Hey, I suppose I should start one of these. I drive an 08 wrx and as of early last year in my free time I take parts, mold them, and infuse lightweight composites from them. I decided to do this after I almost considered purchasing a Seibon hood. And upon closer inspection of one I came across I could see how cheap it was. It was heavy and yellowing. I started geeking out on the manufacturing processes, the different type of moulds, resins, waxes, gelcoats, prepregs, etc... Found a great composites forum and here we are. It's now a hobby of mine. I have a bit over a thousand bucks invested in this stuff and really really enjoy it. Maybe someday I can make some money back!, but for now im still learning how to make the perfect part. My first project was my own trunk: resin infusion with epoxy resin. 3 layers of 5.7oz carbon outer shell, 3 layers of 5.7oz carbon inner shell. fiberglass mould with orange jell coat.... it turned out really bad, was applying everything i had learned for the first time. I did everything right, just not enough polish and sanding on the mold. And during the infusion I popped a leak in the vacuum bag and had to seal it back with a hand full of vasoline. lol It worked. I learned alot from the first project. I have recently repaired it some and put a proper clearcoat on. Now it look half way professional (from a moderate distance) :naughty: I have made a second trunk since and I will post that en-devour soon, but Its beer 30 and I have buds coming over. booya
Nice work...that's taking DIY to a whole new level. Are you baking the final product in an oven or does the resin set up on its own?
I have been buying room temp resins.. I do apply heat to about 150 deg about an hour into the cure. It still aids the curing process.
Ya know that probably would of been the wiser thing to do. Learn on small parts instead of starting out with something as large as a trunk. No, haven't done any small stuff. I find that plastics are made from injection molding and its difficult to duplicate the part exactly. (mainly the mounting achors and brackets that are found on the back of a piece.) But I still want to try. I have kinda kicked the idea around of making door cards.
My understanding is you only need to bake prepreg material to kick the hardeners. Hand laid has resin and activator to start the catalyzation process. You can apply heat to kick it or rely on ambient temps and how "hot" you mix the resin. I've bought CF, but only laid up FG at this point. Good for you to take the plunge. I've been a voyeur with CF to this point.
The quality of clear coats and their corresponding prices vary a lot! These are picture of the old autoparts clear and the midgrade clear that I purchased from finishmasters in Cumming. The originial cheap clearcoat that I tryed was dupicolor from autozone. FAIL. The autozone stuff is easier to spray and drys quicker from what I remember. But it had pretty much burnt off in 6 months. The sun destroyed it completely and had started yellowing the resin. It looked like water was getting through it and temporarily hazing little spots from day one. The new clear is a 2 part (base and activator) that is harder to spray and seems to be thicker. But the shine is proper, and it has UV protection. It costs 3 times the autozone stuff and its still just midgrade. The lesson of the day? Never buy a cheap clear, period. I just shot the midgrade on the trunk after sanding off the autozone crap. We will see how it goes. This is my original/first attempt carbon trunk, the same one posted above. Its looking pretty good with the new clearcoat. old clear: New clear: I am getting ready for a material purchase for a new mold because my hood is next!
Just to get the journal up to date.. This is an attempt at an 02 - 07 wrx trunk. My second attempt. This time I used materials schedule as follows: OUTER SHELL - 1 layer 5.7oz carbon, 2mm polyester coremat, 1 layer 11oz carbon. INNER SHELL - 3 layers 5.7 oz carbon. During infusion once again. Leak in bag. Airbubble in part. Also one layer of carbon over the core was a bad call, you could see the core through the weave. I brushed on another layer of resin on the outer shell, sanded out the bubble then repeated with another coat of resin. Then coated it in primer. weight 6.5 lbs. very rigid. Will make a great trunk if painted. I am trying to sell it on Nasioc for 450. I would post on here but don't have a high enough post count. This thing was a great step in my little learning quest here. I learned the importance of confirming a zero leak vacuum setup. And that a core material is needed for any large flat area. It makes it very rigid without adding hardly any weight. Also I degassed my resin this time, made a difference with pinholes in the part. (the parts that didnt see the air leak) here is a couple of shots of the prepwork for this parts mold All clean, donor part ready to be the plug. Flanged clay fillet on the edges along with some sweet chugging action. I forgot to snap shots of the infusion and the following result. This next shot is after I did all the repairs. The undershell looks good still Aaand the test fit at allpro
Okay, you've sparked my interest in this as i drive a 04 Impreza outback sport and not many things are offered for my car. How ever I don't think you can do a rear door nor do I want an entire wagon door made out of CF. how ever I would love to see if you would want to attempt a hood. A rs hood for the Impreza in 04 are like 800 dollars. Ain't nobody got time for dat. If the materials are cheaper to make this stuff which I would assume they are. As shipping for a hood is also outrageous. If your up to the task I would love to attempt the hood I'd be willing to with your acceptance of course to pitch in for another experiment. If you don't want to try a hood I would love to go after some Interior pieces. I hate stick/clip on CF pieces for interior as they just look cheap. Let me get my transmission in and we could talk more if your up to the challenge.
Materials for the hood, yes. But add in tooling and its a looser unless you plan on production. And by that point, I assume you want to be paid for time along with materials- think about everything involved and $800 would be a bargain.......
making a really good quality mold takes around 300 - 400 bucks in materials. Then the consumables + materials will be another 250 - 500 depending on the materials schedule you want. 250 being a cheap fiberglass backed relatively brittle version compared to a bombproof full carbon. Then factor in time which can exceed 15 hours on just the mold. Then factor finish coats for uv protection etc. For a single part I don't even think 800 would be enough. Maybe if It was a high demand part. 600-800 is a mass production price. Thats also a price for a fiberglass reinforced type. Seibon Vis have all the 600 - 800 dollar priced parts that are basicly fiberglass with one or 2 layers of carbon stretched over it. Just ballpark prices here but carbon is 30+ bucks a yard, and fiberglass is around 3 - 6 bucks a yard. Its 2+ yards per layer and these parts required 3-6 layers per shell and there are 2 shells. They use no carbon on the inner shell also sometimes. These figures vary greatly depending on the application. Once I put all this together I found if wanted to have some real carbon parts like the ones found on race cars and super cars. I would have to either pay the 1500 - 2000 bucks for a trunk or hood, or make it myself. So here I am!
I want one really bad too... that project has always been on the back of my mind. Its a lot of work and you have to do alot of cutting and drilling from what I ahve read.
Wow, looks good. I messed with resin and cloth before material before. The project was good but it made me itch like hell. Keep up the good work.
I have a question for you guys. I have learned a few things about mold making and want to remake my 08 trunk mold. I picked up some modeling clay and toyed around with a lip built into it. What do you guy think? Mold with the lip or leave stock? And if I keep the lip, how do you feel about the blocked off edge? I am up in the air about making it blocked off like the stock wrx spoiler or make it rounded and a bit more sharp.. Thoughts guys? thanks!
sharper, reminds me of those wangan drag wings the cheap body kit makers used to make. I'd round the edges too and not leave it so angular as it comes toward the center. The older pics above really make your car look good. the wheels and ride height completely get rid of the corolla with a scoop comparison.