Group 2 Arches

[nutter81]

so xvivalve does that mean that he will do some arches when he gets what he needs to make them
if so any eta

[xvivalve]

I still don't have the plug panels and wasn't thanked for my attempts last time round. They're down to someone else now I'm afraid, I'll stick to what is useful for me and share the results thereafter.

[nutter81]

ok err quick question what would i need to do to get them made myself as i can fund the project

[Dolly racer 33]

I will dig mine out & get a costing.

[xvivalve]

Looks like Ken is on the case.

Otherwise Jod is your man with a spare set, you'd need to borrow from him and find someone who lays up GRP; trouble is there are lots who lay up GRP, but few with automotive experience. Feedback was they don't fit so good so the plan was to lend the fabricator a pair of NOS rear wings so the mould could be adjusted as it was made, you'd struggle to get a non automotive GRP man to understand the precision reqd as they often work on the basis of bond, fill and sand to profile as this is both the limitation and flexibility of the material.

[eightiesflamer]

Chaps, dont bother, myself and a good friend are already there, the car is with our grp man, he has done drawings, we have all the costings for the arches and are now waiting for the moulds to be made and the first set of arches to come from that mould, can I remind that this is not a five minute job and we have invested a considerable amount of money and time into this already, as I said as soon as there is news I will update with some pictures too.

Following from this we will be doing double mould bonnets and bootlids, that means that a bonnet will be a mirror image inside and out as a standard one, they look fantastic, we have seen others from other cars and obviously are very very lite.

As Alun quite rightly pointed out, we are using a fella that is not the cheapest at all, however he has been in the motorsport industry all his life and has developed a very successful business which includes grp, kevlar and that gorgeous carbon fibre, he would nt take the job on unless he had a car to take the moulds from, so we deliver d him a car, the bond, fill and sand approach is not what we are going for here.

Darren.

[Dolly racer 33]

Will the arches be as per the works arches?

[eightiesflamer]

Yes Ken they are apart from the fact that the rears are an inch wider and fit with a flange, means you can fit 10 inch rears.
Darren.

[DF]

Yes Ken they are apart from the fact that the rears are an inch wider and fit with a flange, means you can fit 10 inch rears.
Darren.

I have 10" rears on as i have spaced arches allready
I would like a price on carbon bonnet and bootlid please
Would he do doors as well
Money here waiting
What about a carbon roof ????

[xvivalve]

The only thing to watch with mirror panels is the weight, it can escalate beyond the original panel weight quite easily. The front panels I had made are 1kg lighter than the OE steel, the prototype was only 750g lighter

[milesinfront]

What does the term 'mirror panels' mean?

[Oli_88]

What does the term 'mirror panels' mean?

At a guess, panels that look in/externally the same as the originals.

[milesinfront]

Yeah, back when I had a TR7, the fibre-glass replacement planels were MUCH heavier than standard ones...

[xvivalve]

Whilst the material is less dense than steel, therefore lighter per volume, the problem can occur when trying to mimic steel reinforcing ribs on for example the underside of a bonnet. The GRP has to be that much thicker than steel section in any event in order to give adequate rigidity, meaning when copying a relatively narrow rib it can end up virtually solid. You should make sure the fabricator is aware of the most important criteria which I presume to be weight? This may create a conflict if you also want it to look original. The alternative would be something like bonded in dowels to provide necessary rigidity, but would look less than atractive when the panel was open.

[Neil907]

I would like a price on carbon bonnet and bootlid please
Would he do doors as well
Money here waiting
What about a carbon roof ????

Same here