76 replies to this topic

[RED HOT]

Good news Ben, time to start moving in the right direction now

Where did you get the shell from? Z-cars? and what colour is it? I know that was a decision you were finding hard make

[benmoffat]

Its a carbon shell hence no painting required. Well there will be a little involved to cover up the seams. I think Im going for candy red that I wanted in the area as shown on the pic. Hopefully that area is less likely to get damaged so wont have to worry about that as much as if it was the whole shell. And I think it would go with the carbon and match the frame nicely. But that can be done at the end of the build.

It was a really hard choice when I was looking at the colour. I didnt really want to have anything other than a steel shell, but after seeing this one I really wanted it. And seeing as TVRs and Ultimas etc are all fibreglass I thought Id go for it. Just need to make sure there is enough extra bracing added to make it safe. Its definately going to be different to whats out there.

I hoepfully should be getting it in 3 weeks, but Ive got to sort out getting the kit back from Zcars now.

Attached Files

•  Carbon_Rear_side_2.jpg   271.33K   96 downloads

Edited by benmoffat, 10 June 2011 - 09:13 AM.

[RED HOT]

Its a carbon shell hence no painting required. Well there will be a little involved to cover up the seams. I think Im going for candy red that I wanted in the area as shown on the pic. Hopefully that area is less likely to get damaged so wont have to worry about that as much as if it was the whole shell. And I think it would go with the carbon and match the frame nicely. But that can be done at the end of the build.

Nice. Still not sure how the painting will work though...... If you’re panting with Kandy the seams will still be visible through it?

I'm guessing here that you’re keeping the weave visible where possible?

Is it being made to order?

If so you seriously need to clean the carbon before painting; had a freshly made carbon bonnet on the Impreza and although being cleaned 3-4 times with degreasing agents etc I still had a few tiny reactions.

[puresmartie]

you could have a very thin paint layer so you could see the cf underneath, like that ferrari

[RED HOT]

you could have a very thin paint layer so you could see the cf underneath, like that ferrari

Thats what the kandy paint is, the more layers of paint / Kandy you put on the less you can see through it, like so:-


This is 4 layers and changes its transparency depending on light and angle

[pete]

Have you checked that your frame will fit. I know the inside of a fibreglass shell is a slightly different shape around the floor. I measured a vtec frame against a fibreglass shell and it would have needed all the floor mounts changing to match the shape of the floor. This was also a tdk shell.

Pete

[benmoffat]

Thanks for the replies.

Kev - The seams are flush, not like the traditional sense of the Mini seams. You can just see a line where the panels have been joined together. Also that section is mostly black and not exposed carbon fibre. And the doors will also only be carbon fibre skins on steel doors. So to get around this the idea was to paint the whole centre section of the car to cover it all up but look like a proper job. I chose candy red as that is the first colour I looked at and thought it would match nicely. But would definately be open to suggestions for other colours. But yes I want to keep as much carbon weave visible as possible. I have toyed with the idea of doing the whole top half including the roof, but it seems a shame to cover up that weave.

That pic of yours looks lovely. I would be very please indeed if I could get that finish on mine as puresmartie suggests. I didnt realise the weave would show through even after that many coats. Did yours have a gel coat finish before, or was it literally bare carbon fibre that was painted on? I guess if it shows through the masking is going to have to be spot on! Also the whole car will have a couple of coats of laquer on once its painted to protect the carbon also.

Pete - I havent actually checked measurements yet. Dave at TDK assured me all original mini parts will fit as the shell was moulded off a steel shell. So everything should be the same size. I know Im going to have to have extra bars made to connect the from subframe to the rear, as mine is only a road kit and I will need that extra strength. Also will get some bars made up to go from the front subframe mounts to the front door bars for extra strength. Where did your shell/kit differ, and how many modifications did you have to make? Is that the green shell on your build diary?

Thanks

Ben

Edited by benmoffat, 10 June 2011 - 08:27 PM.

