MKII Rear Brake Scoops, my summer project - Page 2

Chris Melia · 12-21-04, 03:00 PM

Hi Adam

nice work

Chris.

MK -IV J6 · 12-21-04, 03:16 PM

Very Nice Work! One minor point. On the street you probably don't want to hook these ducts up. On my MK-IV I've found that for street driving if anything the brakes over cool.
If you do fit a T44 with a proper Weisman locker remember to shift into neutral for those tight into driveway type turns that do come up on the streeet.

Adam C. · 12-21-04, 05:44 PM

Thanks Chris, coming from you that means a lot.

J-6, I still haven't decided if I will register the car. I really just want it for open track days, and am afraid of how I would behave on the public roads with the thing.

What does the Weisman do if you don't shift into neutral, drag one of the tiers?

Steve Kulper · 12-21-04, 06:40 PM

Hi Adam
Great work great post, the post must have taken half a day aswell? Can a front and rear clip be done in a vacuum as well? If so does anyone already do it that way?

Steve

Adam C. · 12-21-04, 07:06 PM

Actually the post took about a half hour. It shows, with my plethora of spelling and grammatical errors. Too bad, I can't change it now. The editing window has ended.

Of course other body parts can be vacuum bagged as well. I'm not sure if anyone does it. That brings up one good point. You shouldn't buy bodywork made of carbon unless the parts are vacuum bagged. It is a waste of money. The greatest weight savings is with using fabric instead of chopped strand mat, (fiberglass or otherwise) and vacuum bagging it to get rid of the excess resin. If the part still isn't light enough, then you can use carbon.

Mark Worthington · 12-21-04, 08:25 PM

Cool! That's a lot of work, but it's amazing what can be accomplished with composites. I know a guy who built a beautiful vacuum-bagged, foam-core, CF-reinforced wing for his high performance radio controlled sailplane. Flawless construction, perfect reproduction of the desired airfoil, light as a feather and STRONG! The builder supported each end on a chair and climbed onto the middle...it bowed but it supported his weight.

I hope you had good ventilation in your shop...it's a hard thing to achieve this time of year while still keeping things warm enough for the resin to set up.

MK -IV J6 · 12-21-04, 10:51 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks Chris, coming from you that means a lot.

J-6, I still haven't decided if I will register the car. I really just want it for open track days, and am afraid of how I would behave on the public roads with the thing.

What does the Weisman do if you don't shift into neutral, drag one of the tiers?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi
Yes. It shudders like a B52 starting to stall. Once you pick up the tricks it's really quite tractable.
Best
Jim

**F3L** · 12-22-04, 01:58 AM

Hey Adam, very nice work. I am now wondering why I haven't given any thought of vacuum-bagging, seeing as I used to use it extensively on R/C glider wings.

The way I see it right now is I'm going to end up with flash no matter what I do to try eliminating flange parting lines, etc. As you mentioned, the advantage with vacuum bagging is a lighter production piece, smoother surface finish, etc.

I guess I will have to try this out on the front clip in early spring. I was also going to look at setting up a heat oven to bake the pieces, there goes my hydro bill... [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Rick

Adam C. · 12-22-04, 11:34 AM

Rick, you really need those large flanges (3 to 6 inches) on your molds to have a place to seal the bag. For the inner duct pieces, we just bag the whole mold using polyethelene tubes. Just tape up the ends and your're done, no flanges really required. The problem with this though is the rough back side of the mold can poke holes in the bag.

I am sold on vacuum bagging. There is more material cost, and the preparation is a little longer with the cutting of all the fabrics though. The nice thing is that you just kind of get all the material wetted out wihout worring about air bubbles or voids. Then you just bag it, pull a vacuum, and forget about it.

Now I am ready for the next step.. VACUUM INFUSION with CARBON!

**F3L** · 12-22-04, 11:23 PM

Yeah, if I can do it, I think it's worth a go. I recall using Mylar to give a ultra-smooth finish on my wings but a glider wing is a fairly simple shape compared to the complex curves of our favourite car...

Pantera1889 · 01-10-05, 09:02 PM

[ QUOTE ]
We then trimmed our parts and glued them together using a 2 part epoxy bonding paste.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's a familliar looking car in the back ground.
[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Adam C. · 01-10-05, 11:14 PM

That is my buddies car that my father-in-law is doing body work on. Somebody put some body kit on it, webbers, etc.

Pantera1889 · 01-11-05, 09:43 PM

Do you have any good pictures of it?
Ron

Adam C. · 03-19-05, 02:16 PM

Here are pics of the first car to actually wear a set of our scoops!

Adam C. · 03-19-05, 02:18 PM

two

Gary Gibbs · 03-19-05, 09:21 PM

Look great!!!!

Paul W · 03-19-05, 11:31 PM

Nice work Adam.

Adam C. · 11-11-05, 08:38 AM

Well we took a break from making these things because they are such a pain. Enough time has passed that I think we forgot, so now we are back at it. Here is the first carbon scoop out of the mold. This thing is STUPID light. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] The carbon is a little different to work with. It doesn't like to be cut into small pieces. It just falls apart. With the twill weave though, this stuff can follow shapes even easier than the plain weave fiberglass that we were using.

FRP Guy · 11-11-05, 09:33 AM

I make these scoops also, carbon or glass for Fran Kress, Fran Hall (RCR) and Ted Baird.
Adam, you should be able to make these with one piece in each mould half. All the small pieses are a pain to handle while laying up the part. I also make the "Gurney Bubble" for Fran kress.