Any ideas on some carbon fiber parts?

[95silvia]

Going to make some carbon fiber vented headlight covers and was wondering if anyone else had any thoughts on some cool, or functional parts to make. Started my molds and will be vacuum bagging some parts this weekend

 

[J-Sauce]

Sweet! Of course engine covers/shrouds would look nice. I'm also thinking interior wood replacements.

 

[KarlC]

How about a front air dam

 

[95silvia]

Sweet! Of course engine covers/shrouds would look nice. I'm also thinking interior wood replacements.

Def gonna do those, but i gotta make sure the resin will hold up to the heat for more than a month, but I'm trying a diff resin this time so hopefully all will be well. I was also thinking about doing those chrome trim pieces below the headlights on the front bumper.

 

[95silvia]

How about a front air dam

Might attempt an add on air dam

 

[J-Sauce]

Where are you located? I've got some spare lip components that could work as molds.

 

[95silvia]

Where are you located? I've got some spare lip components that could work as molds.

Knoxville, TN 37922 Got any pics of them J-Sauce?

 

[ccc]

Small: ashtray replacement tray, stereo replacement tray.

medium: removed center console box and make a decent cupholder replacment unit.

large: a lightweight carbon fibre hood!

 

[diaconovic]

A removable carbon fiber cover for the air cleaner ...

 

[need2speed]

A CF hood would save some weight were it counts!

 

[500AMM]

Hi.

Have a look at the "500E diet" thread, I think the most weight saving objects has been mentioned here:
http://www.500eboard.com/forums/showthread.php?2161-500e-diet

BTW, that link to Team Spaso Racing in my post #27 is not working. The project was terminated some time back and the site is now taken down. However, it's a lot of pics of that car spread around on the forums. I have tried to source the molds, but no luck so far. Found another thread about that car, it seems to be in Finland now? http://buildthreads.wordpress.com/2010/01/20/mercedes-w124-500e/

Enjoy!

 

[gsxr]

The carbon-fiber airboxes look cool, but the resin turns color and starts cracking/peeling due to heat. Have there been any improvements in the resins to help avoid that? Sample photo below of a typical RENNtech airbox after 10+ years in use.

 

[Jelmer]

The airbox is hardly the best place to start saving weight ...

 

[gsxr]

The airbox is hardly the best place to start saving weight ...

No, but it sure blings up the engine compartment! And girls love a big... airbox.

 

[Zuffenhausen]

the RENNtech airbox just replaces the top portion of oem box?

 

[samiam44]

Dave,

I dissagree on the Renntech airbox. If you look internally- it is very solid. It's the clear gelcoat they used which has cracked.

What resin system are you going to use? Most epoxies form a greenish oxide layer with time- to prevent this a 2k clear top coat is a must.


Michael

 

[gsxr]

the RENNtech airbox just replaces the top portion of oem box?

Correct. It's taller and increases internal volume. RENNtech claims ~10hp gain but I think it's closer to zero gain.

 

[gsxr]

I dissagree on the Renntech airbox. If you look internally- it is very solid. It's the clear gelcoat they used which has cracked.

What resin system are you going to use? Most epoxies form a greenish oxide layer with time- to prevent this a 2k clear top coat is a must.

Yes, sorry, you are correct Michael... it's the clear gelcoat which turns color and galls apart. The actual resin and carbon mat is fine. Thanks for clarifying!

 

[95silvia]

The carbon-fiber airboxes look cool, but the resin turns color and starts cracking/peeling due to heat. Have there been any improvements in the resins to help avoid that? Sample photo below of a typical RENNtech airbox after 10+ years in use.

No, after some time they will all turn like that. If someone says otherwise... they're lying just to sell some parts. There are some high heat resins, but it's the duration and clear selection that kills it. I am using Silmar 249 Clear Polyester Resin with UV inhibitors. I have never had to use a clearcoat with this resin. Doubtful, but does anyone have an extra set of fenders to mold from? I'm thinkinh a decklid, hood, fenders, gas lid (lol) and sunroof would shave a considerable amount of weight. The first part I'm molding after work tonight thoughare the headlight covers. They block alot of air from coming in on the M119 setup. I will make a solid set set first from my brand new parts then cutout my second set and then resin in some mesh from behind. These will def allow more air into the engine creating a true ram-air effect. Might do a before and after dyno run at a friends shop just to see if there is ANY gain. I know they have been done before, but they are hard to find and are functional. I'll post pics up soon. We really need some fenders to mold though... those would be much lighter and dent proof. Hell we could do them in Kevlar and make them bulletproof

 

[Zuffenhausen]

Dave can you post pics of the underside?

 

[gsxr]

You may want to check with Albert at SoCalCarbon. He may have already made molds for all this stuff. He was doing a ton of work a few years ago replicating 500E and W124 AMG body kits.

