Advice for hand laying on a car bonnet


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jameslawson
jameslawson
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So I have laminated small car interior trims with carbon fiber in the past, however now I'm embarking on a much more ambitious challenge..

I want to wrap the middle of my car bonnet in the V style carbon fabric. I bought a spare second hand bonnet which is made from aluminium and is sort of flexible.

My plan is to palm sand the paint off, prep the middle area, spread on some base coat, hand lay the fabric, vacuum bag it for a perfect flat result before then painstakingly applying the resin coats.

Is there anything I should be reconsidering or not doing here with this plan? I have always used the XCR epoxies but I'm worried about the heat resistance.. it doesn't get super hot but the car runs a pretty warm inline 6. Will the XCR resin stand up to this or do I really need to go with the high temp epoxies which have that unfortunate yellow look to them?

Here's a mockup I made in photoshop.. ideally I'll overlap the middle, then when its complete my bodyshop who's going to paint it will presumably use filler to blend between the epoxy and aluminium to create a seamless transition before painting the main and power dome section.

 

Many thanks - I really appreciate any advice that can be provided. In my mind this is just one huge panel that I need to hand lay, but I will only have around 2-3 weeks to complete this in due to garage space so I want to try and prepare for everything.

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Warren (Staff)
Warren (Staff)
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That's crazy money for a bonnet for a normal car!! definitely a lot of BMW "M" badge tax going on there!

You would want to do the post cure very slowly with gradual steps to help prevent it warping.  Also always post cure before the final sand and polish as you often get some resin movement.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant
jameslawson
jameslawson
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Warren (Staff) - 11/15/2022 9:14:39 AM
That's crazy money for a bonnet for a normal car!! definitely a lot of BMW "M" badge tax going on there!

You would want to do the post cure very slowly with gradual steps to help prevent it warping.  Also always post cure before the final sand and polish as you often get some resin movement.

Haha glad you know about the M tax too! Technically the official BMW composite bonnet is a GTS/CS product which can only be bought with a GTS/CS model vin, not that it's a valid excuse for them to charge that kind of money..

Okay great to know, I'm going to have a chat with my local bodyshop to see if they can let me use their oven.

Is there any specific resin that I should be going with? I want to avoid the yellow tint that comes with high temp epoxy as much as possible, I'm going to be using the V-weave carbon fiber cloth so it's a super cosmetic show piece that really needs clarity to pop. 

Thanks for the advice and help.

GO

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