Diy Carbon Fiber parts

hamletl · 02-02-2016, 01:46 PM

Has any one on here ever made any of thier own carbon fiber parts? I have been doing a lot of research on the topic and in the long run it would be much less expensive to just make diffusers, mirror covers, spoilers, etc. Initial investment is a few hundred dollars but after that its just material costs and time. If any one has ever done it or knows more about it I would love to hear your opinions! Thanks for the info!!

SilverDust · 06-10-2016, 08:59 AM

Back when i had a G35 I did my own carbon fiber job on the interior door handles. I believe I got 3 yrds of carbon and 2 quarts of resin for around $100. WAY too much material. After about a year the resin hardens up and I had to throw mine away. Still have 2.9 yrds of carbon. So plan your materials accordingly.

As far as the actual process, it's not too difficult, but it is very time consuming. I did 4 layers of resin and 2 layers of clear coat - wet sanding between each layer. Took me about 8-12 hours to do both pieces (they are relatively small). Once they were done, I used a dremel to clean up the edges.

When I was in college, my schools race team used to make our own monocoque. We would make molds, then negatives, then lay in pre-preg carbon and vacuum seal it to the negative. Required more equipment and was much more expensive, but it was much less labor intensive. We also had a budget of a couple hundred thousand dollars. So we didn't really care if we messed up, we could just redo it.

thebrownbomber · 06-12-2016, 09:16 PM

We laid up a dry carbon fiber seat for our Formula SAE car back in 2010. Not a pretty enough to put on the M3 by any stretch, but you can do anything if you are willing to put the time in, and risk ruining whatever part you are molding on top of.

zero2sixtyZ · 11-02-2016, 02:44 PM

http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/#!/composites-tutorials

Sorry for bumping an old thread, but thought this might be helpful. The 3 part mold making + pre-preg layup video is really interesting and thorough.

Cbozz · 05-24-2017, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zero2sixtyZ

http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/#!/composites-tutorials

Sorry for bumping an old thread, but thought this might be helpful. The 3 part mold making + pre-preg layup video is really interesting and thorough.

super interesting

02-02-2016, 01:46 PM	#1
hamletl Private 8 Rep 56 Posts Drives: 2016 M4- Tanzanite Blue Metall Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Virginia iTrader: (2)	Diy Carbon Fiber parts Has any one on here ever made any of thier own carbon fiber parts? I have been doing a lot of research on the topic and in the long run it would be much less expensive to just make diffusers, mirror covers, spoilers, etc. Initial investment is a few hundred dollars but after that its just material costs and time. If any one has ever done it or knows more about it I would love to hear your opinions! Thanks for the info!!
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06-10-2016, 08:59 AM	#2
SilverDust Private 35 Rep 95 Posts Drives: Waiting on an SO F87 6MT Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Nashville, TN iTrader: (0)	Back when i had a G35 I did my own carbon fiber job on the interior door handles. I believe I got 3 yrds of carbon and 2 quarts of resin for around $100. WAY too much material. After about a year the resin hardens up and I had to throw mine away. Still have 2.9 yrds of carbon. So plan your materials accordingly. As far as the actual process, it's not too difficult, but it is very time consuming. I did 4 layers of resin and 2 layers of clear coat - wet sanding between each layer. Took me about 8-12 hours to do both pieces (they are relatively small). Once they were done, I used a dremel to clean up the edges. When I was in college, my schools race team used to make our own monocoque. We would make molds, then negatives, then lay in pre-preg carbon and vacuum seal it to the negative. Required more equipment and was much more expensive, but it was much less labor intensive. We also had a budget of a couple hundred thousand dollars. So we didn't really care if we messed up, we could just redo it.
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06-12-2016, 09:16 PM	#3
thebrownbomber New Member 1 Rep 18 Posts Drives: 2012 Jerez Black E92 ZCP Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Corpus Christi, TX iTrader: (0)	We laid up a dry carbon fiber seat for our Formula SAE car back in 2010. Not a pretty enough to put on the M3 by any stretch, but you can do anything if you are willing to put the time in, and risk ruining whatever part you are molding on top of.
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11-02-2016, 02:44 PM	#4
zero2sixtyZ Colonel 951 Rep 2,669 Posts Drives: e92 + f15 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Cambridge, MA iTrader: (4) Garage List 2007 335i Coupe [9.50] 2015 X5 xdrive50i [10.00]	http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/#!/composites-tutorials Sorry for bumping an old thread, but thought this might be helpful. The 3 part mold making + pre-preg layup video is really interesting and thorough.
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