Carbon Fiber Fabricator

Jason Stine

Jason Stine

Administrator
Staff member
Does anyone have a referral for a good carbon fiber fabricator in the midwest or mid-atlantic region? I need to have the bonnet for my bugeye repaired after a rope tow incident last weekend (see --> viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13557&p=121641#p121641)

I'm in NE Ohio, and would prefer to transport myself, rather than ship.

Thanks,
Jason
 
I just took my Kevlar bonnet to a local fiberglass repair shop and ordered some Kevlar fiber for them to use. Had to do it twice, second incident, both with SRF! The first time the shop did a lousy job and added tons of weight; poured resin in the nose after the repair. The second time a second shop took out much of the first repair and did a much neater job so ck out the shop's work.
 
Jason, I'm glad to hear that you are OK.

It might be a good idea to learn how to lay up the carbon fibre yourself to make the repairs and let the body shop finish it off and paint.
 
Or, for that matter, consider making the repairs yourself with fiberglass. This is not really a structural part, and the weight difference between GRP and CF for a relatively minor repair such as this is likely to be minimal
 
Jason, if you consider doing it yourself you should check out www.sunrez.com They make polyester based resin that cures in ultraviolet light. It allows you to lay-up your fiber in your garage and wheel it out into the sun to cure. It cures faster and allows more working time. Fantastic stuff, I use it all the time.

hpmowog":3p1g24wn said:
Or, for that matter, consider making the repairs yourself with fiberglass. This is not really a structural part, and the weight difference between GRP and CF for a relatively minor repair such as this is likely to be minimal
Click to expand...

Fiberglass and carbon of the same thickness have almost exactly the same weight. The only difference between the two is because of the greater strength of carbon, it allows you to use significantly less material for the same strength.
 
Look around the boat yards.
, Look in the back of the Chevy dealer, The body shop has sent one of the guys to Vette school..
Small airports have guys building airplanes . they need money and are often quite annal.
But really, if you are going to race a car with a glass nose panel, learning how to fix it helps your speed a bit.. :)
 
Well if you still have most of the original part, it's just broken...

Look up aircraftspruce they have lots of supplies. The T-88 epoxy is the very best.

You can tack glue the carbon pieces back together with any super glue, CY type glue.

After you have the pieces glued and tapped together, add some glass or carbon to the underside. It won't be perfect but it will work.

aircraftspruce has other supplies and stuff that cna be handy for race cars.
 
Jason, somewhere you have a datum as to which resin was used in that bonnet. I won't guess now. I think the Linn recommendation was that it was okay to do local repairs with fiberglass (easier to make the curves) but it is best to match the resin. If you don't have it, PM Brian Linn via this site.
Do look for cracks around all attachment/support fittings, too. Joel
 
Joel McGinley":3t5au73z said:
...I think the Linn recommendation was that it was okay to do local repairs with fiberglass (easier to make the curves) but it is best to match the resin...
Click to expand...
I checked with the senior official at the Linn factory and we agree that we used vinyl ester (not to be confused with polyester) on Joel's bonnet. Lately we've been using epoxy (specifically West System, 105 I think) for stuff and it will bond to the vinyl ester or almost anything else. If you do any grinding/sanding on the CF, make sure you use some sort of face mask to limit your CF consumption.

I would second Kendell's recommendation for Preform Resources- they always seem to do nice work.

Sorry to hear about the incident.
 
Thanks for the input everyone, I'll make some calls and get a few quotes. Brian - if vinyl ester is available, would that be preferred over the west system epoxy?
 
Stiner0931":3v89q8cp said:
if vinyl ester is available, would that be preferred over the west system epoxy?
Click to expand...
Either will work well. One issue with the epoxy is the slow cure time. With the vinyl ester you can add more catalyst to make a "hot batch" that is quicker curing. With the epoxy, its a 4:1 ratio and even with the "fast" hardener it can take many hours to cure (unless you leave it in the cup). Heat will help it cure faster.

David Dewhurst":3v89q8cp said:
...This is another incident that could be mostly eliminated if open cars were required to have tow hooks attached to the chassis...
Click to expand...
Agreed. But the Bugeye, with the entire bonnet hinging forward, is problematic to have tow hook mounted to the chassis. I'm sure it's possible, but I never saw a good way to do it.
 
Jason, West system epoxy can be obtained at marine supply shops, just use a light bulb or small heater to cure it faster, small quantities of vinylester may be hard to find, Fiberglast probably has it but everything they sell seems expensive, or we can fix it for you,we are in the west Detroit area. http://preformresources.com/
Dave
 
Thanks again for all of your input and recommendations. I'm going to take the bonnet up to Preform in the near future - only about a 150 mile drive from me...

Dave - Sent you an email with my contacts and a brief description of the damages to get your opinion.
 
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