Lost Vegaz

So right now, you have no parts to sell????/

s/cL3.0

Sorry J I gotta rub it in.. here is a very sneak preview.. This is the Carbon Kevlar he is using for some of my stuff.. (couldnt find the pic of the near finished product)

Dorifto

w00t!

Damn, I've GOT to set aside some cash for the goods. Still waiting for CF hoods to get worked out, too.

jfairladyz

It's cool s/c, just don't tell em what car it's for I took some fresh pics and I'll give you guys a couple sneak peaks. Heres a couple pics of a couple of the overlays. These are unfinished but should give you an idea of whats to come. I also shot a pic of a mold as it's still curing (I hate fiberglass mat ). Enjoy, in a little while you'll be able to see a carbon piece all finished up too. And I'll post up more pics of the overlays when they're finished. Oh and that pic of that carbon/kevlar above by s/c, thats the actual fabric I have in my possesion. You can see the color change in the pics I posted of the overlays.

Here we go:
This is one of the overlays:


Heres another one (with flash):


Same one (without flash):


And heres a close up of that one (you can see the reflection of the light and even the camera cause it's so shiny ):


And finally, heres a pic of the backside of a mold (the other side will be really shiny):


Hope you enjoyed

Oh and all those overlays still obviously need to be trimmed

jfairladyz

Oh, and people, don't expect carbon hoods any time soon. Probably another 6mo to a year before I can get a hold of carbon wide enough to make a hood. I might always get lucky though and score some sooner. But according to all the suppliers I've talked to, it's going to be a while

Lost Vegaz

So no parts for sale????????????

jfairladyz

well that depends on what parts you want. For now it's on a first come first serve. I can do overlays for whoever when ever since they don't occupy much of my time. I can do other things at the same time. As far as making parts, it depends. If you're sending me a part to be made then the condition of the part affects it. If the part is in perfect shape when I get it then I can pull a mold off of it as soon as I get it. I don't charge for prep but it takes more time on my part. As far as actual parts I've already made for sale. None yet. The relay cover is almost finished and the heatshields will soon follow that. Then it's the fiberglass hood. I don't plan on selling the carbon body kit except maybe on a special case by case basis. Oh TTops hopefully will be done before MSA too. If I'm provided with a flawless part then I can turn around a part immediately. But prep takes time, even small flaws.

Dorifto

J, you give me a few months, and you've got perfect '82 bumpers, Turbo hood, mirrors, fenders, and headlight buckets to mold here.

The 2+2 T-tops are here for you as well.

Looking good man, I'm excited!

jfairladyz

Alright, mold for the relay cover is done and awaiting the arrival of bagging materials so I can lay up a part. I'll take some pics of that too. Didnt get a chance to start on the hood yet cause it's still raining Well atleast it's not snowing Hopefully it's not raining tomorrow so I can get out there and get started on that hood. I still have to do a little straitening along the driver side of the hood before I pull it off. Once I'm sure everything lines up I can pull it off and sand it down and paint it up. Then I can start laying up the mold. That mold has to cure for two weeks though Otherwise it might warp after I pull it off. I don't want to be sending out messed up hoods. And then I'd have to do the mold over. The relay mold didn't need all that time to cure cause it's so small and its shape acts as it's own reinforcement. The hood is just a huge curved expanse, so it needs all the time it can get. I'm sure you've all seen fiberglass hoods that shut on one side and the other side sits up higher than the fender. Thats from using a mold prematurely or pulling a part before it cures completely. Parts like that give a company a bad name. Id rather be known for taking a long time to develop parts then be known for making shoddy parts

snwbrderphat540

speakin of manufacturing parts...i always wanted to buy a pipe bender and go out and buy long *** pieces of steel tubing for like not much at all and then bend the tubes the exact same as the exhaust systems on the cars already and then welding on a flange and the buyers favorite choice of muffler and sellin it for a decen profit....yet not expensive....i always thought that would be easy...cuase i was back in a muffler shop once and when they bend up the exhaust systems they make they do it in like 40 minutes....i'd be stupid not to try that.

Aphrodite

soo, you still workin on z32 T-tops? I finally saved some money up instead of blowing it all on useless crap and am very much interested on carbon t-tops using the origional latches for me 2+2... i'd even be willing to go out and find a good pair and send em to ya if u need some to make molds with

jfairladyz

I'll PM you Aphrodite.

