Carbon is fun (and hard work)

[Lowe119]

I know - I know. It ain't no showroom quality, but it's good enough for BFR.  ;D

It's my first serious attempt at overlaying. It is scuffed and ready for paint or wax.

Not bad for a $60 eBay repair tank  :P  :D

[MJFRacing]

Looks good. . . now for new bodywork! Then, just give it all a coat of high gloss clear so we're all jealous.   ;)

[SliderPhoto]

very cool! Where did you learn? I'd like to figure how to do some custom pieces.... Any info on materials and equipment would be appreciated!

[Lowe119]

Thanks all.

Where did I learn? hmmm. I learned fiberglass from a local boat repair person. Then I made many mistakes on my own for 3 years. Recently I ordered the 5 tapes from fibreglast.com and learned about 95% of the things I was doing wrong. Then I went to fibreglast's bulletin board and asked many questions and got excellent answers.

It's amazing what a little spray adhesive will do for you when overlaying  ;)

Here's a little sample of a thread:
http://www.fibreglast.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2017

He put a lot more time in his piece than I did - even though it was 5% of the size.  ;D

[Lowe119]

Since the guy who taught me did it for free, I'll divulge some tips:

1. Cut the carbon to the right size.
2. See how it lays over your piece - without adhesive
3. Spray adhesive in a starting spot
4. work the carbon deliberately to figure out how it is going to lie.
5. spray your adhesive in small sections and lay the carbon - not to disturb the weave
6. Once it is all stuck - lay your first coat of resin (laminating resin)
7. coat with another layer of resin
8. coat with the final coat - I used a clear UV-resistant resin with wax for the final coat. ***
9. Sand to make smooth. I used a 400 grit paper with a DA sander. The un-sanded parts are shiny. Sand down until nothing is shiny. Be VERY  VERY careful not to sand down to the carbon. I did this 3 times on this piece and it required more layers of resin. luckily I noticed my errors before it got too far.
10. Then polish with a buffing compound.



***with PE resin, it will not cure fully if it is in contact with oxygen. With a resin with wax in it (aka a final coat resin), the wax works its way up to the surface and seals it from the oxygen.


Now I am NO expert. This is just what I have learned. So if any of y'all have any other tips, feel free to chime in.  ;D

[Nate R]

Are you planning to someday try parts on your own? As in, individual parts? (Not overlay)  Just curious.

Looks pretty good!

Hope you're keeping respirated or ventilated with all those harsh chemicals.

[Jeff]

Hope you're keeping respirated or ventilated with all those harsh chemicals.

If not, at least you have published some tips so that you can refer to them when you no longer recall. LOL...

[SliderPhoto]

Thanks for the info and link!

[Lowe119]

Are you planning to someday try parts on your own? As in, individual parts? (Not overlay)  Just curious.

I'm in the process of making some molds - you can see the side panel just underneath and to the right of the tank. So hopefully I can have some carbon bodywork by RA. No plans on making a carbon tank though.

Looks pretty good!

Hope you're keeping respirated or ventilated with all those harsh chemicals.

I do use a respirator.  I'll have better ventilation when it warms up  ;)