[RED HOT]

Hi Ben, I noticed it's been deseamed but after a look on the Tdk website in those areas I saw sections of black rather than 100% carbon weave all over. If you kandy over this it will show though and might look funny or patchy!

If it were mine I'd look into smartening / smoothing these lines up with maybe a black base and kandy over the top; this will probs be the pillars and a line around the roof; I hope that makes sense!

Mine was kandy directly on top of the carbon weave with 3 coats of lacquer on top; this really helped to keep the carbon clear as some resins go cloudy under uv lighting; the house of kolor kandy and lacquers are amazing and have good protection against the sun.

[benmoffat]

Thanks Kev. I see what you mean now. I have spoken to the bodyshop doing the paint, and he said it will be painted with a silver basecoat, and then red kandy on top. The silver apparently makes the red brighter and it also changes colour more.

Do you think it will still show through if its painted like that? It is the pillars and roof as you say. Need to work out what I do on the scuttle panel and on the rear end where the lights are.

I have also heard of carbon going cloudy which I really want to avoid. I heard it was because the resin or laquer wasnt UV resistant. But also now hear that its because sometimes too much laquer is put on. It looks like you didnt ever have that problem with yours is that right? Do you think the 3 coats of HOK laquer would suffice?

Thanks.

[RED HOT]

If you base coat with any colour it will hide the weave and in that instance you might as well get a grp shell. I would only base coat black or grey (in the seam areas) to try and match the carbon as it will then be less obvious once painted; if you silver base the bits that are currently black they will be a brighter red and stand out from the rest of the car.

I got no clouding or yellowing in three years of having it. Three coats of lacquer will be fine and 3-4 coats of red kandy to achieve the results as per my picture.

[benmoffat]

I think I might not have made it clear what Im doing, sorry.

The whole shell wont be painted, otherwise I see your point, I may aswell have a grp shell as you wouldnt know the difference.

Just from the bottom edge of the windows, up to the top edge of the windows will be base coated silver, then candy red.

The roof, and everything below the bottom edge of the windows will remain exposed carbon fibre weave, which is the majority of the shell. The whole front end will be exposed weave, along with door skins etc. None of that will be red. Hope that clears it up!

Glad to hear you had no problems in those three years.

[RED HOT]

I remember you saying that actually but confused myself with the carbon kandy break line and thought you were going to kandy the carbon below the windows! Before you commit to a base coat I'd have some samples done until you get the look and colour you are after.

I was going to go silver but ended up opting for a cinder red base on the body as the colour looked nicer (IMO) and matched the bare carbon bits a lot better too. You might get the same effect with silver by applying more costs.

[benmoffat]

Thanks for that, I will see if I can get a few samples sprayed up. Hopefully wont be too expensive to do that if you can buy the paints in a small amount.

It will be nearer the end of the build when I get round to it as only the outside will be getting done anyway. For now Ill be concentrating on (and spending cash Im sure) on getting it running.

[pete]

It's a vtec kit that i'm currently building(albeit very slowly). Didn't use the fibreglass shell as decided too much hassle changing the frame to get it to fit so sold it. The biggest problem was the shape of the inner sills. They sloped in a lot more than a steel shell so it meant the legs were too long and the feet were at the wrong angle. Hope yours fits as that carbon shell looks very nice. Spoke to Dave about it when he made it and was very tempted myself.

[benmoffat]

I see, thanks Pete. I really cant remember what the inner sills looked like on my shell and unfortunately I cant see from the pics if they are different to my steel shell or not.
Taking a look at them what do you reckon? Do they look like your fibreglass one did? Hopefully you can zoom in on the pics Ive uploaded on here.

Thanks

Attached Files

•  Carbon_OS.JPG   157.67K   58 downloads
•  carbon_front_side.JPG   145.98K   46 downloads
•  carbon_ns.JPG   145.07K   38 downloads