Custom Engine Cover

[Jayman174]

I decided to take a stab at making a custom engine cover pattern to pull a mold from. Here are some pictures of the process. This is helping me pass the time before I order my kit. Also thought this might be a good lesson in bodywork skills as I would like to do the body work on my GTM.

Hoping to make a carbon/kevlar engine cover.

Insulation foam cut, glued and sanded:


Glassed and ready for body filler:


Adding some features for a better look:



Painted, sanded, polished and waxed... ready for some PVA (mold release)

[spdmon2791]

Very nice work!

[Jayman174]

Thanks... I am happy with the result but there were some times in the process I was ready to go onto Shane's site and place an order for a cover. Don't think I would make the pattern out of foam next time. Maybe wood as the bondo attacks the foam if you happen to sand through the glass.

Jason

[oxide]

Nice work. This type of fiberglass project can really set your build apart.

Use foam and then paint with latex spray paint. Then put bondo after that. Wood works also, but can twist and swell. The best material, although expensive is high density foam core.n I am up to 29 plugs/molds for my coupe at the moment with about 4-6 to go.

Just a thought. When you make the mold, do you plan on having parting seams? If you can take the plug out of the mold in one go, then you don't need them, otherwise you need to make parting lines. I had to make a parting seam for the glove box I made.

Here is how I made my mold parting line.

http://www.mycoupe.ca/modules/wordpress/?p=636
http://www.mycoupe.ca/modules/wordpress/?p=638
http://www.mycoupe.ca/modules/wordpress/?p=639
http://www.mycoupe.ca/modules/wordpress/?p=640
http://www.mycoupe.ca/modules/wordpress/?p=641

[MPTech]

Very nice work, look forward to seeing your other projects & mods.

Just a suggestion, reduce the size of your pictures when you post so you don't have to scroll left and right and up and down to read.
If you upload to Photobucket and include the link, I think they size correctly for viewing.

[Jayman174]

Oxide
Thanks. I may have to try the latex paint on my next plug. Have not used that approach before. Do you vacuum bag all your parts? Use gel coat? Not planning on a parting line on this part. 29 molds is impressive.

MPtech
Thanks for the tip on the pics.

Jason

[jadecraft]

Nice piece of work!

[fuzzyjk]

Originally Posted by Jayman174

Oxide
Thanks. I may have to try the latex paint on my next plug. Have not used that approach before. Do you vacuum bag all your parts? Use gel coat? Not planning on a parting line on this part. 29 molds is impressive.

MPtech
Thanks for the tip on the pics.

Jason

Impressive, is this a one off or will you be making more?

[oxide]

Originally Posted by Jayman174

Oxide
Thanks. I may have to try the latex paint on my next plug. Have not used that approach before. Do you vacuum bag all your parts? Use gel coat? Not planning on a parting line on this part. 29 molds is impressive.

MPtech
Thanks for the tip on the pics.

Jason

Jason,

I don't use a vacuum bag. I do use gel coat. One of the keys with gel coat is to pick a colour for the mold that is in contrast so when you make the final part, that you will be able to see the thickness of the final gel coat. I brushed my gel coat. 29 molds is just a lot of work and really itchy. But it was the only way I could make all the changes I wanted. The most complex mold I made was the lower dash piece.



Here was the steps for making the mold.

http://www.mycoupe.ca/modules/wordpress/?p=645

http://www.mycoupe.ca/modules/wordpress/?p=646

[Jayman174]

Oxide,
I purchased clear gelcoat so seeing it may be difficult even if I use a different color on the mold. Got the clear as I am planning on having a carbon/kevlar finished part I would like to see the weave on. May force me to spray the gelcoat on to insure even coverage. Mmmmm have to work that out.

Fuzzy,

Hey, how have you been? Hard to believe it's been almost exactly one year since you helped me win the Co-Part auction. Time flies.

After I have the pattern and mold additional parts should be easy in theory but I would like to see how the mold and parts come out before making any promises. I will keep my updates posted as I make progress.

How is your ride coming?

Jason

[carbon fiber]

jayman174, your plug looks nice. you might want to put a flange on your mold or place the entire mold in a vacuum bag if you are going to use cf/kevlar. these materials are really stiff and don't like to conform to the shape of the mold. also recommend using release compound and pva on a virgin mold. you don't need the clear gelcoat.you can use epoxy resin (vinyl or poly resins don't work well with cf/kevlar) and vacuum bag, then uv clearcoat the part. you will have a much nicer result. you can build a vacuum setup fairly cheap from harbor freight. (refrigeration vacuum, painters pot for trap) hope this helps, cf.

[fuzzyjk]

Originally Posted by Jayman174

Oxide,
I purchased clear gelcoat so seeing it may be difficult even if I use a different color on the mold. Got the clear as I am planning on having a carbon/kevlar finished part I would like to see the weave on. May force me to spray the gelcoat on to insure even coverage. Mmmmm have to work that out.

Fuzzy,

Hey, how have you been? Hard to believe it's been almost exactly one year since you helped me win the Co-Part auction. Time flies.

After I have the pattern and mold additional parts should be easy in theory but I would like to see how the mold and parts come out before making any promises. I will keep my updates posted as I make progress.

How is your ride coming?

Jason

Time does fly....much faster than my still unfinished GTM. Keep up the good work, I look forward to your postings.

[Jayman174]

Well I finished the engine cover mold and made my first part. It's not perfect but it's pretty good. I put some carbon in it but was limited to the amount of carbon I had at the time and the flat surfaces as I currently don't have a bagging setup to keep the carbon against the mold. Planning to make another cover with more carbon/kevlar and thicken up the cloth weights as the 1st part came out a little thin.

Mold


1st Part



Thanks, Jayman