Carbon Fiber Bodywork

it looks like u are off to a great start. Thanks for taking the time to make a detailed post.
Tip. green side up.
:laugh:

Thanks Mark I put my mold box together this morning and fnished gelcoating the bottom and the sides of the mold. Then I added some fiberglass cloth to the corners for some reinforcement, as well adding more fiberglass along the edges of the side cover. After the gelcoat set up, I mixed up some thinset mortar I had sitting around the garage, and I used that to fill the rest of the mold. I am very excited to demold this and see how (bad?) It has turned out! :blink: :laugh:

I demolded the box this afternoon, and so far its looking just as I expected it. I'll need to trim some edging flash off to pull the master.......something I knew I was going to have to do, but ultimately sloppy methods that would have been prevented with better prep AND not trying to finish up at 4am :laugh:

so far so good.

And Viola! I now have a fiberglass mold of an aftermarket left sidecover for a Kz1000A.

So lets take a look at the things we learned making the mold:
1. Brushing on the gelcoat is OK, but give it 2 coats without any fiberglass, letting each coat set up before you move on.
2. Start earlier in the day. I started waaaay too late, and ended up working until 4am.
3. DO NOT use mortar to fill in a mold box. It bonds great to concrete, but not to fiberglass.
4. When making a mold from an ABS plastic plug, DO NOT rely on release wax to allow separation of the plug from the mold. Use PVA. The gelcoat has chemicals that will bond to and break down ABS plastic. I wrecked the sidecover getting it out, but if I hadn't, it would have needed serious refinishing to make it look nice.

That said, I'm very pleased with my first mold. It seems very rigid and there are only a couple small defects in the gelcoat. It shouldn't take much work to get things smoothed out and ready for it's first layup. I'll make the first few covers out of fiberglass using a pva coating in the mold as well as release wax. This will help season the mold and reduce any tendancies for a laminate to stick.

Rollin' rollin' rollin'........

I got the mold trimmed down. After using a sanding disk on a 4.5" grinder, I finished off the edge by hand with 220 grit sandpaper. There were 2 small voids in the face of the mold, as well as some imperfections at the mounting tabs. I used a cut off wheel on a die grinder to shallow out the imperfections. Then I mixed up a little gelcoat and touched up the spots

After the touch ups cure, I'll smooth the areas with 400 grit, then spray it with high build primer.
Stay tuned, we're getting closer to the carbon fiber, I promise!

Holly shit Adam... awesome!

thanks for making such a detailed thread porchev!
i believe that you have everyones attention.

leon

The amount of ingenuity and talent I see on this site never ceases to amaze me!! :woohoo:

I am riveted to this thread and await the outcome with baited breath!

If you do decide to produce these I am positive there will be a demand for them! Starting with me!

This is totally awesome. If you guys don't find what you want you just make it.

Thanks guys, this is some new territory for me, but I love to learn! Hopefully when I do the right side I'll have a easier time and have a cleaner first mold.
Wmskaw, my reasons for using tooling gelcoat were for mold durability, that way I could make sets for guys like yourself that want carbon fiber sidecovers, but don't want to go through the work of making their own molds. My goal in this thread is to supply anyone with the information they would need to try this on your own. Once I have a satisfactory set completed, I'll list them in the classifieds. It couldn't hurt to bring in a few bucks for fund the build :laugh:

531blackbanshee wrote:

thanks for making such a detailed thread porchev!
i believe that you have everyones attention.

leon

Yup, I've got everyone's attention alright, all 5 of you :laugh: