How to build your own Carbon Fiber Camper making your own Composite/Foam panels.

ebrabaek

Adventurer
Yeah you are just trying to delay letting us know if cutting the corners helped reduce the wind noise or not. ;)
Ha ha.... Ohhhh..... I can share that, as I drove it yesterday. It did have plastic over it as I was expecting rain and I did not want to walk home. The noise was never very much to begin with but it is now GONE. It makes sense though. I absolutely agree that air slushes over the cab and down behind it between the cab and camper, but Ford have done a phenomenal job quieting this new model. It is insane, and I come from a 2018 F-150. It makes sense though as those two corners did stick out quite a bit. Then there is the sweet look it added to it. I suppose the added stiffness as well. Well worth a days work. More importantly, another takeaway is that you can. If you make a mistake, or just want to change....... You can. If you want. Unveiling in a few hrs..... Whoot.
 

ebrabaek

Adventurer
What a joy it is to unmask or un mold a cast. It is like opening Christmas presents...... and I like those a lot.
Pealing the union.... Note the overlay of THIX as the tape rolls off. . It will peel off as the underlying tape comes off the edge as evident in the picture beneath this one.
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I severely dig the looks.
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After sanding. Note the few voids. If you have a small bubble and you take it in the sun it will expand. Remember I said it was raining and I did not wanna walk home......:ROFLMAO:
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Not a big deal at all. Holes filled.
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This time everything is carefully arrested with urethane tape as it is again raining.......Ha ha ha.
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ebrabaek

Adventurer
On a finishing note....Pun intended.... I have settled on vibrating sander with an ultra fine scor pad, then 0000 steel wood to finish with a buffeting wheel. Seems like a lot of work to undo a shiny paint job, but I did it and had to do something in between all this Thixophloppic curing business. That is the finish you see in the picture above.
 

ebrabaek

Adventurer
The two corners were shot with clearcoat this morning. Kind of a disaster as the mini gun had sprung a leak and was peeing our fluid everywhere. Roger dodger..... Lots of paper towel and squiiiish squiiiishhh.... Throw it out. Done.
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Now we wait a few days and then blend....scor.... and buff it all together.
 

llamalander

Well-known member
Fantastic thread and really nice work you took us through!
I've never really fallen for epoxy and layups, but now I want to try again after watching your process and reading your easygoing instructions and advise.
Thanks again for adding some great knowledge to the forum, looking forward to your next project--
 

ebrabaek

Adventurer
Fantastic thread and really nice work you took us through!
I've never really fallen for epoxy and layups, but now I want to try again after watching your process and reading your easygoing instructions and advise.
Thanks again for adding some great knowledge to the forum, looking forward to your next project--
Thank you for the kind words. It is so awesome when I connect with fellow exploders like yourself and it becomes meaningful in helping and encouraging you to try and do. Means the world to me and the reason for me sharing. The wealth of knowledge in this forum as a collective is quite remarkable. I am looking forward to help and assist along your project. If you decide to post it, lemme know where and I can help. Not sure what the next project will be but I know there will be one. There are also a world of info on my Carbon Facebook Page, but I am not sure if I am allowed to link that to this page so I have not. You can PM me and I will happy to send a link.
 

ebrabaek

Adventurer
The next few days I will show you how to create carbon fiber hardware using a compression mold.
The piece I am making you say........
A handle to open and close the rear door.
You will be surprised how simple this will be.
 

ebrabaek

Adventurer
I bet it will be harder than bolting on a handle... ;)

But way less cool... (y)
Ha..... yes..... and..... uhmm.... yes.
I am fascinated with carbon hardware. It is the tiniest things that sometimes demands the most attention, ooooohhhs and aaaaaahs.
Wait til you see the carbon fiber roof rack I have for the camper....
Bwaaamuuuuuhahahaha
 

ITTOG

Well-known member
Ha..... yes..... and..... uhmm.... yes.
I am fascinated with carbon hardware. It is the tiniest things that sometimes demands the most attention, ooooohhhs and aaaaaahs.
Wait til you see the carbon fiber roof rack I have for the camper....
Bwaaamuuuuuhahahaha

I can't wait to see that.
 

ebrabaek

Adventurer
Lets make a handle. In my case for the door. The door opens as soon as the latches open but it would be nice to have something to also push on from a wear pattern standpoint. There are several ways to do this. Think about it this way. You drape a wet napkin over something and let it dry or should I say cure. Once that is done you have a piece of hardware. The issue is that wet napkins are somewhat difficult to hog tight corners, let lone right angles. You can make a compression mold. Ie, you lay up in a should we say cup. Carefully massaging the fiber in place. Then you push in a foam plug that is a few mm smaller. Or you drape the fibers over the foam plug and then install the cup like you done a bicycle hellllmuuuut. Get my drift???? That takes work as you have to create a mold, but with a bit of practice you can make a good one and make several prints and sell..... ehhh....uhmmmmm trade it for beer among friends. Never have to buy beer again. :geek: :LOL:
An easier way would be to just drape the epoxy saturated fiber sheets over the foam plug (Wet Napkin) and then use an elastic tape like electrical tape or in my case urethane tape to tightly wrap the wet napkin draped foam plug. Savy......
That is what I will show you now.
I had the foam in the hanger and the project is now home so I used wood. Made a plug.....
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Then installed it in a vise by means of two 3 inch screws...
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Treated the plug with several layers of release agent.
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Tape at the ready.
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Then draped the stack of 5 layers of epoxy saturated carbon fiber (Wet Napkin) over the plug, carefully massaging it into place.
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Then wrapped it tightly with the tape.
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There needs to be tension. The more the better. However picture wrapping a stack of pan cakes......with syrup. Could be fun. Takes a little to get use to and how to wrap it and where to begin, but with a bit of practice it is easy.
Now curing.
 

ebrabaek

Adventurer
Then it was time to peal the union. I refer off course to unmasking all the layers of tape on the plug....
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Out with the saw.........
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Using wood makes for a more rigid plug when you torque it with the tape, but also more fun removing the plug. Not because of lack or release agent, but its tight. I had to chisel a bit in the middle but it then released just fine.
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Then the sanding begins. I start on big belt sander, then little sander, hand 600wet all the way up to 2000 wet, but whatever you prefer. Remember mask pls. I use a shop vac for the tool, big garage exhaust, and mask.
After rough belt sanding.
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ebrabaek

Adventurer
After 220 dry....
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After 600 wet...
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After 1200 wet...
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After 2000 wet....
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First layer of clear coat....
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After 4 layers. I wanted to make sure there is plenty to protect as this is a wear area. Note the shininess. For reasons unknown to myself and I, I did ancillary hardware being shiny. Main piece, not so much but supporting hardware.......ohhhh boy. Now drying.
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