Hi,

I have a Renault Twizy electric car, it has 4 (ABS I think) Plastic mudguards that sit on the suspension so rise and fall with the wheel, they have heavy metal supports and reinforcement and I wanted to make Carbon replicas...is there any need to make a mould when I could add release agent etc, to the actual mudguard and lay the pre-preg on top? I know it would add a few mm to the dimensions but that would not matter.

Note, I do not want to carbon cover them, I want a carbon lightweight alternative.

I would aim to do the same with the front and rear grey plastic "bumpers".  If the weave finish was not perfect I would wrap them satin or gloss black.

Are you wanting to make new cycle mudguards or the bracketry that holds the plastic parts in place?

The trouble is with most prepregs is the curing temperature is over the heat deflection temp of ABS and most plastics so they will deform under cure. The mudguards are pretty similar from what ive seen of a twizzy up close.You may be better making a mould and then using it to make a full set of carbon parts. 

Plus if you are essentially trying to wrap the part in carbon you will have to use a caul plate or a smooth bag, to ensure the show face of the part looks good as the release film and bagging material will create small resin wrinkles in the surface of the part.

I know someone who does upgraded battery packs for twizzys, do you know them?

Thanks for the reply.

I would ideally like to make the cycle guards and the braketry for it. There is a lot of weight to be saved on the car and shifting 50kgs in total would make a big difference to power to weight and range. I am already replacing bolts with titanium and flat panels with carbon.

I guess I will have to make a mould then, I was worried about deformation from heat.

Who is it you know making the batteries, I have spoken to one guy who can make them but not ship them to the U.K.

I know Chris at zero ev. He's helping out doing an upgraded twizzy battery pack.