Carbon Fibre pics

[Neil - UK]

Colin our UK miniviper man and body panels glass resin guru popped for a visit this weekend with his latest creation, he's now ventured into carbon fibre and brought down this hand layed prototype sill.

Sounds like he can replicate just about anything in carbon fibre now as well fibre glass

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For you racers it comes in at 1.8kg / 4 lbs or not sure the standard sills weigh

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[AviP]

The standard rocker panel weighs 5.5 lbs. So thats a savings of 1.5 lbs per rocker panel. The rocker panel is pretty light in it's aluminium form. The weight benefit would be a lot more on the other body parts especially the hood.

 

[SnakeBitten]

The weight benefit would be a lot more on the other body parts especially the hood.

True..But how expensive would a carbon fibre hood be? I see the stock hood is about 12-15k to replace...It would take alot of time and skill to make a well fitting Viper hood so I would imagine the price would be quite high...

 

[cgmaster]

I would imagine the hood would be in the $4000 - $5000 range. The hoods on the GTS-r were CF and I think they were about $4000. I am not positive on the price however.

 

[SnakeBitten]

I would imagine the hood would be in the $4000 - $5000 range. The hoods on the GTS-r were CF and I think they were about $4000. I am not positive on the price however.

4-5k would be great for the pocketbook not to mention GREAT weight saving along with peace of mind in the event of a crash. Much less expensive for insurance companys to replace...Wonder if they would reduce your premium accordingly if one was to use a cf hood ...Id just store the stock hood in a safe place..

 

[Bernard]

Nice job! I bought a fiber glass hood and fascia. The list price for the hood is around $1700 unpainted with CF at $3800. Exchanging those parts and removing the A/C reduced the weight by 80LBS and a lot of worry. I have pictures.

 

[hemibeep]

I believe autoform has the hood in CF as well as other body parts. But, I think hood is pin-on without the hinges/latches

 

[Hisserman]

How much are the new sills?

 

[SnakeBitten]

Nice job! I bought a fiber glass hood and fascia. The list price for the hood is around $1700 unpainted with CF at $3800. Exchanging those parts and removing the A/C reduced the weight by 80LBS and a lot of worry. I have pictures.

Please post

 

[Bernard]

Just click on "photo's". I'm not sure how to post pictures, sorry. All work was done by West Coast Viper.

 

[SVS Turbo]

SVS has a few carbon fiber products for the Viper. We can have the hood made in a pre-preg process that will be showroom quality. If you have a direct replacement hood made in carbon fiber you would need to change the stock hinge springs. The stock hinge springs are rated for the weight of the stock hood.

If you get a hood and decide to have it painted make sure you have someone experienced in painting carbon fiber. If the prep is completed less than adequate you will end up with holes in the finished product.

SVS carbon fiber

 

[MadMaxx]

If you get a hood and decide to have it painted make sure you have someone experienced in painting carbon fiber. If the prep is completed less than adequate you will end up with holes in the finished product.

Well, kinda. The surface coat of carbon is what you are tieing to, not the carbon itself. Most "pretty" carbon pieces are going to be coated in a UV protectant coat, or a clear gelcoat mix (Epoxy or PER in most cases). Just scuff the surface, hit it with 2 passes of a high build primer (duratec is the best IMHO), block and then paint. You can paint directly on carbon, and carbon does sand, but it's just so much easier and better to lay down a good primer layer first.

James

 

[MadMaxx]

Neil - You could reduce the weight a good bit by doing resin infusion. If he hand layed the part, it's going to very very difficult to achieve the correct ratio of cloth to resin. Just bagging the part won't do it. Infusion works very well. Far cheaper than prepreg with almost simmilar results. I'd say ~2.5lbs final, depending on surface coat.

 

[SVS Turbo]

If you get a hood and decide to have it painted make sure you have someone experienced in painting carbon fiber. If the prep is completed less than adequate you will end up with holes in the finished product.

Well, kinda. The surface coat of carbon is what you are tieing to, not the carbon itself. Most "pretty" carbon pieces are going to be coated in a UV protectant coat, or a clear gelcoat mix (Epoxy or PER in most cases). Just scuff the surface, hit it with 2 passes of a high build primer (duratec is the best IMHO), block and then paint. You can paint directly on carbon, and carbon does sand, but it's just so much easier and better to lay down a good primer layer first.

James

Well said.

Thanks James