A diffferent approach to covering the Tunnel!

[Captain-Dan]

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.

[Wagoneer]

Is it not going to be difficult to get a really good smooth finish on the glassfibre matt without loads of filling and sanding? It would be a shame if your carbon finish was anything less than perfectly flat.

 

Good luck though.

[Captain-Dan]

In truth I don't know how difficult it is going to be - this is a little bit of an experiment! I think it will be tricky, but I am hoping that I can make it smooth enough and then the final layer of wrap will even out any really small imperfections. We will see...

[Geoffrey Carter (Buttercup)]

Can you not get Carbon NV to cut you some carbon sheet to size and put that over the top.

[Captain-Dan]

Yeah I could, but this is a bit of a challenge and something that I want to see if I can do. Who knows - I may very well end up doing that in the end!! haha

[CraigHew]

Good luck with it.

 

I too didn't like the (poor) panel fit finish on my tunnel so bought some sticky back carbon fibre wrap of the net.  Despite taking the seats out, measuring a lot and careful cutting the result was pure crap, mainly down to my total lack of wrapping skills and or technique applying the sticky-back stuff.

 

In the end I bought a carpet tunnel from Westfield and that's made it look much neater.

 

I still yearn to go down the carbon route, but probably won't now as the carpet looks ok.

 

I'm keen to see how you progress though, I just hope you've more patience than I have in finishing off the little details.

[bigron]

Not sure what's more exciting, the tunnel top or the fact you have a PC on the wall of your garage!

[chris parkin]

May I make a suggestion that the beer fridge gets topped up? Everybody needs to be drinking whilst completing such tasks!

Good luck, always nice to see different ideas. I've just gone with carpet for the minute but may see some inspiration for a winter project.

[CosKev]

Good luck,will be intrested to see how well you can finish it off

I went for carpet on the sides of tunnel,then a piece of alloy on the top wrapped in 3M carbon wrap with some pieces of alloy edging strips holding it all down powdercoated satin black.

[Yanto]

I hope you don't mind me having my 2d worth.

 

I have dabbled in composites for a few years, one thing i learnt fairly early on is that getting a nice smooth (flat if required) finish without using a mould and if possible vacuum bagging is not easy, well lets say impossible.  It is time consuming making a buck/plug, then make the female mould.

 

Cheers

 

Ian

[Captain-Dan]

Wow - thanks for all the thoughts guys. So a few responses:

 

Bigron - better still is that the computer in my shed (car is in the garage) is for a CNC router machine which I built last year. 

 

Chris Parkin - yes I am ashamed that it is empty. Although it has only just been moved in yesterday morning for a BBQ that we are hosting in a couple of weeks time. I must get my priorities right though! 

 

CosKev - thanks for the picture, looking good. I do like that your dash comes down to meet the tunnel - mine just cuts straight across. 

 

Yanto - Thanks for your advice. I am going to carry on as planned and when I fail you can say 'I told you so'. Not because I don't believe you, but because I want to see what I can create (and I am also pretty determined). I may well end up producing a negative mould and casting from that to get a better finish. Lets see

 

I am not going to have a chance to make any progress till next weekend, but will post more pics as I go on.

 

Dan

[carbon-nv]

Good on you for trying something a little different and I'm certain that you'll learn loads along the way.

If you're looking to create a nice flat surface on which to lay down a carbon fabric skin, you might just find it easier to use a skrim of body filler over your intial work with the GRP. It's easy to sand flat and should make it easier to create a good base on which to skin.

When you do get around to coating your fabric don't be tempted to try and brush the epoxy on too thickly. Bargain upon five or six thin coats which should, hopefully, leave a fairly even surface from which to begin flatting back to a glossy finish, unless you plan on a heavy grit flat back with a clearcoated spray finish. A fair bit of labour in all that flatting, but good luck with it

[DamperMan]

Carbon looks nice but I quite like something padded to save my elbows. The handbrake gibbins were a true pleasure for the funny bone before I put some sence foam in the gator.

[JamesT]

This forum thread, on talkcomposites.com should give you some ideas and motivation.

http://www.talkcomposites.com/9255/Westfield-parts-from-a-newbie

[DamperMan]

I take back every word... Love that tunnel ....