So...for some time now I have been wanting to do something different with the tunnel in the car. It is currently just covered in bits of bare aluminium which it has been since I conducted the rebuild. Essentially I want to cover it with something which was a bit different, looks good and like the rest of my car fairly minimalist.
There are a few options which I have considered. Most people go for a carpeted option which does look good and has many other advantages. But I wanted something slightly different and also to avoid just adding carpet to the aluminium. I considered getting some stick on vinyl in a carbon print to match my carbon fibre dash. While this would have not added much weight and would have looked ok - it was not really the minimalist single piece smooth line that I was after.
So I have come up with a plan and not sure if it has been done before or if it is the best method, but I am going to give it a go!
I am planning on making a single piece which will go over the top of the entire tunnel and come about 5cm down each side. The sides I am going to carpet because I don't think I can get away without a little bit of carpeting (might change them to carbon at some point). This single piece will be made from fibre glass and skinned in carbon twill fabric. The reason for not making the entire piece out of carbon is the lack of my ability, facilities and knowledge to pressure mould the whole item (although I am sure this is possible). I am also not planning on creating a mound and then casting the final piece from it. I plan to create the whole thing over the initial mound and then skin it. With some careful work, filling and sanding I am hoping that this will work out ok.
So here goes...today I have measured up the tunnel and drawn it out on my workbench in full scale to start and make the side templates.
I then cut these on the bandsaw and screwed them together. I single piece of MDF covered the entire top to get the line as smooth as possible.
Hopefully you can see where I am going with this. I didn't really intend on starting this today and therefore do not have any of the other materials...but I will get them on order and get started again next weekend. If you're interested then please come back next weekend.