rcs_888

June 17, 2022

Yeah not a whole lot has changed around here latley but I keep the Wing it Garage fb page updates

May 5, 2021

Sooo we broke it

April 11, 2021

So now I've tidied up all the coolant lines and oil lines for turbo I feel heaps better about there new location away from the turbo heat so thats awesome. I also got the new cams, springs, retainers, Nitto head gasket and ARP head studs in now were ready for the dyno again and fingers crossed we can crack the 400rwkw and gain some turbo response but see how we go. The new cams are definatley lumpy tho

April 1, 2021

April 1, 2021

Yeah went well overall. Made it to the dyno made a lazy 350rwkw but was overboosting to around 25psi so had to baby it a little bit on the track. Also got the new front slicks on but the rears didn't fit on the rims so need to source some new rims.

On the track i has some issues with heat and burnt up some hoses around the turbo and wastegate so that ended our day but now setting it up alot better in my opinion so has been a benefit anyway!

March 19, 2021

Well first even has been booked. Mallala on the 27th of March.. the day after my birthday so it was meant to be!

Its been a hard slog and work has been chaos so finding time has been a struggle but im getting there.

Ive fabbed up a catch-can setup, done a new fuel setup, and going to be corner weighting it soon

March 10, 2021

On 09/03/2021 at 4:47 PM, PranK said:

It looks like a Tamiya kit in those last pics!

All those years of building RC Cars and working in a hobby shop payed off lol.

March 9, 2021

So we have also had the front off. So from jacking it up to engine out is an hour, slinging it back in is about hour and a half so pretty happy with that for at the racetrack kinda setup

March 8, 2021

9 hours ago, mr_rbman said:

I work next door, for Minetech...

Ahhhh rodgieeee! You got us on fb? Wing it garage?

March 7, 2021

11 hours ago, mr_rbman said:

you Phoenix boys are going to end up with some pretty impressive pieces of machinery.

top work 👌

You up in town with us? Can't say I can put a face to the name lol. Yeah the S13 will be some fun once its done but guessing that will be a while away

March 5, 2021

Wellll it has been a big week...

A buddy of mine gave me a massive hand in sanding and filling the shit spots and getting it ready for paint.

Then got it back home gave it a final rub back and then started laying down the primer!

Once primer was down I left it a couple of days and started the process of wet rubbing it with a 600 and then an 800 grit and with the water it was looking amazing.

Then was onto laying down the base coat....

as it was going on wet the pear was popping and looking awesome so then just had to wait to lay down the clear...

Holy crap it looked amazing then once the clear had cured i put it on the car... all these years or planning and prep meant that it fit like a dream and looked wayy better than I could have ever imagined. I cant wait to give the rear end the same treatment oneday. Onwards with the pictures!!

I LOVE THIS FREAKING CAR!!!!

February 1, 2021

6 hours ago, Unzipped Composites said:

It's really taken me years of research to get the knowledge I do have, which realistically is still pretty limited. I'm certainly not knowledgeable enough in aerodynamics to be running courses! I have run composites courses though haha.

I would highly recommend the book 'Competition Car Aerodynamics' by Simon McBeath. Very good intro to aero, presented from the perspective of a hobby race car driver. Honestly I still refer to this book every now and then, its something of a bible for me haha.

Interestingly enough that rear wing i have is actually from Simon mcbeath

February 1, 2021

Well the new exhaust is abit rowdy but it sounds amazing!

Also managed to find 10 mins and started preparing the front end and laying down some bog so get ready for paint.

Everyone's being very quiet on here latley lol.

January 30, 2021

Well one more bit of the puzzle completed!

Exhaust is finally done. Will take it off tomorrow and I will be covering it with heat shield as it runs through the cabin floor. Hopefully take it out the front tomorrow and give it a wash and possibly even start bogging up the front and maybe paint?

January 20, 2021

Another couple of months and a little bit more work done.. cant rush these things! I reckon were gonna hit the track in the next month or two for a shakedown I doubt the car will be painted and I really don't care im just keen to run it up and start sorting the bugs

So the front clip is mounted its abit fiddly to put on and off but I figure that with time I'll get the hang of it and just need to be abit less gentle with it lol.

