Andrew 30 Report post Posted July 24, 2007 Just a thought for someone who knows about this kind of stuff; Surely it can't be that hard to make a mold from an existing panel and make some REALLY light plastic panels? I'm thinking (E30) front guards - bonnets, boots. If anyone works in that industry - flick me an email. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bravo 34 Report post Posted July 24, 2007 (edited) WE used to do vaccum molding at school - You could use an old panel as the mold. You basically drill lots of holes in the mold for air to pass through, then place it on a large vacuum surface and pour a hot plastic mix over it and it sucks it to the shape of the mold. You'd need to spend some time setting it up and suss the right mix of vacuum and hotness of plastic to find optimum mix to get the shape without sucking the plastic right through the holes you've drilled and do some trimming afterward, but once set up it would only be the cost of materials and you could do a few panels an hour. Not sure of cost. We made model cars, bowls, hard hats etc with it. Don't know where you could borrow the gear, but the one at school wasn't big enough for car panels. This was about 12 years ago. Edited July 24, 2007 by bravo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew 30 Report post Posted July 24, 2007 The main problem I'm feeling is the different rates of thermal expansion. The panel gaps would have to be huge or the doors wouldn't open on hot days. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OLLIE 26 Report post Posted July 24, 2007 vacuum forming is the only viable option, material choice would be key. Phone the plastic repair company 09-444 5553 and have a chat to them about the viability of doing this, there will be a lot of reinforcements to do around the mounting points etc.. I still am certain that composites are the way to go if you are going to go through the hassle anyway. Stronger, lighter, easier to make a good mould and easier to reinforce. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nobimmer 694 Report post Posted July 25, 2007 Ring Leigh Davy at Acryform. Will get you his number tommorow morning,he should be able to do it,have no idea about prices etc,but from a mould it should be a whole lot cheaper than building from scratch.Just as an example,they were going to do a sunroof panel for round about $350 all hand done with new mounts etc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hybrid 1042 Report post Posted July 26, 2007 Just use glass or carbon fiber and spend the money you save on buying a couple of sets. Bonnets aren't too expensive in carbon fiber. Your looking around 800-1100. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nobimmer 694 Report post Posted July 26, 2007 Acryform 094837121 Ask for leigh. He said it could be quite dare... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gus 5 Report post Posted July 26, 2007 the issue isnt the panel itself its all the attachment bits..i could have made the panel itself easily enough but the attachment is the same amount of work again at least if not more seeing the stock ones are fairly light and they can get damaged easily i wouldnt worry about the panels, i would go for the doors, a lot less potential for weight loss there as you can literally just have a skin http://www.e30tech.com/forum/viewtopic.php...&highlight= here the thread i seen them on, the fact you got a cage means you can have something pretty flimsy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
