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true carbon, not a wrap. Its multiple layers of carbon at various orientations and strand types along with 2 layers of Soric LRC core material separated with a few more layers of carbon for extra thickness where I wanted to add rigidity all forming a nice sandwich ready for infusion. A surprisingly large amount of engineering went into this.
Front crash bar doesn't really do much for you in terms of a frontal collision, it's the two main beams that run along both sides of the engine that form the bulk of the crumple zone.
Pic during some of the early layup steps:
correct, 2 layers of Soric foam core material were used in between the carbon layers. And yes, I got the idea from OEM applications; the e46 m3 and e92 m3 , which both utilize a carbon front crash bar:
e92:
e46:
I wanted to get better at building strong structural carbon fiber parts, so this seemed like a good start for bang for the buck in terms of weight loss and practice. Also my goal is to take off as much weight from the front of the car as possible, so this is a good place to start considering its at the very tip of the car. The new carbon fiber bar weights only 5.2lbs, stock was 12.7lbs. I did my best measurement of torsional rigidity and it seems to be about the same strength as the aluminum, maybe 10% less. However I expect its much better in terms of tensile strength across the two mounting locations since I put in multiple layers of unidirectional fibers running across and really I expect that's where the strength really counts. Sadly I don't have a method to test tensile strength. I haven't had a chance to go driving it yet, but I'll probably do some back to back testing with the aluminum and see if I can tell a difference.
That's beautiful. Are you making any to sell if so how much. What other carbon fiber parts have you already made and what's the next piece you're going to make.
I was not planning to make any more of these to sell. I can certainly make another if someone would really like one. Just a fair warning it wouldn't exactly be super cheap (this is all solid carbon other than 2 layers of foam core material) and it's a functional piece engineered for a purpose. Send me a pm if you are serious and we can discuss.
The next carbon part I'll be making is a support brace that sits in the middle of the car under the carpet. I was a bit shocked to find that although it looks like a proper brace it's only a 1.25mm thick piece of stamped steel. It's not really doing anything and I can easily bend it by hand. It's held on by if I recall correctly 18 m8 bolts as if it's really doing some proper bracing, but its pretty much useless in its current form. The first time I looked at it closely I just went "wtf Nissan?". So I'll replace it with a properly stiff carbon version and all of the bolts will be replaced with titanium ones. Again, no one will see this, but function > form.
That's beautiful. Are you making any to sell if so how much. What other carbon fiber parts have you already made and what's the next piece you're going to make.
oh and as far as other parts I've made. Most recently I've also built new carbon brake ducts, a few simple brackets, and a battery relocation mount. The brackets were more so for practice and to get rid of rusty parts, they don't really save much weight. The brake ducts I needed to get the ducting out of the way of the exit of the front diffuser and out of the way from the wheels when they are at full lock.
Nothing super pretty or fancy, it's all functional pieces.
I'll get better pictures of the brake ducts and post them. They turned out pretty well.
I was a bit shocked to find that although it looks like a proper brace it's only a 1.25mm thick piece of stamped steel. It's not really doing anything and I can easily bend it by hand. It's held on by if I recall correctly 18 m8 bolts as if it's really doing some proper bracing, but its pretty much useless in its current form. The first time I looked at it closely I just went "wtf Nissan?".
I'm pretty sure somewhere in the mule-testing part of the development cycle they decided that the car was getting too heavy and anyone who would be racing one was going to stitch weld the entire thing anyways so a lot of these extra components would be getting tossed or replaced.
I was not planning to make any more of these to sell. I can certainly make another if someone would really like one. Just a fair warning it wouldn't exactly be super cheap (this is all solid carbon other than 2 layers of foam core material) and it's a functional piece engineered for a purpose. Send me a pm if you are serious and we can discuss.
The next carbon part I'll be making is a support brace that sits in the middle of the car under the carpet. I was a bit shocked to find that although it looks like a proper brace it's only a 1.25mm thick piece of stamped steel. It's not really doing anything and I can easily bend it by hand. It's held on by if I recall correctly 18 m8 bolts as if it's really doing some proper bracing, but its pretty much useless in its current form. The first time I looked at it closely I just went "wtf Nissan?". So I'll replace it with a properly stiff carbon version and all of the bolts will be replaced with titanium ones. Again, no one will see this, but function > form.
I am looking forward to adding some of your parts after the new year.
I was not planning to make any more of these to sell. I can certainly make another if someone would really like one. Just a fair warning it wouldn't exactly be super cheap (this is all solid carbon other than 2 layers of foam core material) and it's a functional piece engineered for a purpose. Send me a pm if you are serious and we can discuss.
The next carbon part I'll be making is a support brace that sits in the middle of the car under the carpet. I was a bit shocked to find that although it looks like a proper brace it's only a 1.25mm thick piece of stamped steel. It's not really doing anything and I can easily bend it by hand. It's held on by if I recall correctly 18 m8 bolts as if it's really doing some proper bracing, but its pretty much useless in its current form. The first time I looked at it closely I just went "wtf Nissan?". So I'll replace it with a properly stiff carbon version and all of the bolts will be replaced with titanium ones. Again, no one will see this, but function > form.
Have you ever considered making a Kuruma Z front bumper and the factory rear bumper out of carbon fiber.
I am looking forward to adding some of your parts after the new year.
Originally Posted by Mr. Brooks
Have you ever considered making a Kuruma Z front bumper and the factory rear bumper out of carbon fiber.