I also finally have the wing mounted and done and made up some alloy end plates.

Getting closer to being able to hit the track hopefully next break i might be able to start it up and run it up and get it ready for a dyno session!!

September 24, 2020

Unfortunatley spare time has been few and far between but i have started mocking up the exhaust that will exit out the side its mostly tacked together just needs to be fully welded and then i think its actually pretty close to go time..

July 26, 2020

2 hours ago, Unzipped Composites said:

Nah there's really nothing you can do with the current mould other than the way you've just done it. Resurfacing the mould won't work, biggest issue being that you lose the dimensional accuracy of the mould as you're building up a 1-2mm thick layer which you won't get even no matter how hard you try. Gelcoat doesn't lay down flat, even sprayed through a G100 gun it will give you a pretty horrific surface finish and varying thicknesses. And ontop of all that - gelcoat is air inhibited, so won't cure properly. You can use wax-in-styrene to make it cure hard, but then that will affect your bond.

So it's all over just impossible, you would really have to remake the mould. Which you would probably want to do anyway, considering you would really want to be going for resin infusion which means you need 5" wide flanges.

If i widen the flanges could i use PVA for the infusion process? Obviously that will then mean i will need to clearcoat the final product as you will get the pva print through but could that work?

July 25, 2020

On 26/05/2020 at 10:56 AM, Unzipped Composites said:

Yeh unfortunately you'll never get a great surface finish using PVA release agent. It forms it's own surface, and even sprayed, it will get bits of dust in it and not lay down flat etc. It has it's uses, but I use it very rarely these days. Semi-permanent chemical release agents are the way to go.

There's no reason your current mould can't work for carbon. The biggest issue would be whether you have used a polyester or vinyl ester tooling gelcoat, as you would want to use epoxy to make your carbon component and epoxy isn't compatible with polyester, it will stick to it. If you've used polyester, then to use your current mould you would need to spray PVA release agent in order to build up a nice thick film with absolutely no fish eyes or porosity where the epoxy can come into direct contact with the mould surface.

For that reason, I wouldn't bother trying to sort out the surface finish on your current mould. I assume you'll be painting the fibreglass bodywork, in which case that will sort out the finish on that, and if you do end up using it for carbon then you'll have to use PVA anyway and then clear coating the carbon will be the best way to get a decent surface finish on that.

In all honesty though, I wouldn't bother with trying to wet-lay carbon. You really need vacuum to get good consolidation and get full advantage of the strength to weight, and if you've got the equipment for vacuum then you may as well be infusing to really get a perfect result straight from the mould. To infuse, your current mould may be a bit troublesome. The flanges are quite small, so you will struggle to position your consumables and get a good seal, which is critical. Really need a 5" flange for infusion. Then with infusion as I mentioned above, you can get a perfect surface finish straight from the mould - so then you would want your mould surface to be vinyl ester and have the surface finish you want so that you can use a chemical release agent.

Carbon layup could be quite a bit lighter than the fibreglass layup. On the bonnet section I would do a single layer of 200g twill, a 2mm core, and then another layer of the 200g twill. The fenders and front bumper sections don't need the core, they could be a single layer of 200g and a single layer of 450g and that would be plenty strong enough. Extra reinforcement around the mounting points again and you're dusted. With infusion, you should be able to get the total weight of the entire front end down to about 4-5kg.

If you get the chance, definitely come over for one of my courses. It's a great 4 days, bunch of fun, you'll learn way more than anyone can handle, and it's worth it just for the lunches ? haha seriously though, if you're interested let me know. For my interstate guys I try to do 4 days in a row rather than splitting it over two weekends. You lose a bit of the course content because there isn't enough time to post cure the moulds you make to use them with pre-preg, so I have to supply some moulds for that part of it, but it saves you spending a week over here.

