Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2007 22:21:16 -0700
Reply-To: Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Carbon fiber van tops...?
In-Reply-To: <549267.35772.qm@web52508.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>Your pricing MIGHT be a little off. You can get
>carbon fiber hoods for about $800.
How much do you think it cost to make that first Civic
carbon hood and how many of them are out there? The
second was cheaper, the 100th way cheaper and the
1000th maybe $400, so they can sell it for $800.
Stephen
--- "Chris S." <mrpolak@YAHOO.COM> wrote:
> Live it to the list to tear any idea to shreds.
>
> Your pricing MIGHT be a little off. You can get
> carbon fiber hoods for about $800.
>
> Max Wellhouse <maxjoyce@IPA.NET> wrote: $500? The
> last time I checked, graphite cloth in a 6 oz,
> weight was
> selling for about $75/yd. I don't remember if that
> was 38"wide cloth
> or 60", but the fact of the mater is that you're
> looking at maybe 3
> layers minimum to make that top stiff enough unless
> you took some
> sort of foam core stiffener and that carbon top
> would likely not
> survive much of a hail storm either. The foam core
> stuff ain't cheap
> either. d. Something with that many convolutions
> would almost have
> to be vacuum-bagged and I'd want a couple of layers
> of kevlar under
> the foam core just for strength. The kevlar is a
> bargain at like
> $15-18 a yard if you get it from
> www.sweetcomposites.com Then
> there's the cost of making the mold for the top
> after you make the
> male plug to make the mold from. The Westy top
> wouldn't be rigid
> enough to mold.
>
> Let's see, that first carbon top would cost about
> $12,000, and the
> next one maybe only $2,000 if you di all the work
> yourself.
>
> DM&FS
>
> At 10:34 PM 9/6/2007, Don Hanson wrote:
>
> >a Van top from carbon fiber, while it would be very
> trick, from a practical
> >standpoint makes little sense. Unless you're Bill
> Gates or Jay Leno or
> >someone with lots of money to spend on a
> questionable project. The amount
> >of material you'd use to make the part...fiberglass
> or carbon fiber.. is a
> >lot. Glass fabric is a little heavier and not
> quite so stiff, but it is
> >about 1/100th the cost of carbon fabric..In a piece
> as large as a Westie
> >style roof, you might save oh, say 20-30 lbs, by
> using carbon fiber rather
> >than the normal glass, but you'd probably spend
> $500 doing it...You could
> >save almost that much weight just by vacuum-bagging
> a fiberglass lay up and
> >being very careful with the fabrication..
> > Now, in a racecar or a bicycle or an America's
> cup yacht or an
> >airplane...that kinda dollar per lb. may be worth
> it..but for the top of a
> >Vanagon? Prolly not to normal humans...
> > Don Hanson
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you
> sell.
>
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