carbon fiber radiator shroud any interest

temperacerguy

New member
Corey Darling":2naxpgt2 said:
Alcantara on the shelf would be pretty slick.

If that ever happens, I'm in.

OK, well I have about 7-8 rolls of different colors of alcantara already. It's an amazing fabric, and I am a huge fan of it. I mean come on, when Lamborghini uses it as it's "upgrade" over leather, it can't be bad, can it?

The only problem I have with Alcantara is that there are so many faux "alcantara-like" fabrics out there that wannabe posers call "alcantara" that it's ruined the name. It's like all those people who wrap their hoods, or interior in Di-noc and say they "carbon fiber wrapped" their items... Grrr, it's just lame...

Anyways, Carbon fiber is about $50 a yard shipped. Alcantara is $100 per yard and requires a bit more work... I can use the same mold to make a carbon fiber version as well as an Alcantara covered fiberglass version, so when I do this, I'll offer two versions:

Carbon fiber (with a flattened automotive clear) for those who go after appearance above all.

Alcantara covered fiberglass (probably for $50 more) in either a dark grey (to match the factory shadow grey), or dark blue to match the factory blue (as close as possible)

Here's a pic I took just to prove that I can get one unit out of a yard of fabric... This is a medium Grey

e4043650.jpg


Here's a sample grey and blue that I would be using for these.... (9052, 9055)

2a48ab17.jpg
 

Corey

Active member
Alcantara on fibreglass would be fine in my opinion. But I'm wondering, what would be the weight difference compared to the standard shelf if completely wrapped in the fabric?

Would it be possible to do the carbon shelf, but with just the top being covered in alcantara? That way when the bootlid is opened you can still see the bling of a cf shelf, but have the benefits of the glare reduction with the alcantara on top while keeping the weight down.

If it ends up weighing more than the standard shelf then there isn't much point. :shrug:

Edit: just as a reference point, the stock shelf weighs 2.98 kg

Cheers
 

temperacerguy

New member
There is really going to be little reduction in weight with this item. The standard item (I'm an american here, so excuse my imperial measurements) is 6.6 lbs

a carbon fiber version will be around 3.5lbs
a alcantara covered fiberglass will be around 4.5lbs

This is less about weight savings, and more about appearance, and replacement of an item that is no longer available, as few have survived the years.

It could be made with an alcantara top and a carbon fiber bottom, but the bottom side would not be a totally "finished" glossy appearance as the bottom is the vacuum bag side, and the costs would definitely go up by at least another $35. HOWEVER, it's a good idea, and I will be doing this for my unit, damn the costs. LOL

Now, I havn't done a pure cost analysis of this... But off the top of my head, pricing would probably be $250 for a carbon fiber shelf, $300 for an alcantara shelf with a $35 up charge for a carbon fiber bottom.
 

CMS-GT4

Active member
I am not sure your interested but plenty of members would be interested in a cover for low rise headlights.
 
Top