CF strut brace, the beginning

bristol_bb4 · Post by **bristol_bb4** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:29 pm

yeah those braces are adjustable aswell, either end screws in/out with a clockwise/counter clockwise thread so dead easy to copy!

Post by **lewd lude lover** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 12:22 am

hold fire mate. i have got metal templates for both a front and a rear brace. I took part from a spoon brace and the rest I fabricated. the ebay end pieces are rubbish. they are both the same end rather than a right/left.

Post by **lewd lude lover** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 12:23 am

also got holes for 5 stud mounts

Bio · Post by **Bio** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:54 am

Those braces mounts, A1ex are slightly too large on one end (passenger mount) and need to be radiused off to be a bit smaller.

Also the mount holes are slightly too small and crush the factory rubber/silicone gasket stuff that they put between the body and the hole the top mount goes through. I thought I was crushing welds at first, or that I cracked the paint, turns out the paint just peels off the silicone that is white underneath

I'll get a pic later to explain what I mean as I will be modifying my one of these this weekend after I've sorted the brakes, so that it fits properly without body damage.

A1ex · Post by **A1ex** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:58 am

Thanks for the heads up! That can all be tinkered out when I'm making the parts

This will be the first load baring part I make so will be a good one to get right. Thankfully it's not structurally critical so there's room for smoee trial and error

A1ex · Post by **A1ex** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:47 pm

My ebay strut brace arrived today, suprised with the quality of it actually;

It's got a left hand thread on one side and a right hand on the other so when you install it the force is spread evenly between both sides.

The feet are also designed as left & right rather then a generic design for both.

I'm thinking V1 will be to replace the main strut with the CF tube, the V2 will be to replace the feet with with CF ones. What do you guys think?

Post by **4thgenphil** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:49 pm

i think, why the hell dont you have carbon fiber place matts!

Post by **Donald** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:51 pm

I think first you need to make just one and have someone like Merlin track day test it? All well and good making something that looks nice (and believe me I love aesthetics) but your CF dissertation/research/passion should count for a little more than a fancy weave

I'm posting this hoping you can see where I'm coming from and not just being a gentleman's sausage!

A1ex · Post by **A1ex** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:54 pm

4thgenphil wrote:i think, why the hell dont you have carbon fiber place matts!

haha, they're my dad's. I did wonder about making some but they'd probably cost like £30 each to make

A1ex · Post by **A1ex** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:58 pm

Gorgon wrote:I think first you need to make just one and have someone like Merlin track day test it? All well and good making something that looks nice (and believe me I love aesthetics) but your CF dissertation/research/passion should count for a little more than a fancy weave

I'm posting this hoping you can see where I'm coming from and not just being a gentleman's sausage!

I like where your coming from with that

May drop an email to PAW and see if they're up for testing one, doubt it some how

But seriously, I like the idea of sending one up to merlin or something to have a blast with

The tube is more than up to the job, I've already checked out the specs for it and at £30 a meter it bloody better be!