Cosworth YB Turbo Into Elan

[lotustastic]

Holy cow, that is amazing work! Kudos!!

[stevebroad]

Door carcus came out of the mould pretty easily, mainly due to it being rather flimsy I just may have overdone it this time. However, I will reserve judgement until it is married to the front skin. Torsionally it is pretty good, mainly due to the steps along the edges so I think it will work........fingers crossed because it weighs as close to nothing as is humanly possible, IMHO. So far, the two pieces add up to 909gms. Factor in joining material and glue, less a hole for hinge access but plus additional stiffening in hinge areas, I reckon is will end up around 1.1 - 1.2kg. Not to be sniffed at.

Grey marks caused by paint pulled off of the mould surface. Not a problem as it will be painted.

[stevebroad]

Roof mould ready for carbon, just awaiting the arrival of peel ply as I have run out.

However, curing is going to be a long, drawn out process. I didn't realise that the mould paste that I used to form the window recesses is only designed for low temperatures, lower than the minimum temp that the carbon will cure at. However, speaking to EasyComposites they reckon that it can be pushed to an absolute maximum of 80 deg C. The carbon's minimum cure temp happens to be 80 so I think that I may get away with it. However the cure time is 16 hours! This means an early start time as I don't want to leave the oven running unattended over night.

[stevebroad]

Door carcus fits pretty well.

[stevebroad]

Door latch handle proof of concept. Once I have taken the slack out of the lock mechanism, it should be good to go. My previous design, a push button, weighs 42gms and this lever weighs 7gms. Times 2 = 70gms saving All donations gratefully received.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs5282W ... e=youtu.be

[stevebroad]

Just in case anyone was of the opinion that making stuff out of prepreg carbon was an easy and straighforward task, here are the bits for my car's roof and the vaccuum bag it will all be placed in

[HCA]

I have been watching your progress quietly and admiringly!

I am surprised at so many pieces - I would have thought a few layers of one large piece would be maleable enough to do the whole roof pretty well, no?

[stevebroad]

I have been watching your progress quietly and admiringly!

I am surprised at so many pieces - I would have thought a few layers of one large piece would be maleable enough to do the whole roof pretty well, no?

Oh, I wish

As I am using prepreg this isn't as drapable as standard carbon fibre cloth. I did the main roof layers in 4 strips for three reasons. To reduce the chances of creases, easier to handle and manoeuvre and also to add some additional thickness in the form of ribs caused by the sheet overlaps (plus an extra strip over the joints) Also, using separate pieces makes it easier to push the carbon into tight corners and keep it there.

The areas around the windows had to be many layers (six) so these had to be built up out of separate pieces.

The whole laying up process took 5 hours! Tomorrow I will bag it up in readiness for cooking.

[stevebroad]

Took 5 hours but this video is only the first 2! Don't worry, it is only one minute long

Two layers plus additional strip over joints and 6 layers around window openings.

Took a lot longer than anticipated so I will bag tomorrow and cook on Firday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07nWSvWNNR0

Completed.

[stevebroad]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhcB-Py ... e=youtu.be

[stevebroad]

Roof just out of the oven. Smooth finish and no pinholes. Pretty pleased with the result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpL19DH ... e=youtu.be

[Certified Lotus]

You do great work Steve.

[stevebroad]

You do great work Steve.

Thanks, although some of it doesn't bear close scrutiny and most of it certainly woudln't cut it in the car show
environment, just as well that that isn't my scene

[stevebroad]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_zcrw6 ... e=youtu.be

[661]

The only thing I think I could do as well as you is 'beer time'.
But you do put seeds of thought into the 'composite' lobe of my brain.