repair advise on prepeg motorcycle bellypan

Author	Message
firebeast	firebeast posted 10 Years Ago HOT Topic Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 4, Visits: 38	my mates damaged his ilmberger carbon bellypan and I want your opnins on best repairs for both the structural side and the asthetics,as he intends to sell it, due it costing £700 new and wants to use the money to put towards new bodywork I was a laminator for a few year so understand things in general on f/g and basic principles for c/f wet lay up ,, but have never dealt with prepeg carbon ,so hoping some of you can steer me the right way. this is the damage http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv192/fb893/IMG_2863.jpg http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv192/fb893/IMG_2864.jpg http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv192/fb893/IMG_2862.jpg http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv192/fb893/IMG_2861.jpg http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv192/fb893/IMG_2860.jpg http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv192/fb893/IMG_2859.jpg http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv192/fb893/IMG_2858.jpg http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv192/fb893/IMG_2856_1.jpg my intention was to repair the cracks by cleaning up the underside , ready to accept c/f mat ,add resin , cure, then try to fill in the gaps with epoxy on the top face by building up layers over and around the areas to get it as smooth as I can and well blended. the corner piece that's missing top resin/clearcoat, my though was take some of the surrounding resin off very lightly, before building layers of resin back up and flatting back as I go, then after sanding down other areas that had some scuffs from general use, build them up and finally get someone local to add a couple of layers of 2k lacquer over the whole item to blend it as well as possible?? a lot of the repair sections aren't massively visible once its been fitted, its just the corner piece getting it to look good again. my worry is if the epoxy resin will be a close match to ilmbergers resin, plus I am not sure how well each thin layer I want to put down will bond and blend. have got a heatgun to get rid of air bubbles (hopefully), but if anyone thinks of some better ways I am happy to hear them.
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firebeast	firebeast posted 10 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 4, Visits: 38	Disapointed with over 40 views and no opinions, no one care to say anything?
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carbonfibreworks	carbonfibreworks posted 10 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 292, Visits: 4.5K	Hi Firebeast The method you have suggested for the mechanical repair will work fine, for the cosmetic repair I would brush a thin layer of laminating epoxy on the damaged area and when it has gone to a tacky stage cover the area with matching carbon fibre then give it a few coats of skinning clear epoxy and flat back and spray the whole part with 2K clear. You can normally find join lines in the carbon that you can work to so you wont have the skin the whole part, have a look at the EC video on skinning parts so you can see whats involved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rTWaV1imzs Regards Chris Carbon fibre works LTD Below is a before and after repair I carried out on BMW rear hugger, it was almost in two pieces. Edited 10 Years Ago by carbonfibreworks
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firebeast	firebeast posted 10 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 4, Visits: 38	Appreciate the reply ,that looks really good and not knowing much on carbon tbh, other than I own some of it,it's good to see items can turn round to look that good. I have had lots of things over the years I fancied making so this site looks like a godsend tbh.I haven't used epoxy before either, so i am a bit green on it. My mate wants it back asap to get back out on the road, so I am going to do the mechanical repairs and get him to do some shakedown runs to see how they hold up before I lol at the finishing work, as I don't have much time and don't want to rush or bodge it. The biggest repair , I have already taken the damaged sections out and from my thinking, I will put a piece of c/f across then build the gaps up with c/f chop strand ( from the loose strands I have) as I don't have time to get the correct filler, then later on, possibly look at the skinning work when I get it back. I also don't know any good sprayers near me for the 2k , so he can do that . The whole panel needs a lot of work as it's nine years old and has plenty of external voids plus light scuffs from use etc, but he wants it back on the road , so Knowin my mate i won't get it back till autumn when the weather turns.
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