Weight loss.

[furrystump]

Installed, now on to the trunk partition.

 

[furrystump]

I can’t believe the partition weighs 15lbs. Should be able to get it under 2?

 

[furrystump]

My mirror is not big enough, but the surface finished doesn’t matter. Covered by carpet.

 

[furrystump]

So the new partition came in at 2.5 lbs. total weight loss 52.5 lbs. ran out of carbon fiber.

 

[justinp61]

Looks great! Do you run any ballast?

 

[furrystump]

None, I wish the weight loss was more forward, but I have to get it where I can. I can move some weight from the front to the rear, but nothing is free! i also have a two core radiator that I can swap out my A/C 3 row for.

 

[furrystump]

Ok, decided to make molds for the front bumper brackets. There are high quality aluminum sets out there that are very nice, but I need them to look stock. With that in mind and not being an engineer or never having stayed in a Holiday Inn Express. I figured the original brackets are 3/8” thick and designed to be able to hold up the front of the car. Bumper jack car. Carbon Fiber is 5x as strong as steel…………….by weight! That factoid has to have been written by some Congressmen, what it really means is if you need a 6”x6” plate that can only weigh a pound, a carbon fiber one will be 5 times as strong ish! and all I want to know is how thick to make them!!! Two facts I used to decide, one from a composite company guy, you will be “pretty safe” if you make it the same thickness as the steel part. (Huh) I tend to over build things, but that seems a bit overkill, ok. Then the aluminum ones are .190. Split the difference .218 in two layers of 5.7 oz 2x2 twill and 9 layers of 12 oz reg weave. Probably thicker than absolutely necessary, but running over the bumper would be BAD! Plus they need to be thickish to look stock. Made the flanges out of flashing. $10 for 6”x10’.

 

[furrystump]

Used the clay to fill the holes and fillet the flange. Hoping that the penta star and part number make it onto the new brackets.

 

[furrystump]

Fiberglass in your fingers sucks, but carbon fiber really sucks!

 

[furrystump]

Should get the carbon tape middle of the week. We’ll see how it works. The black paint from the original stuck a bit, only used the mold release wax on the first one. PVA on the last three. Much cleaner.

 

[Treblig]

View attachment 1715964163 Ok, decided to make molds for the front bumper brackets. There are high quality aluminum sets out there that are very nice, but I need them to look stock. With that in mind and not being an engineer or never having stayed in a Holiday Inn Express. I figured the original brackets are 3/8” thick and designed to be able to hold up the front of the car. Bumper jack car. Carbon Fiber is 5x as strong as steel…………….by weight! That factoid has to have been written by some Congressmen, what it really means is if you need a 6”x6” plate that can only weigh a pound, a carbon fiber one will be 5 times as strong ish! and all I want to know is how thick to make them!!! Two facts I used to decide, one from a composite company guy, you will be “pretty safe” if you make it the same thickness as the steel part. (Huh) I tend to over build things, but that seems a bit overkill, ok. Then the aluminum ones are .190. Split the difference .218 in two layers of 5.7 oz 2x2 twill and 9 layers of 12 oz reg weave. Probably thicker than absolutely necessary, but running over the bumper would be BAD! Plus they need to be thickish to look stock. Made the flanges out of flashing. $10 for 6”x10’.

I would never lift a Mopar by the bumper, the bumpers were never built strong enough to support the weight of the car. So I wouldn't worry about that. If you had any concern I would worry (wonder) about a front end collision. During a low speed front end collision the bumper could help a little but in a high speed front end collision the bumpers don't/won't help you at all. That being said I wouldn't worry too much about the thickness of your aluminum brackets.
I've always lifted my barracuda by the frame with a regular jack. I even modified a Monte Carlo jack because I could easily store it in the trunk>>>>

 

[furrystump]

Never liked bumper jacks, but that was what that car came with. Collision, the carbon fiber will just crack, but not that concerned with collision performance, just want the carbon fiber brackets to comfortably hold the steel bumper on.

 

[furrystump]

The first one came in at less than 1/2 lb. I pulled it from the mold after it cured at room temp overnight. It seemed slightly less rigid than I would have thought. So I laid it in the mold and set it out in the sun. I decided that I would put one extra layer in the other three. I would rotate the weave 45 degs to the rest of the carbon. When I got home the first one was holy Batman stiff!! Still added the extra layer to the rest of them.

 

[furrystump]

The weight difference.

 

[Just Send It]

Something about making carbon fiber gets my gears turning. Would love to try and make some parts over the Winter.

 

[furrystump]

They are on, no concern with how strong they are. Strong enough for a fat guy to lean on when getting up from the ground. Carbon fiber isn’t that hard if you are going to hide it or paint it. If you care about how the weave looks, I would go nuts. These are not your engineered suspension level parts. One thing to remember, carbon fiber is electrically conductive. So using electric power tools with it can shorten their life. I manage to drop a strand right between the plugs on an extension cord that the plug had back out of a bit. FLASH!

 

[furrystump]

Decided to move on to the console. It weighs 18.5 lbs. Hoping for the new one to weigh 3 lbs? Going to make it in three pieces. The two top plates and the base. Should make the molds easier to make.

 

[furrystump]

The console base mold.

 

[MOPARMAGA]

Bad *** work dude

 

[furrystump]

Bad *** work dude

Thanks! I made the storage bin for the console separately. It basically mount the base to the car. I will bond it to the other base part. Changed resin’s bought a gallon locally, which I have to weigh to mix. If you are going to do this, get the pumps. The first resin was quick to mix. Three pumps resin, one pump catalyst. Very easy to make small batches.

 

[furrystump]

Got back to the console. I hide my switches in the ashtray, so I needed to make a plate for three switches and a spot for the logger. I started with the door for the console. I had issues with the sharp bend on the outer lip getting air pockets. I’m using a 3 CFM cheaper Harbor Freight pump. I found that the breather material was pulling the resin away from the sharp corner. I have the front top plate in the mold using very little breather material and peel ply. It picked up all the fine detail without air pockets.

 

[furrystump]

With the storage part on it.

 

[furrystump]

The top plate molds.

 

[Projectile Dart]

Simply amazing. Keep up the good work, and keep on posting all of it

 

[furrystump]

The top plate and ashtray slide.