God........Damn


I cannot wait to see this thing completed.


Bravo, Mr. Lightyear.

 

I took a pic from the front, it's not good, but you can see what it will look like.

I just finished laminating the front bumper, 11.00pm here.

 

Dude thats the coolest looking Koi Fish ive ever seen!!! Cant wait to see it done!

 

Front mould is ready to come off. I almost ran out of fibreglass - 35 metres i have used so far, and 40 + litres of resin

 

Front mould is done now. The new bumper finishes at the front edge of the white board.

 

I pushed the car out so i can clean up and make some space to start doing the c.f hood and fenders. It sits exactly as i had hoped - 3 " high from the bottom of the sides.

 

I got the first layer of carbon fibre on the hood mould, it's definately the hardest part.
I put a join in the middle so the c.f lines can run the same down each side.

 

Mr. Lightyear to the Rescue!

Awesome stuff! I wish I had 1/2 the bodywork ability you have.

 

It's really not that hard to do. It is more a case of if you can be bothered. I have had no training or done any courses. Just found the information, and asked a few questions. Then again i am pretty good at everything.

 

You should post the information you found.

 

I like this guy he moves fast and i hate having to wait. Great stuff man i cant wait to see it done.

 

I gathered the info over many years. 11 years ago i built a 40 foot motor boat and learnt a lot about fibreglassing and epoxies. More recently i discovered vac infusion. It is a much cleaner way to make parts, as well as lighter and the resin is much more even. With vac infusion you just prep the mould (with flanges to stick the bag on), and i use tacky spray to lay up the c.f and soric. Basically there is a layer of c.f, then a layer of soric, then another layer of c.f. But you also have to add a layer of peel ply and infusion mesh (same as shade cloth). Then you need to put in some inf channel or something to make the resin flow faster around the perimiter. After the part is done, you need to rip all this back off, it takes a lot of effort - usually about an hour, leaving you with the c.f and soric layers. When the bag is on it sucks all the air out and creates a vacuum inside. You also need to put in ports for the silicon hose that goes to the machine and to some containers with resin in them. If the resin doesn't flow fast enough before it is fully infused (all saturated in resin) then it will gel and you will end up with part of it with resin and other parts still with just the cloth. So that's the tricky part really. You also need to spend $4-$5,000 on a infusion machine and bits and pieces.

There are video's on you tube. Type in vacuum infusion.

Mould making is simply waxing the part, make sure as well you can imagine the mould coming off the part too, as if there are any return shapes you will need to make a multi piece mould.
Then you need tooling gelcoat, brush on 2 coats waiting for it to be dry enough that it doesn't leave any colour on your finger when you touch it. Then brush on tooling resin and lay 450gsm chop strand fibreglass on, and brush more resin on and keep doing it till it is decent thickness - at least 4-5 lyers. Then leave it for a day and pull it off. There is heaps of info if you google it or go to a book shop or library.

 

If you can't afford the vacuum infusion method, you can still do a wet layup and vacuum bag it and get nearly the same results. to help reduce the quantity of resin in the layup, you put some spongey breather / bleeder material between the peel ply and bag and it absorbs the excess resin.

I built a 15 foot kevlar boat hull that way. It was four layers (kevlar-glass-glass-kevlar) and weighed 15 lbs. It helped to have a guy that worked with burt rutan as our advisor.

 

In for shots of guys hiding just out of frame in case the 15 ft boat gets dropped.

Oh yeah, and great job on all the custom carbon work. I really hope the aerodynamics work out well for you all, because that thing looks like a giant sucker fish. I have my doubts about the aero effectiveness, but I'll reserve judgment for the finished product.

 

It's good to hear about peoples ideas on the aero. The shape is similiar to the japan touring cars. I would like to hear why you have doubts about the aero. A few guys have said the aero might not work, but never say why. I didn't do this style body because i like the look of it.
I am now making the front 1 piece by bonding the bumper to the hood after they are made, it makes it easier to mount it all.. And changing the "mouth" so that it doesn't stick out.
I never made any drawings or anything before i started on the body work. I had an idea what i wanted and as i just went out there and started making it. So the mouth thing didn't look so good. I will make it the same shape but going in only.

 

The thing that worries me most about the aero is all the sharp edges. In general 'slippery' things that work very well aerodynamically have very few sharp edges unless they are facing directly into the flow (i.e. like a splitter). The other thing is how the vents in the back will all integrate in, but I'm having a hard time picturing exactly how those will work out. Regardless, I think it will be an enormous improvement over the stock body, just could be a little better. But again, I'll reserve judgments for the finished product. Ultimately the only way to get the optimal design is with a lot of different prototypes and wind tunnel testing.

 

I think you are past the point of opinions for what works aero wise considering you've already made the mold lol

 

These cars are the inspiration for doing the shape on my car. They all have sharp edges.
And it is easier for me to do sharp edges making the body, i didn't want to spend weeks on it as i don't have that much time to spare. It looked like the quickest style of body to make as it is all basically flat sheet bent or straight.

I still think it is worth getting peoples opinions, even tho the moulds are made.

 

I'm not hating on your design at all, it's great work. I understand the opposing forces of 'easy to build' and 'super awsome aero design'. Just giving an opinion of the aero, that's all. Just because these race teams did it one way, doesn't necessarily make it the best aerodynamic choice. For true aero inspiration, look to GT-2,3 and F1. That last carbon Z looks the best out of the 3. Not many of the pointy edges are perpendicular to the flow. They are mostly parallel to the flow, and everything else is very curvy. The pointy edges perp. to the flow cause separation. That can be bad if it isn't carefully placed.

 

I infused the hood and fenders today. This picture was taken just before it was fully infused, the white triangle was the same as the rest of it a few seconds later. First time i have used epoxy to infuse. And it got pretty hot in the pots i mixed it up in when it started to go off. I had to throw them out as they were smokin'. I have the heater on it now and will strip the peel ply and other bits off and leave it in the mould in the sun for a day or 2.



I am glad you understand that you can't just spend months researching and building a one off body that i am paying for with my money and time. This was the quickest vs best design that i came up with. I am sure if i did it 12 months from now i would have different ideas.