For the record, I've run my car at the dragstrip with & without the wiper panels below the lights, and the extra airflow doesn't translate into additional power... at least at speeds under 100mph. Absolutely zero gain on the dyno, btw. Might be a little power to be had near Vmax but that's kind of irrelevant in the USA where 75mph will get you a speeding ticket on most interstates (with a few rare exceptions). To properly test we'd need someone with 2.65 or taller gears and the ability to do Autobahn runs up to the point where a stock 500E runs out of power; then swap on the panels and see if the car picks up any top speed with the 'ram air' effect. Jemler? How about it?

 

[gsxr]

Dave can you post pics of the underside?

The underside looks identical to the stock airbox. They cut the stock airbox in half, and replace the top half with carbon-fiber, and glue it into place. I don't have pics of the interior as I've never taken one apart.

 

[Zuffenhausen]

just to separate a stock air box is difficult

 

[Zuffenhausen]

hood and interior wood replacements, in carbon would be nice

 

[500AMM]

No, after some time they will all turn like that. If someone says otherwise... they're lying just to sell some parts. There are some high heat resins, but it's the duration and clear selection that kills it. I am using Silmar 249 Clear Polyester Resin with UV inhibitors. I have never had to use a clearcoat with this resin. Doubtful, but does anyone have an extra set of fenders to mold from? I'm thinkinh a decklid, hood, fenders, gas lid (lol) and sunroof would shave a considerable amount of weight. The first part I'm molding after work tonight thoughare the headlight covers. They block alot of air from coming in on the M119 setup. I will make a solid set set first from my brand new parts then cutout my second set and then resin in some mesh from behind. These will def allow more air into the engine creating a true ram-air effect. Might do a before and after dyno run at a friends shop just to see if there is ANY gain. I know they have been done before, but they are hard to find and are functional. I'll post pics up soon. We really need some fenders to mold though... those would be much lighter and dent proof. Hell we could do them in Kevlar and make them bulletproof

Hello Silvia.

Great ideas coming up here.

A pre-facelift hood and decklid in CF would be great! I would also like a roof plate without sunroof opening. It's probably a better result to replace the entire plate when deleting the sunroof, than fill in a dummy plate in the sunroof recess. Front fenders and bumper is also a great weight saving on the front end of the 036. Preferably a stock appearance on all parts, and they can be made for spraying in my case.

Cheers

 

[95silvia]

Okay, so I made some trial parts to see how they would turn out, so please don't judge too harshly as these are first run parts and my trial car is my filthy 400E

First was the license filler panel...

Then the mirrir covers, which I think are an awesome touch...

Wiper delete headlight fillers ...

Let me know what you think. I just made a mold of the fuel filler door and going to try that in the next couple days. I think the first ones look like crap, so I'm going to make some more molds and perfect them, but decent for first run/try. Sorry for the crappy cell pics, as my reg camera is KO'd

 

[J-Sauce]

Awesome! Are you selling any of the parts you're making?

Sorry, I spaced on the lip parts. Do you happen to hit any junkyard in your area? I can tell you what car I got mine from and you can pull them. They wont be worth it to ship, I think.

 

[95silvia]

Awesome! Are you selling any of the parts you're making?

Sorry, I spaced on the lip parts. Do you happen to hit any junkyard in your area? I can tell you what car I got mine from and you can pull them. They wont be worth it to ship, I think.

Thanks man! I was thinking of selling if there was any interest and yeah I'm actually hitting the junkyard today! Any info is appreciated

 

[195910]

+1 on the mirrors... looks awesome.
I wouldn't go with the L plates filler on the trunk lid.. too big for CF, but rather the trunk lid rubber handle (just above the filler)

 

[J-Sauce]

I like the filler panel, I'd probably take one of those if the quality was a little more precise on the corners. The car is a e32 BMW 745i. Check my owner thread for a picture of it installed on my car. It will fit standard w124 bumpers too as it is modular.

 

[95silvia]

I like the filler panel, I'd probably take one of those if the quality was a little more precise on the corners. The car is a e32 BMW 745i. Check my owner thread for a picture of it installed on my car. It will fit standard w124 bumpers too as it is modular.

Yeah I'm making a mold to get it more precise and I just picked up the trim piece above it (the one that always cracks) to mold also. Weather sucks here so it's been hard to find time to work on these pieces between school and work also, but tomorrow looks promising

 

[J-Sauce]

I went through 3 of those upper trim pieces before I realized that the OLDER ones from the 86-90ish cars are a solid piece of metal end to end, with a rubber coating. The ones that crack are made of solid plastic. I grabbed one from an 89 car, hit it with some forever-black, and haven't had a problem since.

 

[95silvia]

I went through 3 of those upper trim pieces before I realized that the OLDER ones from the 86-90ish cars are a solid piece of metal end to end, with a rubber coating. The ones that crack are made of solid plastic. I grabbed one from an 89 car, hit it with some forever-black, and haven't had a problem since.

Off topic but I always wondered how that forever-black works. Is still holding up and living up to its name? Thanks for the info on the older car strip, because after looking at it I'm def not going to try to duplicate this part. It would be a PITA. Anywho thinking of getting that Forever-black, but I'll wait on the report