I find myself doing a lot of rough bodywork these days. It's consumed a surprising amount of my build time - I really didn't think I'd be spending so much time working on bodywork/composite stuff but it seems the last 20% of the build is what takes the most time. Getting to go-kart status seemed way too easy (and seemed like so long ago!).
To be fair, a good majority of the work I've been doing for the last month or so has been because I'm off-roading. It doesn't seem like I'm going off the path by much but boy oh boy, any deviation from the "standard" build and you're really tacking a ton of extra time onto the build!
I've been having a lot of fun learning about how to work with fiberglass; next up was to try my hand at making a mold from a pattern, making a fresh part, then prepping it for final.
I'm running the race tail and I've purchased a fresh air intake scoop. Unfortunately there was some asymmetry in the part that was driving me totally bananas. When standing directly behind or over the intake, it was clear the driver side was "sagging". At first I attempted to fix the piece by laying down more fiberglass and bondo. When I'd finished the part weighed a ton and I'd added about 1/4" of material.
So I decided to use my modified piece as a pattern and make a mold from it. The mold making was pretty fun - it was the biggest wet layup I'd done to date and learning how to work with the resin and fabric together was a good learning experience. After completing the mold I then "fixed" it up and made a new part.
By "fixing" the mold what I really mean is there were some flaws in the mold which I tried to correct - and ended up making even more flaws! Certainly a lot to learn about doing this sort of thing!
Anyway, with my new part in hand I wanted to continue with the carbon theme I have running on the car - so I skinned it in carbon. This time around I used a 2x2 V-twill pattern weave, it's super cool but also horribly tough to work with. The V pattern means you really can't mess around with fabric alignment and any shifts in the weave will be super obvious. I did a pretty decent job of it after making a few mistakes and learning.
As for scoop mounting - I've come across a few different mounting methodologies but haven't really seen one I was super happy with. I've seen scoops bonded to the bodywork or bolted. The ones that were bolted, it was obvious where the fasteners were. I scratched my head on this one for a while but eventually came up with a low-tech way to bond nuts into the underside of the scoop. It's definitely one of those "get'r done" solutions but in the end the fasteners are invisible and I have a flush fitting scoop.
It took me about a week to do all this - no wonder my build has slowed so much! But I've been learning a TON about an area I used to think was a black art. The biggest lesson learned so far? Pay attention while cutting your carbon fiber!! hen I cut my carbon fiber sheet I cut it in the wrong direction, so the chevron is pointing backwards when I really want it pointing forwards. DUH. So .... yeah, I'm going to finish this piece and use it for a bit but I plan to make a new one with the chevron pointing in the correct direction next time. There was just too much money invested to not finish the part.
So ... if anyone wants a lightly used carbon fiber scoop for their race tail let me know. I'm not sure when I'll complete the replacement but when I do this one will be up for sale.
Here's my modified scoop getting ready to be glassed:
And this is the angle that was driving me totally bonkers to begin with. From this angle it kind of looked like 2 different scoops split down the middle.
Mold:
Part pulled and some bonded nuts:
A close-up showing the V-twill weave - you really need to see it in person!
Another view:
As always, a ton more discussion and photos on my blog:
32. A breath of fresh air – Cam's Superlite SLC