Nose cone size

[londonsean69]

What sort of size is the nosecone?

I have just won a manky one on ebay, which is going to be the basis for a mould to make a nicey carboniferous one.

I don't mind cutting and shutting this manky one to get it to the right size, will be adding vents as well.

Cheers

Sean

PS - I know it's going to be really messy, but I like the fumes

[Hoybi]

if you like I can send you a CAD file of my nose
Even if you don't have CNC machines with a CAD program you can check dimensions and print cross sections that can be used as a template.

Mind you. A lot of work is involved and you are bound to spend more on materials than Fabbyglass askes for a nicely made nose.

Shouldn't say really I suppose but I'm a bit daft that way....make a splash mould of the centre about 8" wide then..cut the nose in half and sit it on your chassis then with the splash mould you have a guide stick to fill in the gap and you have a nose that fits the width...may not be deep enough so you will have to fart about with that with foam/filler etc

The above is nowt new that's where a lot of the 7 type bodywork comes from unless you start from a block of foam...

As the meerkat bloke says it's "simples" but time consuming and will no doubt cost a lot more than buying a ready made one....but you will have made your own.

I dabbled with carbon but it's too expensive to play with and make mistakes only to have to chuck it in the skip so I don't bother anymore.

The only Caterham bits that will fit will be wings, the nosecone is skinny weed thing and not deep enough and also has a rounded section where it meets the ali side panels.

Could always buy my moulds....

[londonsean69]

Hoybi - That would be very helpful. I have PM'd you my email address

Mark, you really are far too honest and helpful

I did toy with the idea of making it from a foam blank, but feel that modifying an existing nose to use as the plug will be a bit easier.
I have done a bit of GRP before, so it's not a total mystery, as such I am happy with doing a cut & shut on the existing one. As I say, it's the plug from which I will create the mould, and will be junked after.

I actually have a couple of metres of 2x2 carbon twill that came with the vacuum pump, so will get some decent epoxy and make a few test pieces first, to help with the following;
Practice using the stuff
Determine what thickness I will be making the parts

Carbon is very pricey, especially when looking at what might be 20-30m of the stuff!! And epoxy is a huge price increase over normal resin. Hence the practice above.

I will be starting with the easier (relatively) bits first, probably some front wings. Method I am thinking of;
Buy set of wings on fleabay
Use as plug to create female in GRP
Vacuum bag the CF into the female mould.
Sell original cycle wings back on Eblag

I don't intend to use anything from Caterham, I like the idea of being able to say "I did it all"

As for buying your moulds, I have a nice, well paid full time job in an office, so buying a set of moulds for a one time use is crazy Then again, if you have a set that are past their best....

I think the toughest ones to do are going to be the rear cycle wings, involving some trailer mudguards and lots of filler to make the plug!!

I'm not sure how much of it will be done in carbon. I may settle for just the front wings and nose.

So, fabby, if you do happen to have any 'seconds' I would be quite interested in buying them to use to create my own moulds

And even if it goes exceptionally well and they turn out perfect, there is no way I am getting into making them for anyone but myself. Far too much aggro

Sean

Few years I made one of my high side seats in carbon but had to leave out the moulded slots, first one was tickety boo but the 3 after that were scrap as cloudy in places then pin holes etc also it etched my mould so gave it up as took me 3 hours to clean the mould up.
Tried clear gel...result= cloudy big pants
Tried thinning clear gel...result= even bigger pants.
Best result was first one where I never used gel at all just wetted mould with clear resin and slapped on the carbon....result= few wee pin holes but laquer cured that.

Oh and carbon doesn't like uv rays so needs sunglasses

[londonsean69]

Originally Posted by fabbyglass

Oh and carbon doesn't like uv rays so needs sunglasses

Yeah, I know about that one.

SP do a UV resistant epoxy topcoat, so some of that will be in order.

If anything, it will be a little adventure

Sean

[alga]

Originally Posted by fabbyglass

Oh and carbon doesn't like uv rays so needs sunglasses

I've heard it dulls scissors and knives really fast too.