MK2 Golf lightweight replacement bonnet

x2

 

Well, I've got to say that I'm impressed.

I only managed to get out in between heavy downpours but it seems to be an improvement on the original. My original bonnet would change shape (especially in the centre) with speed, whereas this stays put.
This was the first car that I had driven with a composite bonnet, using only the O.E.M latch and hinges. It was certainly a squeaky bum moment at first, but I soon realised that it was going nowhere!
Closing the bonnet is a little different now as there's no weight behind it. It's not until you push the bonnet closed that you realise how stiff it is
I'm hoping for better weather tomorrow to give it a better test.

We're making a couple of adjustments to the mould to give a cleaner finish. The aim is to produce something which is just about ready to paint.

More updates tomorrow (weather dependant)

 

Looks and sounds brilliant! Good to see progress this quickly as well, sometimes these take a while to get off the ground. Very impressed!

Put me down for one

 

Impressed as well. Looking forward to more testing. Keep up the good work

 

Any idea on cost yet?

 

Well done with the prototype, looks great. Looking forward to your next update! Will you be looking to cut cooling vents into the back edge?

An idea of price would be great....do you think you'll be able to offer them painted up too? I guess these will be in production fairly soon

 

Just for comparison, MV Development's prices:

Fibreglass bonnet:437.50
carbon bonnet: 662.50

 

Please be cheaper than this?!

 

Jesus, I'm glad I'm sitting down!

 

I thought Performance Trim used to do fibreglass ones for around the 170 mark, although it was more or less just a skin?

 

Been watching thread with interest. Providing part price is reasonable I would be interested in one of these

 

We've still got a few things to iron out yet but we're hoping to have some competitive figures in about a week.
We've been looking at ways to put the vents in the bonnet. The problem is that we can't incorporate them into the mould without fear of the bars of the vents snapping when been released from the mould. Because of this, the vents would have to be hand cut, all 40 of them... We've got a couple of ideas to try and make it a bit quicker but it's likely to be time consuming.
The best way to go about painting the bonnet would be to have a painter fit it to the car and make any final adjustments for the best fit before paint. It's surprising how different some cars can be so it's not really practical to send a pre painted panel

We've decided to go overkill on the front latch/catch fixing points. We did have an alloy plate for reinforcement but we'll feel more comfortable once it's remade with a stainless steel version. Healthy paranoia

There's plenty to do next week but things are heading in the right direction.

Thanks again for the kind words, we're getting there!

 

Well I don't mind if you make vents an optional extra for something reasonable like 20 quid (sorry I don't actually know if that's reasonable) and design the mould in such a way that they're just easier to cut.

Just to give the prices some context, MV's carbon process is wet-lay and then autoclaved. I don't know how many layers they use or rough weights but they are full framed OE replicas with vents.

They are cheaper if you specify that they'll be painted, I'm guessing they probably then don't get gelcoated. I have a bad feeling the prices I mentioned are for the to-be-painted version because he's said in one post for the glossy exposed weave finish the price is... Sit down again and make sure you're not holding anything in your hands or mouth.

800.

I also don't know whether the price is VAT inclusive as he lists some prices plus VAT and some inclusive. For example, MK1 carbon roof for 950 PLUS vat.

I think this is a MK2 bonnet, even though it was posted in the MK1 section:



I'm not plugging for MV or anything, I just want to help TS develop the best product they can in case they haven't had the time to scope out the competition.

PT carbon bonnets were only 550 or 575 just before they left and I thought that was pricey. Even their 4kg race spec full carbon bonnets (not skins) were only 675.

 

Another little update.
Thanks again for the comparison. We're taking the time now to put a process together to manufacture the bonnets in the most cost effective way we can, which will hopefully lead to sensible prices.
I'm doing my best to get these vents into the bonnet at point of manufacture (part of the mould). Machining them in afterwards is proving problematic to say the least..

If we were to make an exact replica of the vents with GRP (fibreglass), the spokes/rungs would be very brittle, so there would need to be fewer slots to allow for the spokes/rungs to be thicker.

I'm also looking at trying to source some kind of plastic grill solution, among other ideas..

Besides thinking out loud, I don't have much more to tell other than I'm desperate to sort these vents out!!

 

Does this mean the slats are ok in carbon, or still not strong enough? What about using CF for the grille section on the glass bonnets? Wouldn't that be easier to blend than plastic?

Otherwise would you guys be able to injection mold your own grilles out of ABS or similar? Would that be easier to machine slots into or is the problem with the procedure itself?

 

injection moulding.. I think they would need to sell 1000's of bonnets to pay for the tooling cost

 

The grills aren't a big issue for me, I'd be happy without, especially if it kept the cost down and got these on sale.

 

I'm finally getting somewhere with these vents. What you're looking at in the picture below, is the negative of the bonnet. We now need to make a bonnet from this mould, which will then be fine finished before we take our final mould from it. This will then be the mould from which all bonnet skins will be produced.





Thanks for the suggestions that you've brought forward, we welcome your ideas (That's why we're doing things like this in public)
Price for full frame bonnet (with vents...) coming soon, thank you all for your patience.

Mathew.

 

Looks great Mathew,

Hope the price is right for both yourselves as manufacturer and us as buyers

 

did my own mods to a standard bonnet,got weight down from 17kg to 4kg

cut out all under bracing except some for the bonnet catch and hinges



cut out a big square in middle and sikaflexed in a 1.5mm thick alloy sheet,



rattle canned mars red,



fitted to my road car