18 replies to this topic

[scubalegg]

After many hours of looking i can not find any solution to my problems... where can you buy a full body carbon shell. Ive just emailed arc angles for a price on a custom made shell but i think this will be very expensive. Does anyone else to where i may find one?

My other question is that because there is a lack of them or i just cant find them, is there a reason why people dont have a carbon shell, i looked at a new steel shell but i dont want it to rust out in a 10 years time again

Im new to the car world and looking for advice, what are the experienced peoples views on steel v carbon

Thanks
Darren

[E.L.M.O]

I dont think anywhere does a carbon firbe body shell, it would have to be a one off.
Pretty sure you can only get a fibreglass shell, and then carbon firbre bonnet, doors front etc
Out of interest what did Arc angles quote?

[Body stylist]

Do you want carbon for looks or strength?
Do you want pure carbon or composite mix?

absmotorsport.net but it is possible for variations that are not on the site...

[scubalegg]

Ive asked them for a price on there option 1,2 and 3 but they not got back to me yet, was only a few hours ago i emailed them.

I was thinking of going for the carbon because i do think it looks good, but mainly i want to turn the mini into a little track car with plans for a AWD kit and a large honda lump so i want max strenght combined with the lightest weigth. Option 3 looks like idea to go with.

The car has a fair bit of rust so was thinking bout putting a new steel shell with lots of carbon bits like front fip doors ect but would like the hole thing to be once piece carbon shell for lightness.

Does anyone know any reason why there might not be a carbon shell for sale apart from the price, ive seen some "home made" ones on post here before that got snapped up really quickly for less then a grand.

I wasnt aware of the abs site and had a look, there is a carbon composite shell for £4,500. Im guess this is the same quilaty and makeup as the option 1? Would it be possible to make that shell with the weave showing?

Thanks

Edited by scubalegg, 13 September 2011 - 12:31 PM.

[Tupers]

For what you want you would be better off with a space frame chassis from something like chromoly steel and covering it with a carbon body. Doing a full monocoque body from carbon for an AWD drivetrain would require some serious development work and I'd imagine for over £10K all told.

Also I can be fairly sure you haven't seen a genuine carbon fibre shell for sale at less than a grand, more likely fibre glass.

Edited by Tupers, 13 September 2011 - 09:49 PM.

[MJWarren]

http://www.carbonweezel.co.uk/

[Ethel]

Suppose someone has to mention the IVA thing.

[scubalegg]

Never thought of using a spaceframe with a carbon skin. What is the advantage of doing this, surely this is alot harder to build and takes alot more customiation? Would it be stronger and lighter?

The 2 carbon shells ive seen are
http://www.16vminicl...ead.php?t=19084
http://www.theminifo...howtopic=133680
Both a few years ago now tho.

Ill have to do some more digging into this IVA testing. Surely it cant be that hard to pass with all the kit cars you can buy and build yourself?

[oliver122]

have a look on absmotorsport they do shells and spaceframes

[Tupers]

Never thought of using a spaceframe with a carbon skin. What is the advantage of doing this, surely this is alot harder to build and takes alot more customiation? Would it be stronger and lighter?

The difficulty of manufacturing it really depends on who's doing the work. It wouldn't really need any customisation as it would be designed from the ground up to suit the component you've chosen. That said the design stage would take a fair amount of time. Check out SukiDawg's thread in the projects section and you'll get what I mean. A spaceframe would also allow for greater modification in the future as it's easier to remove and change things like shock mounts on a steel frame than it would be on a carbon monocoque.

It's likely that full spaceframe car would be heavier than a monocoque but considering you should really fit a decent cage in a composite shell I can't imagine there would be a huge difference.

Edited by Tupers, 14 September 2011 - 05:55 PM.

[JmayfairJ]

less than a grand? just looked at a carbon roof on carbonweazel and its like 900 quid, ive always wondered if this has been done though

does carbon sag over time like fibreglass can? would consider a carbon bonnet and arches to be fair

if i was you why not just start with a good steel shell and stick as much carbon on it, floor, bootlid, front end, roof, i think iva would still be a pain in the arse but not as bad as a complete carbon body, would probably be registered as a kit car that way

[scubalegg]

Thats what im starting to think, i found on abs a carbon composite shell for 4,500 but i want full carbon and from looking at weazel i think it would prob be like 10k+, i did email them and they said they looked into it and it wasnt worth doing because of the cost and would take 6 month of solid work. So i might go with your idea and get all the rusted parts replaced with carbon parts and use the old shell as a frame for the new carbon bits.

Would this still need an IVA test if the roof, doors, boot, front flip was replaced with carbon parts?


Thanks

[Tamworthbay]

To do a full full shell would need about 6-800quid in resin alone (if they use polyester which is cheaper walk away), 100g/M2 2x2 twill prepreg is approx 30-50quid a linear metre and I would guess at 30-50 linear metres all in. then there is the cost of moulds. I have just had a fairly simple 4 piece mould made that is less than a quarter of the size of a mini and about 1% as complex and that was costed at 4k. A full carbon shell would be gorgeous but I would be surprised if they could be done for less than 10-15k

[scubalegg]

I think after looking more and more into this, the logical thing todo is not to get a full carbon shell because of the cost, so i think acid dip or shot blast the shell, replace any rust with as much carbon as possible and the rest with new steel parts. Then replace the doors boot front end roof and boot floor with carbon parts to reduce the weight. Be time to start a project post when finally get started.

Thanks for the advice

[Mini_Magic]

Or get a fibreglass shell and then use the carbon fibre panels for the rest of it (doors, boot, bonnet etc.)