fibreglass frp replica panels

[jacko]

er.... about £150 a panel in fibreglass from pumaspeed....

 

[Flying Scotsman]

I would have 2 complete sets from you for my rally car...

 

[Flying Scotsman]

What panels do you need as I have all of them.
Drop me a text on 07725436518 and we'll see what we can sort out. Mac

 

[Flying Scotsman]

I'm sure we can. All the panels are off the car right now. Where are you located?

 

[jacko]

id REALLY be interested in carbon rear quarters, me and warren were going to make them...any chance we could borrow the mould when youv made it?

 

[jacko]

I understand that completely, always worth asking tho!

id actually prefer wet lay carbon so you could do it if you can get the resin and carbon (I don't want polyester resin!). I can have money waiting for 2 rear quarters in carbon / epoxy resin

whereabouts are you?

 

[warrenpenalver]

To use epoxy with the moulds he would need to use an epoxy compatable gel coat such as vinylester based ones. Otherwise even if you use lots of release agent, chances are the epoxy would stick in places on the polyester mould.

If you buy in bulk, polyester resin is about £3 a kilo where as epoxy is about £14 a kilo.

But epoxy is pretty much twice a strong in all the important performance characteristics.

are you thinking of using chopped strand mat for your parts or the more advanced woven glass?? Just thinking from a weight perspective you wont save much weight if you use CSM especially on the front wings which i reckon would be heavier in CSM than aluminium.

 

[warrenpenalver]

you can buy woven fibreglass in a range of weights so it can easily be used to replace any type of csm.

The benefit of woven glass is the fact that as a woven fabric it is far stronger than csm which as you know is held together by disolvable glue and once laminted held only by the resin. Where as the woven glass is strong in its own right.

Also i wouldnt advise mixing the two. if youre using woven glass youll need less thickness than csm anyway.

woven glass is easier to use in most cases. it doesnt fall apart like some csm does. Also it drapes very well before wetting out. thicker CSMs are fairly stiff until wetted out and often wont go in the mould until the resin has soaked in a bit. Only places woven glass can be awkward is in supertight corners but then thats the same with CSM. You just put in a few cut lines where needed and the woven glass will then conform ok.

 

[Bentleya]

Fantastic , look forward to seeing photos and progress.

 

[warrenpenalver]

When you make your moulds you might want to put a 5" flange on the edges that way if later on you want to vacuum bag or resin infuse then you have flanges to stick the bag to. Means youre moulds are more versatile. eg for cheapish rally panels you can use diolen fabric and glass vacuum bagged to reduce excess resin.

 

[warrenpenalver]

You can seal 2 part moulds easy enough using bagging tape around the edge and over the bolts securing it together. Some people use silicone sealant.

 

[aberdarepuma]

hey are u still goin ahead with making these panels if so drop me a pm im 100% interested asap, thanks if you can let me know that wld be great Darren

 

[aberdarepuma]

I was looking to purchase the panels around march time mate so thas perfect!, ill keep an eye on this post and message u closer to the time

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Get the prototypes done first, then take orders. Lots of pictures fitted to your car!
I was wondering, for the rear quarters... how do you intend to mount them?

 

[warrenpenalver]

if its like originals it will be bonded on at the quarters and need a bit of filler and work around the C pillar join to look neat.

Mac are youre panels actually going on a rally car to be rallied? if so you might want to have kevlar or diolen added to the layup to give you impact resistance thus making them resist stone chips and light impact better.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

if its like originals it will be bonded on at the quarters and need a bit of filler and work around the C pillar join to look neat.

Mac are youre panels actually going on a rally car to be rallied? if so you might want to have kevlar or diolen added to the layup to give you impact resistance thus making them resist stone chips and light impact better.

Yeah the panels will be getting used on a rallycar and yes they will be having some kevlar protection added.

 

[warrenpenalver]

do you have a workshop to be able to do it so quick or just a big garage?

 

[warrenpenalver]

TBH i doubt there is the market to support puma parts these days as a serious business. even the two "specialists" have mostly moved on to newer markets.

however as a home hobby business then could be a few beer tokens in it.

A garage should be plenty of space. You should be able to easily have two moulds out at once so while ones curing, one is being laid up/trimmed post cure.

My lounge is a good size and is only just big enough to mould a puma bonnet and thats with access only to three sides. Ideally you want all round access.

One bit of advice i would suggest you take is to be very careful of your cure temperatures for your resins. Especially if you play with epoxies. Epoxies will cure at 15C just about but 20 C is ideal.

also more heat as a kind of post cure is a good thing as it strengthens the part and ensures a full cure.

 

[Scott134]

I'd be very interested in this too, especially if there is eventually some weight saving over standard FRP panels too. I wouldn't be in a position to do this until late Spring/early summer though but I will keep an eye on this now that I know you're doing it!

Good luck with the first production run. :-D

 

[jacko]

grp will be a lot lighter than the steel rear quarters, carbon even lighter....thats my plan