[uglyduck]

I have been working on making myself some carbon fibre door sills. What started out as a simple task ended up being much more involvedthan I had ever thought. The first couple were vacuum laminated. The results were hit and miss, as many rejected as good parts due to uncosmetic carbon fible alignment, air bubbles and in the end the issue of consistant finished part thickness where the sill fits into the dash. To solve these problem I went to a new process, infusion moulding with a two part mould. This process involves compressing the matrix materials in the two part mould then injecting the resin into it thus giving uniform/controlled thickness and finish. The layup used is 2 layers of 6oz twill carbon, foam core and dacron wicking material. Here are some photos of the freshly trimmed parts. They have not had any clean up as of yet. There is no gel coat/clear coat on the parts, so the finish is a semi gloss with a visible carbon texture much like that in dry carbon.

 

[Demonized]

Very neat!

 

[mrcarcrazy]

cool. looks like you might have a cpl spares!

Oh and Good work! Looks like your end results came out quite well.

 

[madden]

wow awesome! Do you have any to sell?

 

[uglyduck]

I have 5 sets here and 2 sets are spoken for. I can make more if people are interested. They are very tough, no clear coat to scratch and structurally strong due to the foam core laminated into them.

 

[Rugbyduck]

Idea as to cost?:shrug:

 

[newman]

price?

 

[chris heath]

+1

 

[darkSol]

x1000

 

[mrcarcrazy]

Idea as to cost?:shrug:

+1 tease.

 

[uglyduck]

PM me for cost. I made them for myself and can make them for the community if people want them and as my time allows.

 

[cd4age]

They look great! I was thinking of making some sideskirts but now maybe u should just make them instead. That would be a good seller

 

[uglyduck]

It is all a question of time. I am currently working on a new seat that will fit both the Elise, is slightly wider at the hips and has more trunk support. I want to get this done and installed in my 7 in time for LOG 29.

 

[uglyduck]

Here are some pictures of the inside to show the reinforcing foam core sandwich and surface finish

 

[MaineLotus]

Interesting layup process. So there are male and female molds that are compressed together with laminate between them? The underside finish looks as good as the topside. I layup parts as a hobby, would be very interested to see how you constructed the molds, could you post a couple pictures?

 

[qu1Z]

You have PM!

 

[uglyduck]

Here are some photos of the moulds as well as the test part showing the layup, and core material. They are moulded in pairs as you can see from the photos

 

[SweetDaddyD]

Very cool, please PM me with price and if it is right I am in for set and a set for a friend who I was just talking about these with. Also if you want to trade for graphics, shirts, or paint protection film just let me know. I may even be willing to take on of the non-perfect set off your hands depending on where the imperfection is. I could do something with vinyl to mask it.

 

[MaineLotus]

I'm impressed, the mold quality is outstanding. Good idea incorporating both sides into one mold. Anyone who's created molds before can see that you have a lot hours invested. Well done. :bow:

 

[uglyduck]

It is a funny part. It looks simple, and would be if it was not cosmetic exposed carbon for the finish. It took several tries to get a mould design that was easy to lay up, control the carbon placement as well as easily demould. I made some big messes in the process...quite a few stuck parts and damaged mould sections. The only pain with this process is that I needed to make t trim fixture that I could place the moulded part in then trim it with a router