carbon fiber bumper reinforcements

For some time now, i've been thinking about making a mould of the front and rear bumper reinforcements and reproducing them in carbon fiber.
To make the story short, I went to the store today to ask for prices and apparently a sheet of carbon runs around 70 € per square meter, a mix of carbon/kevlar (more impact strength) runs around 50€. Additionally you would need to use expoxy resin. So pretty expensive.

Any idea of the effect on handling when all of that weight is removed from the far front and rear. I know these things weigh a lot.

BTW : I also intend to make the support under the radiator (tube with the sticking out horns) out of carbon.

I'm sure it would help a good bit

I moved my fuel cell forward to try and help it too. I also lowered it over a foot

The fuel cell item is a logical step if you go racing, but I want to retain my spare tire. My DD has no spare anymore and I found out what it means when you get a ripped tire.

Interesting idea. Most definitely post up if you decide to tackle it.

70 Euros for a square meter? I wonder if you got that right. That stuff is a lot more expensive, last time I checked the prices went up dramatically thanks to airbus and their a380.

I have the quote lying around here. At 5 square meters it's less.

Is it impregnated sheet or just fabric?

Just the fabric.

ahh, ok. I thought you were talking about the impregnated sheets Still, that's a good price. Is it uni or bi directional woven?

Twin_Turbo said:

ahh, ok. I thought you were talking about the impregnated sheets Still, that's a good price. Is it uni or bi directional woven?

Click to expand...

Ahum, not exactly sure about what you mean, but it is woven in the direction, 90° to eachother. Anyway Marck, is it worth it ?

IMO, not really. it's not very easy to work with and it takes considerable skill and equipment to get a nice result. Would probably be easier to do it in aluminium or even steel with holes and then dimpled.

0-90 plain weave CF is available here in the states for ~$55/sq yd, or ~$65 for 2x2 twill CF/Kevlar hybrid (neither pre-preg). Can't speak to working with either, but acquiring the skill is on my do list.

The seller said it could be applied much like working with fiberglass. The only problem is that you cannot tear the cloth as easily which makes working around sharp corners difficult (hence the reason why some use a vacuum to get everything in the mold and cured). He also said that this was not for something that stays visible (which the reinforcements are not)