July 2016
Started to work on the panel behind the seats that forms the front section of the wheel tubs and a cover for the rear dampers.
Side and hood tray section under vacuum.
Side panels and hood tray sections ready for fitting.
Once this had dried three layers of fibreglass were applied and allowed to cure. Due to the roll cage being in place I could only remove the mould in sections. However, as I planned to make the centre section removable to allow access the dampers, this wasn't all bad.
I cut out the original fibreglass so I could see what needed to be done. I then played around with Corex sheeting until I was happy with the shape.
Next task was to radius the internal corners with wax (the external will be radiused in the mould) and then brushed on a PVA mould release agent.
Spent a few days tidying up the surface of the moulds and radiusing what will be the external corners on the actual panel. I then started to lay up carbon fibre into the moulds. Only using two layers in order to keep weight to a minimum. Vacuum bagging helps in this regard by both removing excess resin and compressing the carbon thereby increasing the strength.
First panel to be made was the centre section of the rear shelf panel behind the cage which used to be the fabric hood tray when the car was a soft top. Then it was on to the side/wheel tub sections.
In order to be able to secure the removable centre section I had to extend the cut edges by approx 40mm so that the carbon would overlap the side and top panels.
Side panels treated with PVA release agent and ready for carbon.
Centre section of rear parcel shelf ready to be removed from vacuum bag.