Hey Mate, Just thinking about having another go... the carbon is extremely tempting and im thinking about doing the doors etc of the car aswell... Ive been bitten by the bug.

With doing carbon i need the Vinyl ester tooling gelcoat. Ive used polyester currently can i just lay down the vinyl ester ontop and will it bond or how do i go about getting vinyl ester down so i can try the carbon?

July 15, 2020

11 hours ago, Unzipped Composites said:

10mm probably won't matter too much. Just remember that when you're going around a corner and you're in yaw, the car is essentially moving through the air sideways. So having it protrude out will not only cause drag, but it will limit the amount of airflow actually going into the duct.

Yeah fair enough, ill cut it to the 10mlm and see how it all fits up because the front end kinda indexes on that if that makes sence?

10 hours ago, robbo_rb180 said:

Awesome work. Mounting the power steering pump with short lines is a lot better as there can be "lag" due to pressure drop. A few guys I know run them in the boot with varying opinions on Feeling/response.

yeah im going to be running closer to a -8 hose for the feed line so hopefully there will be less of a pressure drop as i have heard of those issues before.

July 15, 2020

2 hours ago, Unzipped Composites said:

Maybe after you get over here to do one of our courses eh? ??

Out of interest, are you planning on leaving the front rad duct as a box like that? Or trimming it off at the bumper? I feel like in its current configuration, it will be hurting your aero under yaw?

Its actually looking like i might be heading to kalgoorlie soon so will be in WA, Where abouts are you?

Im undecided on cutting it tbh but i have a feeling i will cut it back but have maybe 10mm protruding through.

July 15, 2020

23 hours ago, PranK said:

That looks amazing!!!

Cheers dude all my dreams have been coming true!! YEWW

22 hours ago, Unzipped Composites said:

Well done Ryan ? So when are you doing it again in carbon? ?

yeahhhhhh no time soon this nearly killed me lol. if i could do the carbon in wet layup i would think about it but i just dont think its viable at this stage

July 14, 2020

Well its been a little while with no updates but if some of you guys are following Wing It Garage on facebook you would have seen some more work done on it..

Well the front is out the mould and i have started trimming it up

So has been kinda trimmed and fitted up just needs final trimming and cleanup and it should be sweet!! I love the look of this thing!!!

So ive been wanting to run the Power Steering lines all the way to the boot but with funds being abit tight atm i had some hose laying around and if i mounted it on the front splitter i had enough hose so i made up some mounts for it and its mounted and it seems to work pretty well but time will tell!!

Then it was onto shocks and wheels and get it rolling again for the first time in months!!

Then i got to drive it out into the driveway and give it a pressure clean...

I FREAKING LOVE THIS BEAST!!

oohhhhh yeahhhh wing and all lol

May 25, 2020

31 minutes ago, Unzipped Composites said:

Go with what Soric specify in their data sheet. I actually meant 550g per m2 per mm thickness, so that's about right. But I couldn't remember exact numbers, it's been awhile since I used Coremat. 1kg per m2 for 2mm thick Coremat seems right.

Resin ratio for wet layup of woven, unidirectional or stitched (double bias is a stitched material) is 1:1. So for a 400g DB, you will need 400g of resin per square metre per layer.

Your layup schedule sounds good. Make sure you add an extra couple layers of the double bias in the areas where the bodywork is going to be mounted to spread those loads. Also if you are going to use bonnet pins, leave the core out of those areas and do extra double bias. Cores don't like compressive loads, so better to make those areas solid fibreglass.

Happy to help man, that's what forums are for! Looking forward to seeing you nail this layup, then later I'll talk you into redoing it in carbon ?

Carbon is the eventual dream and i was checking out your website the other night and thinking that oneday i might have to fly over and do one the the workshops Do you think this current mould would work for carbon? the surface finish is far from mint and my plan was just to wet sand it but unfortunatey the Gelcoat is too thin so im guessing that im going to need to do the wax styrene to build it back up to sand it out.