Yes, except I was planning to eventually make a carbon version of a nismo front, since my front splitter is designed to mate up with a nismo bumper. The challenge is that what I really need is an original fiberglass nismo bumper to make a mold from. I've checked on Nengun.com auctions (they help you bid on yahoo auctions japan) for a real v35 nismo fiberglass bumper a few times, but no luck so far. One popped up on yahoo auctions a little while ago, but it was in crap condition. I don't want to make a mold out of the urethane bumper I have since God knows that's already probably a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy. I'd rather start with something fresh. Also its really difficult (at least for me) to make a mold out of the urethane version since the entire thing is so soft and wobbly the proportions will probably be way off due to distortions when handling. I did actually initially order a fiberglass version of the nismo bumper from outcast garage with this entire scheme in mind (carbon remake), but the fitment of their fiberglass version was so extremely poor, that they agreed to just send me a urethane one as a replacement when I sent them pictures.
As a side note, I'll be working on a different functional carbon part over the winter break thanks to a colleague at work who will give me access to our company 3D printers. If anyone has a 3d model of a g35 front sway bar, it would be appreciated and speed up the process
Yes, except I was planning to eventually make a carbon version of a nismo front, since my front splitter is designed to mate up with a nismo bumper. The challenge is that what I really need is an original fiberglass nismo bumper to make a mold from. I've checked on Nengun.com auctions (they help you bid on yahoo auctions japan) for a real v35 nismo fiberglass bumper a few times, but no luck so far. One popped up on yahoo auctions a little while ago, but it was in crap condition. I don't want to make a mold out of the urethane bumper I have since God knows that's already probably a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy. I'd rather start with something fresh. Also its really difficult (at least for me) to make a mold out of the urethane version since the entire thing is so soft and wobbly the proportions will probably be way off due to distortions when handling. I did actually initially order a fiberglass version of the nismo bumper from outcast garage with this entire scheme in mind (carbon remake), but the fitment of their fiberglass version was so extremely poor, that they agreed to just send me a urethane one as a replacement when I sent them pictures.
As a side note, I'll be working on a different functional carbon part over the winter break thanks to a colleague at work who will give me access to our company 3D printers. If anyone has a 3d model of a g35 front sway bar, it would be appreciated and speed up the process
Where are you located. I have a Kuruma Z front bumper that has never been installed on my coupe do to me not being able to find a shop that's willing to paint and install it. However I just found a place a few weeks ago and I'm going to let them paint and install it. You sound like you're going to make some better swaybars out of carbon fiber. I live in Maryland and for me it's hard to find guys (or girls) that want to get together and have meet and greets. If all goes well I look forward to purchasing some of your carbon fiber pieces for my G.
Where are you located. I have a Kuruma Z front bumper that has never been installed on my coupe do to me not being able to find a shop that's willing to paint and install it. However I just found a place a few weeks ago and I'm going to let them paint and install it. You sound like you're going to make some better swaybars out of carbon fiber. I live in Maryland and for me it's hard to find guys (or girls) that want to get together and have meet and greets. If all goes well I look forward to purchasing some of your carbon fiber pieces for my G.
I'm in NJ, just a bit north of Newark. I'm surprised you had difficulty finding anyone to paint your bumper, never had difficulty with that around here even with urethane, but I did eventually try doing it myself. Lessons were learned, turned out pretty well although it was a steep learning curve and I had to redo some panels. Laying down a really nice coat of clear without runs is seriously difficult.
Around summer time there is usually a lot of meets in the Northern and Central NJ area, I highly recommend making it up some time.
My road to learning how to paint:
outcast garage urethane nismo front bumper (fitments was good) + my custom splitter
rock chips be gone:
I went so far as to have a rust spot cut out on the rear fender and rewelded by a local muscle car shop and then repainted the quarter panel at home:
I'm in NJ, just a bit north of Newark. I'm surprised you had difficulty finding anyone to paint your bumper, never had difficulty with that around here even with urethane, but I did eventually try doing it myself. Lessons were learned, turned out pretty well although it was a steep learning curve and I had to redo some panels. Laying down a really nice coat of clear without runs is seriously difficult.
Around summer time there is usually a lot of meets in the Northern and Central NJ area, I highly recommend making it up some time.
My road to learning how to paint:
outcast garage urethane nismo front bumper (fitments was good) + my custom splitter
rock chips be gone:
I went so far as to have a rust spot cut out on the rear fender and rewelded by a local muscle car shop and then repainted the quarter panel at home:
I'll be putting my coupe in the shop soon. Gotta lot of parts to install.
I've been meaning to ask; the fitment on that front hood looks spot on, is it a genuine top secret hood?
No. It’s SEIBON’s TS carbon fiber hood.
I can only assume the “TS” stands for Top Secret.
The only trouble the hood gave me was getting the dang thing to latch. I raised the latching mechanism as high as it would go, expanded the spring some and adjusted the hood stops. It latches just fine now.
My my only complaint regarding the hood would be the gaps on both sides between the hood and fenders. Even though they are even, they are pretty wide compaired to the stock hood.
Also, I personally would feel better with some hood pins.
Not necessarily did it today, but more like last week.
Tore out the headliner and the a-pillars in my G last week. The a-pillars that I had wrapped in black suede started turning brown and the black headliner I had done years ago finally deteriorated to the point that the headliner was hanging. Everything just got re-done in suede with blue diamond stitching and I'll pick up the headliner on Monday and re-install next week. If I remember, I'll post pictures here.