As far as the exhaust goes though, the only bender I'd be able to afford is just a regular pipe bender. Which will crip the piping. A mandrel pipe bender costs bookoo bucks and that's the only way to make a really good exhaust system. I'd love to have a mandrel bender but I'm afraid thats a bit beyond my budget. It is a good idea though cause exhausts are usually one of the first parts to get replaced on a car. For a lot of people its just cause they want a performance upgrade. But a lot of us with these older cars just need to replace it cause it's all rusted out. So definitely a good idea, I just wish I could afford the equipment.

SHADY280

Hey J How Bout Some Carbon Exhaust Systems, Sounds Stupid But Exhaust Weighs Alot. They Make Fiberglass Tube Why Not? Multi Piece Moulds And A Msa Exhaust Kit And Away You Go.

jfairladyz

Yup, I've been discussing that with another fellow Zer. I was thinking from the aft side of the cat all the way back would have a low enough temperature. Plus as the resin heats up from a couple uses of the exhaust it will harden even more and become even more temperature resistant (as long as it can take the heat in the first place). Im going to post cure all the heat shields in an oven to ensure they can handle the high temperatures, but I cant fit an exhaust in the oven I could mold in a flange at the cat end and the other end can be made to clamp onto the muffler (or pipe extension if one chooses). That would be such a light exhaust it wouldn't make any sense to cut it off short. I'd have to figure out how much that would cost. And theres also the problem of diameter. When I get the time I definitely plan on giving the carbon exhaust a whirl. But I have a feeling there has got to be a drawback if there isn't one on the market yet I guess we'll find out after I make one

Oh and I should be painting up the BMC shield tomorrow. Then it's only a few days til I can lay on the mold. It's got a few pin holes that need to be filled in from the filler, but thats it. Finally, I'm making some progress on more than these VW parts

s/cL3.0

You said it not me

jfairladyz

Ah it was already let out of the bag in another thread. I dont remember who though. Either Bleach or Rod. One of the sarcastic ones

jmmorriso

all of the carbon tubes ive seen are either filament or tape wrapped around an aluminum tube, cured and then the Al tube is boiled out with acid. Thats how tail booms are made on helicopters. this is according to some book i have in a box somewhere in the room. I think the heat will be too great for carbon exhaust unless you use a high temp cure resin and vacuum bag and bake... The elevated temp cure resins used in SMC semi hoods dont hold up forever. at about 7 years the resin shrinks and cracks through. Damn I hate repairing that stuff sometimes. I wish I could spend more time creating, but people keep running into stuff with garbage trucks!

RodMoyes

Hmmm...

jfairladyz

Yeah that's the only thing holding me back right now is weather it will stand up. I can pick up a storage container for $1500 (you know those giant containers you see in shipyards and on the back of trains). I have seen plans for converting them into ovens. It's no autoclave but there is high temp bagging film that could be used to apply the pressure inside the oven so the high temp resin can be cured properly. If I made the exhaust in section then it could be cured in sections in a normal oven. Thats how I plan on curing the heatshields. Otherwise, they just wont stand up to the heat of the engine bay. I know the carbon is good. Carbon can withstand temps in the 1000's. But the resin is another story. A composite hood should always have some sort of insulator on the underside otherwise it's life will be shortened on anything other than a showcar. Oh and I plan to use the lost foam technique with the exhaust. I'm going to build a jig using a stock exhaust and then use the jig to mock up a foam plug. Then wrap the plug and dissolve it out. Kind of like the method you described but cheaper. Take a little longer cause I'd have to carve out the plug, but it wouldn't cost very much.

While an actual filament winding machine is not on my list of must haves, it's not really neccessary unless the part will be undergoing stress (like a driveshaft). An exhaust could be wrapped be hand. I know at the very least the tail section of the exhaust could be carbon (like where the exhaust crosses across the back of the car on some of the NA Z's). It's up near the exhaust thats got me worried. I plan to give it all a try at some point, but I'm going to get plenty of other practical parts done first. I dont know how to make a muffler so I don't plan on doing that either.

