Saturday, August 17, 2013 - 02:58 pm, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
Yeah 4.5kg on that side, and I have cut the corresponding metal etc out of the other side, less the actual guard itself. Currently sitting in the car with the laptop trying to get my dash working. Not the most comfortable I have ever been.
Saturday, August 17, 2013 - 05:19 pm, by: Andrew McKellar(Toymax)
Ben Lipman wrote on Friday, August 16, 2013 - 10:10 pm:
Over Christmas I was thinking of completely boxing the four corners of the car, but after many hours of contemplation in the shed I decided I like the fact the car looks like a Soarer, and decided to flare the guards instead.
Best decision you've made in ages
Ben Lipman Goo Roo SA Soarer TT manual, plus TT track car, plus a spare shell
Saturday, August 17, 2013 - 08:08 pm, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
LOL. Perhaps I should have grabbed your wide body kit after all. That said, I was surprised at how much I was able to flare the rears. I got the left rear one (the steel one) flared about 20mm this arvo. That is 20mm over what it was- it looked like it had at least been lipped/rolled by a previous owner.
Here are some pics of the rear tonight. Need a bigger diffuser now...
Still need to plate up each side of the boot floor, and some large fences will be needed to keep the dirty wheel well air from the diffuser area.
I will remove the bonnet and start work on that soon, plus I have the spare boot set up in the back shed as well. I am enjoying making moulds at the moment. Less stressful than making parts from the moulds for some reason. I am actually thinking wet lay up might be the go for the front guards as I am not sure they will suit infusion. I don't need a whole lot of the guard- only really the upper section.
Ben Lipman Goo Roo SA Soarer TT manual, plus TT track car, plus a spare shell
Saturday, August 17, 2013 - 08:14 pm, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
Oh, and I finally published another video that sat on the computer for a while. YouTube hosed me though- the audio was supposed to favour the original sound track so you could hear the car running...fail YouTube, fail.
Ben Lipman Goo Roo SA Soarer TT manual, plus TT track car, plus a spare shell
Sunday, August 18, 2013 - 07:27 pm, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
Didn't get any real work done today, but I did give the garage a good clean out. This allowed me to finally get the race car off the trailer and into the garage.
I did use the new found floor space to start mocking up the side skirts
Don't suppose any one would want a right rear guard mould, LOL? Council clean in September is gonna get hammered at this rate.
Sunday, August 18, 2013 - 08:23 pm, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
There wont be another dented bum.
To be honest, I can't have them stacked up all around the house. And we might be moving back east at the end of the year. Either I start getting rid of stuff, or I will need a separate container just for miscellaneous Soarer junk.
You don't realise just how big the panels on the Soarer are until you start taking moulds etc.
Monday, August 19, 2013 - 09:10 pm, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
For the rest of the year my moulds will be temporary I think- only 3 layers of 600gsm cloth and using standard polyester gel coat. Be a shame to make a beautiful multi layer mould using tooling gel coat etc worth $500 and then have to pay $70 to throw it to the tip.
Monday, August 19, 2013 - 09:19 pm, by: Spencer Cameron(Switchio)
Wouldn't it be a good idea to hold onto it. I mean, what if you bin your molds and then have an off and have to remake the parts? Or you could sell them to someone who wants to sell the parts.
Ben Lipman Goo Roo SA Soarer TT manual, plus TT track car, plus a spare shell
Sunday, September 01, 2013 - 11:35 am, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
I have just successfully infused the first carbon front guard.
The mould doesn't quite hold a vacuum, but importantly it pulls one (15 inches!) I am thinking the flanges are still not sealing properly, or the mould is porous some how. I did find a pinhole in the glass mould and plugged it with some tacky tape, but there is at least one other leak that I can't find.
Still managed to infuse the part. It is always nervous when you open the tap and let the resin in...was very worried I wouldn't get all the mould. Found a patch where there was no infusion mesh- will not let that happen again. The entire rest of the mould infused in the time that this 2cm strip took to wet out. Was worried it wouldn't happen at all.
Moved it into the sun to speed up the cure. Waiting, waiting, waiting.
Will need to order more consumables: infusion mesh, bagging film, peel ply and tacky tape. You use these up very fast, and I don't have a cheap local supplier.
Sunday, September 01, 2013 - 08:33 pm, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
Yeah I have a 'normal' job that keeps me out of the house from 7am to 5pm. I have two kids, a dog, chickens, a yard and a wife that demand attention too. It comes down to not watching 4 hours of TV every night, and not watching sport on tv during the weekends.
for example: this infusion started last Monday night with some sanding and finishing on the mould. By Thursday the mould was ready to use. I got on the gas Friday night and did nothing. Saturday afternoon I set everything up and tested the gear. Sunday morning I let her rip.
