carbon products. opinions


modler

Member
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
285
Hi.

Basically i work composites making high end carbon products.
I am in the process of making a tool to make a carbon (face) battery tie down.
I have never seen one for sale which gave me the idea.

Im sure the product will come out really nice and if so i plan to sell them on a wide scale.

How much would you expect to pay?

if it goes well. I may move into other products and take suggestions on what these could be.

Thanks in advance :)
 
The carbon plug cover I have on my car, and a carbon plug cover the bf has on his DC5 both come undone and cant be done up tight or they'll most likely crack. would this not be an issue with something holding down something as heavy as a battery?
 
Think your more likely to have success with door panels, wings, bonnets etc. Although the expense will put people off.
 
Personally I would not trust a cf tie down to hold the battery, exactly as nicole says it's too heavy and the piece would need to be pretty substantial. Plus cf is not at all resistant to abrasion and the battery moving a tiny bit could easily damage it I'd imagine. Might be a different story if it was designed for the lightweight race batteries. CF is only for all out race cars or the bling imho, fiber glass is the way forward!
 
Without being boring and going into one too much there are many different weights and weaves of carbon.
These of course are for different applications.
Is will use the correct weave for the load that will be on the part.
I assure you it will not break.

It sounds like your plug covers have not been engineered very well.
 
Personally I would not trust a cf tie down to hold the battery, exactly as nicole says it's too heavy and the piece would need to be pretty substantial. Plus cf is not at all resistant to abrasion and the battery moving a tiny bit could easily damage it I'd imagine. Might be a different story if it was designed for the lightweight race batteries. CF is only for all out race cars or the bling imho, fiber glass is the way forward!

The only abrasion would be underneath where it cannot be seen. Also the piece will be curved like the oem part.
I have no doubts about strength. It will be stress tested.

If its not strong enough i wont sell It. Safety is my main concern.
Ill get a prototype done and post it up.
 
Could make carbon splitters? Assuming you can beat the prices from apr and carbon mods?
 
Yea i can make anything pretty much.
Pretty sure i can beat any price of large manufacturers, as its just me making the bits.
Just making tools is the hard part.
 
The only abrasion would be underneath where it cannot be seen. Also the piece will be curved like the oem part.
I have no doubts about strength. It will be stress tested.
.

I know it will only be underneath, but that does not mean it won't have an effect on the integrity and strength. Plus the weight saving will only be negligible. Personally if I was making CF parts I'd focus on different makes, BMW, Porsches etc, aim at guys with money to burn. My friend bought heaps of carbon bits for his M3, must have spent a few grand on saving a couple kilos lol. Just out of interest, how much do you reckon you'll be charging for the tie down? I personally wouldn't buy one even if it was for £20 as I don't feel the need, but others may give you more of an insight into whether it is commercially viable or not
 
I know it will only be underneath, but that does not mean it won't have an effect on the integrity and strength. Plus the weight saving will only be negligible. Personally if I was making CF parts I'd focus on different makes, BMW, Porsches etc, aim at guys with money to burn. My friend bought heaps of carbon bits for his M3, must have spent a few grand on saving a couple kilos lol. Just out of interest, how much do you reckon you'll be charging for the tie down? I personally wouldn't buy one even if it was for £20 as I don't feel the need, but others may give you more of an insight into whether it is commercially viable or not

I cant see the battery rubbing against the tie enough to cause a problem with the integrity.
it should be tight enough so there is no movement at all. Im glad you mention it though as i had not considered it.
As for being a performance upgrade. This isny really the intention. Its more of a engine dress part. Like you say negligible weight difference.
Im not really doing this to make a load of money. I was making one for myself anyhow as i enjoy making products.
Im just getting opinions as i will give people the option to have one too. I think around the £20 would be fair.
 
tbf its just a bit of pointless bling so I'm not too fussed on the engineering of my spark plug - battery tie down is a little different though. I still dont think any carbon would handle being clamped down with nuts all that great but you'll know more about it than me

I think it's a good point targeting people with money to burn. honda guys love branded parts for scene points and there's strong billet tie downs already for that for mega bucks.

if you can design your own stuff, I think they'd be a larger market for things like wide arch fibreglass kits etc. everyone loves a bit of aero/weight saving atm
 
If you enjoy making parts I'd recommend
- splitters
- canards
- winglets
- ducts
- intakes

Shouldn't be too expensive to produce due to smaller items and like Nicole said a lot of people like the aero stuff functionable or just for the looks.
 
Without being boring and going into one too much there are many different weights and weaves of carbon.
These of course are for different applications.
Is will use the correct weave for the load that will be on the part.
I assure you it will not break.

It sounds like your plug covers have not been engineered very well.
The word 'engineered' doesn't even come into play with those things ha.
 
What about a foam insert, between the battery and tie-down? That way they won't rub off each other and the compression will be spread out a bit more.
 
Carbon fibre is used in high end cars and in aviation so people saying it's not strong is a load of sh#t tbh. If made correctly it's stronger than steel.
 
Carbon fibre is used in high end cars and in aviation so people saying it's not strong is a load of sh#t tbh. If made correctly it's stronger than steel.
It is strong but it can crack and it is very easily abraded unless special (=expensive) weave is used. Fine for F1 or WRC but we are talking about a bling part for 15+ year old Hondas here. I've seen plenty road bike frames including £5k jobs cracked and worn through by a rubbing cable, worst you'll see with steel are dents and rubbed off paint... I'm not saying it can't be done it most certainly can I just don't see the point, if the op pulls it off and manages to sell a few good for him, it will really depend on price tho.
OP - how about airbag delete tray?
 
Last edited:
Fancy carbon fiber engine bay dressings, spark plug covers etc, are not safety critical components. So if they were 'engineered' to withstand some load that they will not ever experience, then they will simply be over-engineered, and hence, even more of a waste of money than they already are...

Would you be able to make a battery tie down in carbon fibre? Of course, depending on microstructure and whatever else of the carbon. There are far heavier things, that induce far greater stresses, that carbon fibre is used to brace/support/protect etc etc... But it definitely would not be worth it. The kind of people who would possibly buy this high end battery tie down would be the people who want to spend their last £50 on genuine JDM parts... like Spoon reservoir socks...

Wind deflectors?? People always seem to want them.
 
Ek carbon air ducts for the fog light would be good too. Ud sell plenty of them if they were a reasonable price
 
Some good ideas here. Im going to finish the tie down and see how it goes on my own car. Then ill start on something else.
 
Back
Top