Rod I'm going to get some plastic and take off my tops and wrap the car up. Since the tops need only be painted for prep (they're flawless except for some scratches in the tinting) I could have them in a mold in no time. I'm just going to duplicate them exactly except everything would be carbon instead of glass or metal. I've got my compressor now so I can use an impact driver to get those weather stripping screw out. Those things are in there with some sort of sealant and I cant break them loose by hand. Then I can mold them up. Shouldn't take long at all. I'll make some fiberglass prototypes before I commit that much carbon to a project, but if it turns out as expected then you'll be seeing your ttops sooner than later. Definitely in time to roll to MSA with them

Its still raining so still no progress on the damn hood. I'm just going to unbolt it and bring it indoors to get it finished up.

I'll keep you guys updated.

snwbrderphat540

ok...if you can actually make a carbon exhaust system....that would be way cooler than anything else you can make i think. it would have adn actuall 2 functions and just be an amazing concept. on top of it if it proves to work good, you can patent that and sell it for millions of billions of trillions.have companies pay you to use the idea. you should get to hopin on that before someone beats you to it. just try to make a small section first that you can bolt in place of soemthing else and see if it holds up, then if it doesnt, not all that much is lost. and if it does.....i would buy one in a heart beat.

Aphrodite

BTW... are the t-tops interchangeable between body styles? (E.g if I got some t-tops from a Z32TT would they work on my 2+2)

snwbrderphat540

i dotn think so..the cabins are different lengths and i believe the T'tops are as well

SHADY280

J I THINK WE THINK ALIKE. , I SHOULD TRY THIS STUFF IN MY SPARE TIME.I DO HAVE AND AIRCRAFT TICKET FOR IT.(911 KILLED THAT CAREER) FOR EXHAUST A MULTI PIECE MOULD, AND THE PUT AN AIR FILLED BAG ON THE INSIDE FOR PRESSURE AND SMOOTH FINISH.

jfairladyz

Aphrodite, The 280ZX tops are different between the body styles but I don't know about the Z32. It doesn't seem like the roof of the Z32 is as different as the S130 is, but that doesn't mean the tops arent different. I'll try to find out for sure.

Rod, and the rest of you interested in T Tops for the 280zx: I completely dismantled one of my tops today. It's not tough at all. The biggest pain in the A$$ was that I had to drill out two of the screws holding the weather strip rail in place. They were glued in and I couldn't break them loose. Alls I had to do was drill of the top of the screw cause the only part of the tops that needs to be retained is the latching mechanism and all it's hardware and the weather strip and its rail. The weather strip isn't compromised at all in the process so dont worry about that being a problem. I'll supply new screws with the tops so dont worry about it if you have to drill the screws out too. One other thing I ran into is that the tops are going to be a lot thinner now so I've devised a spacing system similar to that used on the hood and hatch but more compact to fit the tops and it's not visible when the tops are installed. So now for the latching mechanism: Some of you were worried that the stock latching mechanism would be heavy. It's not. It weight MAYBE 2lbs. If that. Definitely not more. The weather strip rail weighs ounces. So 99% of the weight of the tops is the top itself. And thats all going to be carbon. So the replacement top will probably weigh in at about 2 lbs + the latch and weather strip (which you reuse from your tops and don't need to buy new). And the best part is this weight comes off the top. Making these will be cake. The only challenge will be setting up bosses for the screws that hold the latching mechanism in place. Which isn't really that tough, it's just getting them aligned properly. Oh you'll need to save the bushings for the latch too. I'm taking plenty of pics as I go and I will include full illustrated instructions with the tops as well as have instructions available online for dismantling and reassembling your tops. So now that you guys know the tops will be cake to install and that you'll be saving a lot of weight and be looking good whats holding you back? Oh yeah you wanna know the price Well, brace yourselves Grand total comes to $370.00 plus shipping (which wont be crap considering the total shipping weight for both tops will be like 3-4lbs ) What can I say, carbon is getting expensive and I've gotta make some profit So Rod, if you're still interested then PM me. I'm NOT looking for a deposit or anything, just looking for the green light. I'm ready when you are. Anyone else who's interested, let me know.

Oh and I think I figured out why composites like carbon aren't used in making exhaust systems. See cured epoxy isn't neccessarily readily flammable, but when it does catch fire it just burns and burns. And it's some nasty smoke too. And the last thing you want is your car catching on fire cause the exhaust caught on fire. So I'm still considering making a rear section of exhaust out of carbon, but scratch the complete exhaust out of carbon.

Aphrodite

$370 is actually a very resionable price since the only "reputable" nissan places I could find t-tops USED in decent condition wanted about $300...