Brand new to CF! Spark plug cover

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Brand new to CF! Spark plug cover

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LukeSGee	L LukeSGee posted 7 Years Ago HOT Topic Details
L Group: Forum Members Posts: 9, Visits: 44	Hi guys, I’m currently trying to do research on producing a carbon fibre piece to replace my spark plug cover on my Honda. The piece looks like this.. https://www.heeltoeauto.com/images/P/oem_engine_dress_plugcvr_blk.jpg The kit I have purchased to make the part is the following. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F162837289911 Am I able to just clean, apply release agent then coat the part in epoxy, allow to partly set tacky, lay fabric, wet out, lay second layer ect until thick enough then for the final layer allow to fully dry, apply epoxy coat layers up then wet sand, polish until glossy, finally just release the part from the Carbon piece? I have just purchased a house so I’m on a unbelievably low budget unfortunately! Thanks in advance!
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Dravis	Dravis posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 592, Visits: 1.9K	Hi! The part in the picture looks like a good candidate for "skinning" - the same probably goes for most of your interior panels. I would start by getting the EC XCR skinning kit, and having a go at skinning some smaller parts from the interior of your car. Watch the skinning tutorials on the EC website The part in the picture (Spark Plug cover) would probably be fairly easy to make a mould from, using the EC "Epoxy Putty" kit, but making the part without vacuum will be a challenge. Also being an engine part you should take the heat into consideration, you may need to make it with high temperature epoxy You could run your car hot on a warm day and use an infrared thermometer to measure the surface temperature of the original plastic cover, if it gets above 100 degrees centigrade, you will need high Tg epoxy otherwise it will end up not looking very nice, rather quickly Be aware that getting into composites making will significantly delay any house improvement projects -- do not ask me how I know :-) "Sapere Aude"... Dare to KNOW! The written word is the only truly efficient vehicle for transmitting a complex concept from mind to mind... 103% of all people do not understand statistics... Do not adjust our mind, theres a fault in reality :-) Edited 7 Years Ago by Dravis
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Steve Broad	Steve Broad posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 408, Visits: 4.1K	+x Dravis - 7/2/2018 7:45:01 AM Hi! The part in the picture looks like a good candidate for "skinning" - the same probably goes for most of your interior panels. I would start by getting the EC XCR skinning kit, and having a go at skinning some smaller parts from the interior of your car. Watch the skinning tutorials on the EC website The part in the picture (Spark Plug cover) would probably be fairly easy to make a mould from, using the EC "Epoxy Putty" kit, but making the part without vacuum will be a challenge. Also being an engine part you should take the heat into consideration, you may need to make it with high temperature epoxy You could run your car hot on a warm day and use an infrared thermometer to measure the surface temperature of the original plastic cover, if it gets above 100 degrees centigrade, you will need high Tg epoxy otherwise it will end up not looking very nice, rather quickly Be aware that getting into composites making will significantly delay any house improvement projects -- do not ask me how I know :-) Trying to make this cover with wet lay carbon and no vacuum is not going to work, IMO. You will have extreme difficulty in persuading the carbon to stay in the bolt holes (I reckon it will be impossible). At best, you will end up with bolt holes made mainly of resin. Also, you will not get the carbon to take up the shape of the grooves. The only way, that I can see, is to make this item using a vacuum. The best way, if I was going to make it, is with prepreg, vacuum and heat. Small pieces of carbon can be cut to fit in the holes, compressed into place by vacuum and cured by heat. As this is going to get hot you will need to post cure it anyway, whichever material you use. Once you get to use prepreg, you wonder why you would ever use anything else. No mess, no rush and lighter/stronger items as the resin/carbon ratio is perfect and the layers are compacted together. Once I have used up my stack of cloth I doubt that I will use anything else other than prepreg. For the small items you plan to make, a second hand electric oven from eBay or one of the free sites plus a vacuum pump (I use the EC one) and you are good to go :-)
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