Beast flares, carbon fiber fender prototype!

[beast02er]

Well, today I pulled the first part off of my mold. I custom fit and molded a VW golf fiberglass fender flare (it was an aftemarket wider flare) onto a fender and then made a mold of the whole thing. I made what seemed like a pretty stiff mold. I have never done a BIG vacuum bagged part, just smaller ones. SO I thought my mold was quite rigid, but I didn't think about the fact that i'd have 14.1psi with vacuum, and there is quite a bit a square inches on a fender. Even though I had blocks of foam for added support, the vacuum was WAY too strong and deformed the mold quite a bit. There were some voids withing the fiberglass itself and through the pressure, the mold actually fractured all over. But that said, I produced a part that turned out semi decent. The mold is scrap, and the part won't make it onto a car, but it was all a great learning experience and I know what to do next time.

Thats where the next time part comes in. Depending on interest, I COULD produced carbon fiber fenders, fiberglass would be more logical, but if enough were interested, and I had small portion of money up front then I could purchase a vacuum pump and make some parts. The thing is, the cost of a set of Carbon fenders would easily be $600-$700... Fiberglass would be less. So right now i'm just seeing if there would be any interest. For me to make molds worthy of vacuum would cost me a LOT of money and take a lot of time. Through my first part i've discoverd i'd have to make a VERY thick mold and this does not come cheaply. I'd also have to make a nice wood buck for it.

Enough of the jibber jabber, here are some pics of the fender after I pulled it from the mold. It is now trimmed up and sanded, I just forgot to take some pics once I did that. I'd say this fender weighs about 3lbs, but it is pretty flimsy as we couldn't get all the layers we wanted on before the resin started to gel and we had to bag it. So i'd say a part with as much or a little less stiffness as a stock fender would weigh about 5-6lbs..just a guesstimate.

Hope you like!

Bryan

red73

[TMK-001]

Nice work mate... keep up the good work... Im interested to see how they go on the car, post pics when its on.

Todd

[oz_tom]

(nt)

[weighty512]

Is it just me or does that look like a Great White Shark?! Very mean looking.

[Benetton]

those look sweet. I think im coming up to bham at the end of this month. We have spring brake at tcc i think the 22nd and if you'll be around we should get toghether, and id like to see these sweet looking flares. Thers another 1602 right next to my sisters house to, could be a sweet 02 party in bham.

[beast02er]

Well I would love too, but I'm actually graduating and will be taking some time off before I start working. When are you going to be up there?

Chances are i'll either be scrambling to finish up a crazy quarter, or i'll be down at my parents house for 2 weeks. But let me know.

Bryan

red73

[BAhyow02]

Bryan,

Did you envelope bag the part into the mold? Ie was there a bag on both sides of the mold....(bag, part, mold, bag?)? Where the part is the wet laminate.

Often at work we bag the part to the mold with a single sided bag. That implies that the mold is vacuum tight and there are no leaks. If the mold has any voids/foam then the collapse will not happen. IE bag, part, mold. This is because then the vacuum is applied then there is 14ish psi on both sides of the part only rather than on the part and through the mold.

Drop me a line if you need molding advice. I normally mold smaller model airplane stuff but have done large spoilers and airdams for friends racecars.

Goodluck,

Bernard

[Lee]

We all appreciate your effort in producing a 2002 part, while having fun in learning the complex process. Bagging allows to use a minimum of epoxy and have minimum weight for maximum strength. You mention having problem with the epoxy curing too fast. I do not know in what step you work, but the shop that is producing the airboxes for me will lay every layer of fiberglass and carbon fiber and then will bag the layers. At that step only, will the epoxy be injected on one end, while being vacuumed at the other end. This allows to patiently lay the fabric without having to care for the epoxy.

You are also very right about requiring a thick and reinforced mold. Do not be afraid to use a wood frame too and lots of fiberglass. That mold should be very stiff. BTW Rick Haner, the owner of 2002 Haus seems t be willing his two sets of Alpina flares molds. Perhaps you can contact him if you want molds that are already made. Last year MrNavgtr got in touch with Rick in regard of those molds.

[ridr4lif]

I may be interested in a set. BUT, how well do the flares match say a turbo flare? I am planning on using turbo flares on my car and would like to have the fronts match the rears.

How much less would it be for fiberglass just out of curiosity?