Good evening gents. Sorry about the late response. Birthday weekend started earlier and finished later than expected, lol. Ben, I haven't had a chance to do any more vids yet, but rest assured they'll come This bonnet will work with just the factory fixings. The only difference is that we've reversed the fixings. A genuine VW bonnet has captive nuts whereas ours has studs. Yes jomanjo, we couldn't have done it without you lol We don't have a final weight yet squibble, but we're quietly confident. The framework at the front adds a massive amount of rigidity for its meagre weight so I would keep it, even if I were to use catches/pins. Thanks Bruce We're experimenting with a vinyl ester resin which has much better properties than normal polyester resin used in cheaper panels. It's taking longer to cure but it should be a much better product for it. A friend of mine went to the ring with normal polyester resin fibreglass panels on his car in the middle of summer, it came back a different shape...
Do you have a weight yet? This is rapidly moving up the list to buy. So far it's only behind the KWs and calipers to complete the build. Any plans to do doors, boot, wings? Roof even?
Is the vinylester more temperature stable? A bodywork friend of mine positively balked at the suggestion that I might be fitting composite panels, saying they are extremely difficult to paint and tend to lose or change shape.
No final weight yet Sparrow but we're near. I have plans for other materials for the other panels, but that's all for another thread, lol Thegave, good question Your friend is quite right. I didn't want anything to do with them until I met the brains behind our composites. If you were to leave a normal fibregalss bonnet with a framework in the sun, you would more than likely see the outline of the framework as the skin sags back over it. When temperature falls again, the resin sets and your bonnet now looks more like a table cloth over the framework... We've put a lot of effort into preventing such problems. The biggest difference would be the vinylester resin as it should be good for 100 deg c, but it makes it harder for us to turn them out as quickly. The reason for this, is that it requires extra curing so they'll have to sit in the mold for longer. Paint shouldn't be a problem. Your friend may be referring to TVR style fibregalss which requires a layer of filler because the surface is porous? Really looking forward to getting these out now
I'm guessing epoxy gives still better stability and strength but not worth the additional cost? Is this the end of development for bonnets then? No plans/advantage to do it in carbon?
You're right about the resin. Definitely not the end of development for this . We're fairly happy with the brew for this one as far as GRP goes but we've got some experiments to do in the near future with the carbon stuff. We could use carbon in the make up of the bonnet now but not many people would pay carbon prices for a panel that they were going to paint. If we can achieve a reliable finish on a clear gloss carbon weave bonnet, we'll add it to the catalogue. I'll let you know if there are any advantages to be had when we make a carbon prototype
some amazing work going into this! another suggestion for a part you could make would be the front valance from a small bumper mk2
Hi nhoj62, we're slowly getting there If you have a word with your mates and get some names together (about 10 of you) we'll be able to sort something out. I was thinking that some kind of Kevlar mix would be good as it takes more abuse. Update on the bonnet front. We want to be sure that we haven't overlooked anything before we commit to any orders. This is where you come in. Have you or anyone you know logged engine bay temps whilst "giving it a kicking" for a sustained period, say 20 mins? It would be good to get a few different cars results to work out an average
Holy molely! You guys really are thorough!!! I'm seriously impressed! Unfortunately cant help with temp logs, but its good to know things like this are being considered! Cheers, Bruce.
Hi everyone, it's been about a week since the last update and we've been busy. Thanks again Bruce I decided to remove the coilovers for a refurb and put it back on its road going suspension. I'm doing a lot of miles on country roads at the moment and it kept trying to launch me into fields... I've been driving to the top of the Tyne valley on a near daily basis with our latest spec bonnet on, trying to generate a bit of heat. We were worried that if the bonnet were top get too hot, you would see the honeycomb structure of the core imprinting through the gel coat. We were right to worry, lol The area above the turbo suffered a bit. It's not wrecked it or anything, we're just viewing it with a critical eye. You can just make it out in the picture below. This wouldn't occur if the panel were thicker, but then it would be heavier and then it would be pointless. We've got a few ideas up our sleeve to sort this out, so all is not lost. I've bought some remote temperature sensors for under my bonnet and Turbotommy has kindly offered to do the same with his Mk2 K04 setup. Cheers Tommy We've also been modifying the mounting points to make them lighter and fit consistently. The picture below shows the molds for the mounting pods after we had modified them. The yellow plasticine and the orangey resin were added to the mold in order to change its shape, so that we could make the new and improved mounting pods. We're nearly there with the overall fit and the finish from the mold isn't bad either. Now that I've removed the carbon effect grill in favour of a decent genuine one you can see the front edge finishes very nicely The finish that you can see in the picture below is straight from the mold in the centre bit, and about 5 mins with a cloth polishing the sides
Hi, Just wondered if there has been any progress with this, the bonnets look great and I would definitely be interested at the prices you have posted up. Thanks Doug
Hi Doug, things did stall for a moment due to having to source a cost effective alternative to the honeycomb core. I've got a box of samples from a specialist core company waiting for me at the sorting office, which should help solve the problem of "imprinting". If the new core can offer similar performance without the problems of imprinting we'll be happy and the bonnet will be ready for production. We're now going to be using similar resins to what TVR use in their engine bays, so heat issues will be reduced also. I'll update this thread later in the week when I've got something to tell Thank you for your interest. Mathew
Thank you. It would be criminal not to use all of the development knowledge gained on this project, and what better car to use it on? So yes we will get around to it
We've had a good look at the sample pack we received and made a preliminary core choice. We're trying to source it locally before we go any further but at least we've got some direction. Postage for one sheet of the stuff is nearly the same as for 50 sheets, hence trying to control spiraling prototyping costs. The material we're hoping to use doesn't have any uniform pattern or skeleton to imprint through the top layers. That's the idea anyway. I'm also lead to believe that it will be lighter and stiffer, but I'll believe it when I see it. Blondie (the brains behind the composites) has managed to escape for a week away, but we'll be back on it next week with renewed vigour!
Sounds good! Still watching with anticipation, this is going to be one top notch bonnet! Ah escaped?! You obviously need to improve your security measures to keep your staff in and working lol I'm sure that Blondie's week off is well deserved. Keep up the good work lads (and ladettes? Blondie?)
lol, if good things come to those who wait, this will be awesome.. Blondie is the dude in the the test video. If he had his way, everything would be made of GRP (fibreglass), hence the name Blondie (heart of glass). It's a little bit cryptic, but so apt!
Heart of glass! I like it! I thought it was a bit far fetched for 'Blondie', the composites expert, to be female! lol lol
