What mods do U want made?

[AlaskaVX]

Joe Namecheck and his Nascar were at my grocery store last night and I was talking with Richard Conley (Show car rep.) about fabbing up parts for the VX! He gave me his card so I could get a hold of his boss to see what he could do for us (He's got a lot of connections with car shops). I haven't talked to him yet, since I was wondering what mods everyone would be interested in getting made. I was asking about a CF hood insert with reverse scoop and he told me to call his boss and he most likeley will hook us up with a company. I'm mainly looking for a shop to make us our CF parts (mirrors, half moon, etc.)

His boss (don't know his name) works in Selma, North Carolina. They work for a company called Team One Promotions. Does anyone that live around there wanna check this out for me? I can call them but its long distance and I have a feeling it will be a long phone call. Also it might be more effective if he saw the VX in person.

[omegavx]

I have two shops I just started talking to yesturday about CF (mirror, half-moon and hood insert). So far I havn't gotten any details, but I'm looking to do the hood insert first then the other items later. I'm supposed to talk with both shops again tomorrow, but if you find a good place that will do it then I'm all for it. I couldn't find any shops near me that did it either, one is in CA and the other is in VA.

[Hotsauce]

I would like to see door panel inserts made in CF, or KCF. The factory fake CF is really cheap looking

John C.

[nyc #1 ironman]

CF hood insert w/ reverse scoop... I'm sure thats what most replies will be...

[SoilDoc]

I always wanted to chop off the top and make a convertable--like the VX-02.

[I_Wanna_Retire]

Hood insert with reverse scoop, and maybe a real workable air intake. Also, I am in Wake Forest, NC and could help with the Selma shop if needed.

[ron]

I made the attempt to have a local shop give me an estimate for just a carbon fiber version of the insert made. First of all, they would have to ship it overseas to have it made.

And second, they required a minimum of 50+ prepaid orders to even get started to make a negative mold. Also, their cost was ranging from $350-$375 a piece. I backed out knowing that the commitment ot 50+ orders is far fetched along with the price of each part.

I believe for any fabricating shop to produce any carbon fiber parts, they may require a certain number of prepaid orders to be made just to cover the costs of fabricating teh negative mold. However, i could be wrong. Good luck in finding a shop that will make the parts without a minimum required.

For right now, I've put the project on the back burner. However, I do plan to make one for myself with a reverse scoop since I have a spare insert at hand already. With a bit of fiberglassing experience and the research I've read, I feel confident enough to try to fabricate a carbon-fiber version.

I'll post results after I start and finish the project. But, of course that won't happen til I get my other priority orders finished and sent out along with the release of the newest accessories as well.

[Joe_Black]

I've been a similar route that Ron has mentioned and have also "back-burnered" my CF plans until my house is finished. After that, I may look into setting up my shop to do some CF fabbing myself. No promises, but it'll be about a year before I can try. In the meantime, if someone comes up with a vendor that isn't going to bend you over for some major $$$ (like the ones I contacted) then I'll jump on board if the quality is there.

[Dallas4u]

I'm curious... I assume that CF molds take a bit more labor per order compared to plastic, correct? I did a VERY small amount of research on CF, and just wrapping something in a CF sheet takes a few stages of work. I'm sure, if someone already has a CF process down, it may be easier by just creating the mold, and then molding it in CF. But... I can see why any small amount of custom work that any shop would think about doing would be expensive.

That being said, if money was no option, a carbon fiber grill, hood insert, mirror covers, and half-moon would give me BIG TIME WOOD! (*sorry*)

[Rickster]

Check this out:

http://compositeshop.com/Contact/Car...uring_faq.html

Rickster

[ron]

Originally posted by Dallas4u
I'm curious... I assume that CF molds take a bit more labor per order compared to plastic, correct? I did a VERY small amount of research on CF, and just wrapping something in a CF sheet takes a few stages of work. I'm sure, if someone already has a CF process down, it may be easier by just creating the mold, and then molding it in CF. But... I can see why any small amount of custom work that any shop would think about doing would be expensive.

Correct. The task for producing and resinlaminated part is labor intensive time consuming not to mention the costs for carbon-fiber cloth is pricey. Check out this site which shows a bit of the process invloved in layering carbon fiber cloth onto a mold and producing a part as a result.

http://www.superstreetonline.com/techarticles/54702/

It does not mention the in between tasks of sanding and filling bubble holes as well as the curing times for each stage. For small parts, like the rear door camera cover would be easy to produce in this process. But the quality probably won't be as good as a vacuum-bagged or pre-pregged made part. And of course, the bigger the parts, the more time and more awkward would a part be and thus more hands are required during the processes.

[AlaskaVX]

Originally posted by I_Wanna_Retire
Hood insert with reverse scoop, and maybe a real workable air intake. Also, I am in Wake Forest, NC and could help with the Selma shop if needed.

Right on! I'm interested in the intake also! I think that these are probobally the only items that we could get enough pre-orders together to have them (some company they work with) fab up. I will PM you with the address and phone #. Maybe a ram air intake?

[Dallas4u]

Guys, the intake is a cool idea, but you'd probably have to come up with a good design first. Then, assume the place who will make it in CF will make a custom mold for it from scratch from the design. The hood insert with scoop would be easier as they can model it off of the original hood insert, but a totally new, custom intake may be pretty expensive.

[AREA 51]

Why not just make an insert with scoop using glas, just like the original insert ?

[Apostle]

From that link:

The discovery of carbon fiber dates back to the late 1800s when Thomas Edison was testing thousands of different materials to use as a filament in the lightbulb. Edison repeatedly superheated a piece of plain cotton thread to produce a pure carbon fiber and then presumably fashioned the tailgate of his horsedrawn wagon in carbon fiber and epoxy to impress the ladies at the town pump.


Eddi was pimpin in a buggy.