Whilst the part was curing, I fabricated a simple aluminium fitting to mount my dash to the steering column, and plated up a hole in the boot where the fuel lines come through.
My time management secret is having a bloody big and detailed list of jobs that need doing (on the car, around the house, with the kids, with the wife etc). Whenever I find myself with some time, I look at the job list and figure out what can be done in that time.
Monday, September 02, 2013 - 06:28 pm, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
LOL.
Good news. Popped the mould today and the guard is really, really good. Minor 'bridging' on a couple of edges, but most of those are in the vent area which I am cutting out anyway. Here are some pics, one straight out of the mould, and the other two after rough trimming and drilling holes and test fitted onto the spare shell.
The guard weighs 860grams after rough trimming. I have a bit to cut out in the vent area, but will add a flat carbon panel back onto it so it should even out. The Fibreglass guard maxes out my little scales so it is over 2kg.
The differences in the process from the rear guard were:
1. I sealed the mould pieces together using silicone sealant. (The flanges were sprayed with PVA first- and the silicone simply pulled off in one long piece- a definite must do from now on!)
2. I sprayed PVA after 5 coats of wax as usual, but used spray adhesive from Bunnings (SIKA brand I think) to hold the layers of carbon and peel ply in position. This made it sooooooo much easier to do the layup prep.
3. I pulled a vacuum and checked for leaks etc before even thinking about messing with resin.
4. I calculated how much resin I would need in advance, even though I ended up needing 400grams more than I calculated (total resin use was 1100 grams when I calculated 700g). It seems my infusion mesh is thirsier than the one on the website calculator I found. I have 300 grams of cloth, and expected 600 grams of resin was needed plus 100 grams that gets collected in the pot and hoses etc.
I now plan to have a go at 'houso' infusion using consumables from Bunnings and Spotlight (ie nylon mesh of flyscreen for infusion mesh, polyester material for peel ply, builders plastic for vacuum bag, and bunnings fish tank hose for vac lines etc. The only components I cannot find a cheap solution for is the butyl rubber 'tack' tape and the spiral cut tubing to disperse the resin inside the bag.
Tuesday, September 03, 2013 - 06:33 pm, by: Clayton Carlyle(Clayton)
It would nearly be a shame to paint them. Looks shmick. Would you make any to sell? And at what sort of price?? Also how much wider are they than stock?
Ben Lipman Goo Roo SA Soarer TT manual, plus TT track car, plus a spare shell
Tuesday, September 03, 2013 - 10:30 pm, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
Thanks fellas. If the right side turns out as good as the left, I think they will just get a clear coat. What is the point of having super exotic carbony goodness if no one knows? Besides, I have still got to cut big holes in them for cooling yet.
At the moment I am working every spare minute I have to get the car ready for a track day at the end of the month. I can't promise I'll find the time to make sets to sell in the short term. As for price, there is a couple of hundred dollars in materials in the guard alone.
Of course, when you are down here, Andrew, there will be an extra set of hands...
Tonight I applied silicone to the mating flanges and bolted the right side mould together. After that, I made a pretty little bracket to mount the buttons of my dash behind the steering wheel.
Wednesday, September 04, 2013 - 12:11 pm, by: Paul Kalie(Ajzs)
Looks great , Im home now and will give you a call in the next few days.. 11360km's travelled.. Need to unpack and clean everything then I can play cars too.
Thursday, September 05, 2013 - 08:05 pm, by: Michael McKellar(Mickmini)
Ben Lipman wrote on Sunday, September 01, 2013 - 11:35 am:
Moved it into the sun to speed up the cure. Waiting, waiting, waiting. . . . I now plan to have a go at 'houso' infusion using consumables from Bunnings and Spotlight
I told you before - 'houso' autoclave = cardboard box + fan heater. Will help reduce the waiting.
America's cup rudders and keels were made this way by a mate of mine.
Ben Lipman Goo Roo SA Soarer TT manual, plus TT track car, plus a spare shell
Thursday, September 05, 2013 - 10:15 pm, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
I remember. I used it one winter with fibreglass.
Bloody big box for a guard though.
The resin has a four hour pot life, so it takes plenty of time to harden. I am still learning about working with epoxy, but I am loving the low odour, and the no mess with the infusion process.
By houso I was referring to not paying top dollar for things like peel ply, infusion mesh, bagging film, and plastic tubing etc from composites supplier. I want to see how stuff from the hardware and dress shops works. I have a bunch of 'replacements' ready (less tacky tape and spiral tube - I haven't found a cheap replacement). I will try it out on a glass panel soon.