I got sheets of carbon fiber and i wanna know some tips for making a couple of molds on my car such as the door handles and what not.Any steps and tips and what materials do you use.

thanks

 

Try sending a PM to "mkoch1".

Here's his website: http://www.markkoch.net/

 

cool thanks...

 

he doesn't make molds. he just adds on to parts. CF molds are basiclly the same as FG molds except they are way better in quality. On FG molds, you really don't care about the surface quality since you're just going to smooth it out with filler of some sort. CF is difficult cause the surface must be flat as glass cause that's what you're gonna see when you take it out, there is no filler to fill the mistakes. CF molds are expensive because of the labor that goes into it, material I believe is the same

 

yeah i have the carbon fiber sheets alot of it.

 

where did you get it from and what did it cost you for the sheets of cf?

luigi

 

Did you guys check out his www.carbonfiberparts.net website? Those are the best looking FD interior panels I have ever seen, bar none. I mean NONE. Just beautiful work.

I was talking over a project just like this (putting CF over the interior panels) yesterday with a coworker who brought in some black CF sheets he was going to use on a go-kart, so its cool that someone is doing it as a hobby/job for FDs and other cars & bikes.

On a semi related note - how the hell do you get the cover off the instrument cluster gauges (tach, speedo etc)??? I tried it once when I was repainting all my interior panels flat black and that was the only part I couldn't get off. Anyone have any secrets on how it can be done without disconnecting all that wiring.

 

wptrx7 my friend is a engineer and he gave me a **** load of CF sheets for free.

 

RX-Revin:
Do you have the cloth to be molded and cured, or are your "sheets" already stiff planks? You can't mold the stuff thats already formed.

Coulthard Fan: A planstic spatula will help jimmy it off. It does come off with a scary "snap!" though.

 

ptrhahn: Yeah, I got the center console detached and moved up by an inch (heard a loud snap) ... then said, now how the hell am I going to get the plastic cover off this? So I put it back and didn't paint that part. All the other panels are painted a black that matches it 97%.

Seems like anyone would have to figure this out before doing all their interior panels in CF.

 

Making surrounds and what not from CF will probably end being heavier then the plastic ones.

Only difference between a mold for CF and one for FG is whats put on top, the process is the same for making the mold. Instead of using glass cloth for the finished product you use CF cloth. One would obviously want to make sure the surface of a mold that will be used for a CF part be very highly polished so that it comes out shineier, but even if it didnt its nothing some wet sanding and buffing wont cure.

Alot of guys arent using epoxy resins with UV shields laying up thier CF parts, its only a matter of time before the sun beats these parts up.
People who use a skin of CF and then glass under that soley for a cosmetic thing are just plain lame in my opinion.

 

ptrhahn: I have the cloth to be molded and cured.

 

Check out the latest issue of Super Street. They have a step-by-step in there. Of course, they make it look easy...