew(i was thinking, if i was brave enough and had enough money to make a hood cause we cannot seem to get them made) later God Bless

 

ummmmm manntis is making some of them... they look awesome too. .

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...4&page=1&pp=15

As for making them yourself, im not too sure but im sure its very time consuming and involves alot of trial and error im sure manntis would agree with me...

 

yeah those are so cool, but i wanted a straight stock carbon look..........

 

Doing small carbon pieces like for instance a mounting plate for the dash, is something you can do in your spare time. You`ll need resin, carbon fibre, brushes, etc.

If you are thinking about making a complete hood, i would say no! You would most likely require a Autoclave (a big oven), and thats not exactly cheap..

There was a Texas based company that sold carbon fibre hoods, some time ago, but suddenly, the website disappeared and never came back!

 

Cf is simmilar to fiberglass, but is more diffucult to work with...and req. ver different resisns than you neeed for FG

 

It's hard to match the quality (both look and strength to weight ratio) of properly made carbon fiber when you do it in your garage, but you can do a decent job.

Basically it's the same as fiberglass:
- Make a mold of the part you want to copy
- Mix up some resin
- Soak cloth in the resin
- Place wet cloth in mold
- Wait for resin to harden
- Presto, you have a part!

Carbon fiber cloth is stiffer than fiberglass, so it is harder to wrap around or into corners. Resin also does not stick to carbon fiber as well. With fiberglass you can get away with cheap resin, but carbon fiber needs better stuff.

Also, to make good parts you should probably have a vacuum pump and bag setup. This is used to remove excess resin from the part.

Carbon fiber factory setups often use pre-preg (where the carbon cloth is pre-impregnated with the correct ratio of resin). This requires heating the final part and mold in an oven to activate the resin. This would be difficult to do at home, but produces the nicest parts.

go to http://www.fibreglast.com/ they have a bunch of how-to info

 

guys I just went to the bone yard and got a 85 1st gen shift surround, speedometer guage cluster, arm rest/center column, and a passanger seat lever that puts the passanger seat forward from the drivers seat, and 2 dash switches that control the defroster and hazards. Anyways I will be working on a carbon fiber mold of these items. I will make them in 5.7 oz 4x4 or 2x2 twill. Drop me a PM if you want first dibs on these or you have another year 1st gen and need something custom made.