Interior
Dash, floors, Central and rear panels, seats
Dash
Initially I planned to replace the dash top and wooden dash facia with carbon fibre copies and to this end I had them made by Carbon Weezel in Southampton (they also made my bonnet and boot plus a few other items). However, projects evolve as they progress and I decided to replace the whole interior (dash, footwells, floors etc) with carbon so these parts are surplus to requirements. If interested, they are available for viewing/purchasing in the Shop.
First step was to cut out as much of the existing fibreglass as possible and then mock up a pattern out of Corex. As I am trying to keep the car looking as original as I can I decided to keep the dash shape and the rest of the front panel flowed from this.
The original design had the passenger footwell disappear but it made sitting that side almost impossible. Therefore I incorporated a foot well which turned out to be fortuitous as it formed a shelf behind the panel which I will use for battery, ECU and fuses. I added a glove box door above the footwell which also allows access to the wiper motor and the fixings that will hold the switch panel in place (more on this later).
Next step was to cover Corex in three layers of fibreglass matting. Once this cured I managed to get the whole lot out in one piece. I removed Corex from the fibreglass and set about preparing the mould for carbon.
Two layers of carbon were used. This is usually considered too few layers, but with the shape being multi-facated and secured on all edges I resoned that this would be sufficient. The added bonus is that the dash would be 1/3rd lighter :-)
Once carbon, peel ply, release film and breather cloth had been wrapped around the mould it was placed in a vacuum bag for the magic to start. As soon as the air was removed you could see the excess resin start to flow through into the breather cloth, as it should do.
Once cures the fibreglass mould was prised out of the car and cleaned up and prepared for carbon fibre.
Bagged and under vacuum. You can see that the excess resin is already being squeezed out into the breather fabric, just as it should do.
Carbon fibre dash removed from mould. Now the hours of fettling starts.
This was left to cure for 30 hours, then unwrapped. As my moulds are never very good a few hours of filling and sanding were needed to get the finish I was happy with.
A dry fit confirmed that it fitted and a quick rattle can spray with some satin black that I had to hand gave me an idea as to how it will look.
Dry fit and a quick coat of satin black just to see what it looks like. It will be better in matt, methinks.
Amlost ready for paint.
I am still having trouble with pin holes so a fair amount of filling and sanding was required.
The dash top was made by cutting a piece of MDF to the correct shape and adding an extra strip along the edge so it could be rounded.
It was smoothed, painted to seal the wood and then coverd in PVA release agent.
Once the PVA had dried 3 layers of fibreglass were laid over it and left to cure.
The mould was separated from the wooden pattern and prepared for carbon
Due to its flat shape 3 layers of carbon were used so as to reduce the chance of sagging. I had vacuum leak issues, hence the black tape.
Once pulled fromthe mould the surface was filled and smoothed.
A coat of filler primer was applied before a couple of coats of matt black.
Now, no one will be aware that it is carbon fibre, the effect I am looking to achieve on all my carbon.