CF on car - pros and cons

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CF on car - pros and cons

Author	Message
alex5	alex5 posted 10 Years Ago HOT Topic Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 2, Visits: 16	Hi all, I am considering rebodying by car in CF (resin infusion). Stupid as I am, it's not my race car, I am considering doing so to my "daily driver". And as it travels at least 12K miles yearly my question is how smart of the idea is that? Strait away I can think of two problems: 1) Stone chips - naked carbon won't stand them, so I'll at least want to paint it. I actually intended to paint it anyway. Or maybe wrap it in film. Would that be enough or should I go for the kevlar as the outside layer? 2) Accidents - whole lot of problems here. Factory crumple zones are gone, carbon snaps to small bits even on small crashes and so on. I think of putting extra layer or layers of kevlar or carbon-kevlar reinforcements. Also I may intentionaly design weak points to make snapping predictable. Any thoughts on safety? Can you think of any other problems I will run into with a "daily driver"? Hot/cold climates? "Metal" fatique? Body panels rubbing against one another? Thanks in advance, Alex Sorry if the topic was already discussed, wasn't able to find anything. If it was, please point me in the right direction. Thanks.
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ChrisR	ChrisR posted 10 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 363, Visits: 3K	Just a thought on your idead: Any modification that you make to the car should be disclosed to your insurance company otherwise it will invalidate it... If you are removing crumple zones etc then it will most likely invalidate your insurance AND (if you're in the UK anyway) it will need to go through an IVA assessment at a DVLA test station
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Brian2fast	Brian2fast posted 10 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 79, Visits: 1.3K	Hi Alex Are you really going to be removing crumple zones? Will you not just be replacing the outer surface of say the front bumper with a carbon layer or replacing the outer steel wings? What type of car is it? A steel body monocoque or something a bit less mainstream? What about covering the susceptible areas to damage with a clear protective film? Iv used it on my car for years and it really works. Before I used the film gravel rash wore completely through my rear GRP wings but with the film they hardly get marked at all. Craig
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alex5	alex5 posted 10 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 2, Visits: 16	ChrisR (04/04/2015) Just a thought on your idead: Any modification that you make to the car should be disclosed to your insurance company otherwise it will invalidate it... If you are removing crumple zones etc then it will most likely invalidate your insurance AND (if you're in the UK anyway) it will need to go through an IVA assessment at a DVLA test station Forgot to mention. The car is registrered and used in third-world europe - Moldova. So yearly technical assesment is very lax here. I am pretty sure the laws don't even cover my case, so I won't be breaking any. Brian2fast (04/04/2015) Are you really going to be removing crumple zones? Will you not just be replacing the outer surface of say the front bumper with a carbon layer or replacing the outer steel wings? What type of car is it? A steel body monocoque or something a bit less mainstream? It's a pretty usual car in terms of structure - Alfa Romeo 159 Sedan. Yes, I didn't state that properly - I won't be removing the crumple zones, but I will be repositioning them. Involuntary, just beacuse I don't know the factory-designed spots where body panels are supposed to bend and brake. So I think that makes a very little difference - they are designed to work all together. If the outer wing panel won't bend in the exact designed line than the inner structure will bend unpredictably too. OR am I wrong and outer panels bear very little load in case of an accident and all the hard work is done by the inner ..... sorry i don't know the english word for it: spars? pillars? frame? Brian2fast (04/04/2015) What about covering the susceptible areas to damage with a clear protective film? Iv used it on my car for years and it really works. Before I used the film gravel rash wore completely through my rear GRP wings but with the film they hardly get marked at all. That's what I thought about, glad to hear it works with CF!
	Reply Like 3