Whats your thoughts on a rough cost to do it in carbon would you use similar layup layers? just wanting to try and maybe get my head around it and maybe start stockpiling some gear to be able to do it

May 25, 2020

On 24/05/2020 at 10:35 AM, Unzipped Composites said:

Excellent. Keep in mind with the pigment, you don't want to add too much. White gelcoat is already pigmented, and you ideally don't want to go over 10% total pigment or you may have cure issues. You can add a bit of the blue to get a very light blue tinge, but I wouldn't add more than 5% by weight in case they had a lot of the white pigment in there to begin with.

No issue replacing the twill with the CSM, it wont have much of an effect on weight. In that case, I would do the layup similar to the method you used to make your mould, a layer of the 100g CSM as a single skin making sure to get all the air voids out, and let that cure for a couple of hours before doing the biaxial. That will reduce your print through, and reinforce the gelcoat. Then you can use the biaxial to give the laminate it's strength, and it won't matter as much if you get a bit of bridging as the gelcoat will still have some reinforcement behind it.

Alternatively, you don't necessarily need twill fibreglass, you could get a plain weave instead. Will just need more relief cuts to go around corners.

Foam brushes are fine, they can be a bit easier to use with woven materials than bristle brushes. Not going to notice much difference working with CSM or biaxial. To be honest, on a job this size I would probably use a 5" short-napp roller (same as the fabric rollers you would use to paint a house) for the bulk work, and a 2" bristle brush for the tighter areas where the roller is too much work. That will let you get resin on the job and wet out the fibres quickly. Then use a disc roller to consolidate each layer and get the air bubbles out.

Yeah on Trojans website they specify 1-10% pigment by weight so i will probs go to around 5-6% just to err on the side of caution. Also looking at the soric data and you said aprox 550g/m2 but its saying it has a resin uptake of 1kg/m2 is that too much of a concern if i stick with the 550-600g? Also what do you recomend for the Double Bias 400g i have seen people saying aprox a 1-1.25:1 ratio of resin so around the 500g of resin per m2?

My plan is going to be the 100g in the tight areas to make sure i get good key to the gelcoat, Then a full layer of 100g over the whole lot, 400g double bias, soric with double bias in aresa without soric, 400g double then finish off with 100g again does that sound about right?

Sorry for taking up so much of your time but cheers HEAPS

May 24, 2020

11 hours ago, Unzipped Composites said:

Yeh they are continuous fibres, so they won't break down like CSM. Harder to work with, but what you want to do is get all your fibreglass ready before you mix any resin or even apply the PVA. Lay the glass into the mould, and try to push it into all the corners as tight as you can. Take note of where it tries to 'bridge' the corners as you push it into place. If the fibres won't move to let you get them into place, then cut the fibres where they bridge to give it some relief and let it sit in place. Then use strips of glass with about an inch overlap either side to reinforce the cut sections. Make sure you do all of your glass and have it all ready before starting the layup, you don't want to be messing around with any of that while your resin is going off.

Kind of like what I was doing here, you want to get all of the protrusions and features covered in glass with no bridging, and then lay up the bigger sections with the protusions cut out of it, if you know what I mean? For fibreglass with a gelcoat, it's not a huge issue to cut strips of material to reinforce tight areas, and put relief cuts where you need them. Then just add a bit of extra material to make up for the loss of strength where the cuts are.

Well it doesnt take long to tip the scales on the $200 for free shipping with trojan lol. So ive got 4L of gelcoat and ive got 500ml of Royal Blue pigment aswell so then hopefully it will come out the mould a similar colour to the rest of the car and i can use less paint when i go to paint it. I cant currently get any 300g twill and in fact that have minimal fiberglass twill of anything so am i able to use the 100g CSM and then ive ordered the 400g biaxial glass in between and just replace the twill with CSM? not ideal but rock and a hard place lol.

Also ive seen a couple of people using foam brushes in place of bristled brushes have you had much to do with them or what is the best method of wetting out the biaxial? I have bristled rollers, the solid ribbed rollers and brushes.

Sorry to keep nagging you but your have been massively helpfull!!

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Posts posted by rcs_888