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Mk3 Carbon Bonnet
- Thread starter oz_clio
- Start date
ph1 172
+ VAT so its £400
172cup
they chose a gash car/colour combo to demonstrate it on too
Christopher
ClioSport Club Member
Z4M
I really wouldn't bother
I agree...
Slow red one
wish it suited the red better however if it did still a no for its price!
White Sti Hatch
Yeah but your forgetting the fact that a Mk3 bonnet is almost if not more than half the size of a Mk2 !!!!
S2000
I'm not being funny but the 197 bonnet is as light as f**k anyway - so why bother??
White Sti Hatch
Very tru, id get one for looks over everythingelse but £400 for it is waaaaay to steep specialy at the size of it !
Land Rover Discovery
That is not by any means 'expensive' for a carbon fibre bonnet, however it is manufactured. Nor is it KTEC slapping margins on the product just becaquse they are a trading company who are in business to make margins/ profits and pay peop-le's earnings. Give them a break guys.
Its not really their fault the 197 doesnt suit the carbon bonnet theme as good as other models, granted different colour car may help, but nonetheless, the nature of the front end of most new cars these days means big bumpers and tiny bonnets and different styling.
Our 197 bonnet will be priced the same as the rest of our bonnet range, £750 for pre preg lacquered panel with all oe fixings etc.
Can someone weigh their 197 bonnet ? i havent lifted one yet and do wonder how 'heavy' they are, lol
cheers
Bic
Its not really their fault the 197 doesnt suit the carbon bonnet theme as good as other models, granted different colour car may help, but nonetheless, the nature of the front end of most new cars these days means big bumpers and tiny bonnets and different styling.
Our 197 bonnet will be priced the same as the rest of our bonnet range, £750 for pre preg lacquered panel with all oe fixings etc.
Can someone weigh their 197 bonnet ? i havent lifted one yet and do wonder how 'heavy' they are, lol
cheers
Bic
Land Rover Discovery
theduck - As you bring the diffuser up, such a good example which in actual fact wants to be more than the price we have estimated to date in all honesty, you need to appreciate a component is not neccesarily the price it is JUST because of materials, in many instances the materials are not the deciding factor but the laminating, trimming, lacquering and finishing spent, aka labour.
Notably I have just received a letter from one of our supplier informing us of a price INCREASE of the pre preg materials as of January 2009
To give you a bit of a breakdown of the work involved when producing a bonnet from our workshop . . . which may help appreciate the prices charged:
Lets presume we already have the mould (I won't bore you with work involved to create one)
Apply release agent to moulds, 7 coats of to each mould
Template pre preg materials to size, 2 seperate plies per panel plus templating of hinge positions, latch etc
Spend approximately a whole day laminating both moulds with the pre preg materials, after each ply of material is working into the mould, the mould (and its contents) are wrapped in release film, then a breather material then placed in a vacuum bag, (but not before you have to make the vacuum bag, ensuring it is leak free), seal bag, and connect hose and pump, work material into the mould whilst the mould is under vaccum for 30 minutes, remove mould
Then laminate next ply of material into the mould, and then same again as above.
Once this has been done 4 times (2 times for each mould) the moulds are then loaded into the Autoclave (pressursed oven) and cured for 10-12 hours. We of course currently take the moulds to a 3rd party composite company with an autoclave large enough to fit bonnets, tailgates and roofskins into, round trip of around 2-3 hours once loaded mooulds into van (being very careful not to damage the vacuum bags in the process)
Next day, remove both moulds form Clave, return moulds to workshop, demould the components from moulds.
Then spend approximatley 2 hours trimming excess material from edges of components and completing any specific trim detail also.
Prep undersides of both panels and apply structural adhesive to inner panel and bond/laminate catch into inner panel.
At this point we generally like to have the inner panel trial fitted to the car and bonded in place to avoid distortion, if this is not available, place bonnet in to moulds when bonding together.
Leave to cure overnight in position on vehicle in unlacquered stage
Another 2 hours spent completing final trim detail, deburring, removal of any excess adhesives etc.
Flat panel (s) with 600-1000 grade paper - approx 2 hours
Degrease then apply mist coat and 3 additional coats of lacquer
Allow to air dry over night
Again, flat panels with 1500-2000 grade paper - approx 2 hours
Machine polish, apply waxes, sealants etc
Final fit to vehicle
Job done
Material costs even though expensive (pre preg2x2 twill carbon currently £35.00 + vat psm) is not the main outlay, time is
the Honda Civic bonnet we did a few months ago for my other half had approximately 20 hours in it plus materials. We would charge a customer on a bespoke job £30 per hour (per man and some of this work is a 2 man job) for our services, as you can see selling our pre preg bonnets for between £750-1000 is dear to you as a car enthusiast prioritsing how much and where you choose to spend your money, to us, in actual fact it doesnt cover the ACTUAL labour time spent producing a part, I am not asking for sympathy by writing this, just trying to explain form the manufacturing end.
The intricacy of the clio 197 rear diffuser will take some time, at least there is only 1 panel to it (plus the heatshield) probably around 10-12 hours to complete from start to finished, lacquered product.
Another example os our engine covers available for the 106/Saxo, the OE plug cover design retails at £149.99 compared to £79.99 for a cover which covers the complete top side of engine, yet uses more than double, if not triple the materials, Why ? purely down to the intricacy of laminating the materials into the mould, the trim detail, deburring and lacquering, flatting time.
Hope this gives you and others a bit more of an insight into how we produce our products that we sell to you guys, and also the extent of the pre preg composite methods used and the time involved.
I will try my best to grab some good pictures of the process start to finish for people to view and put the step by step process on our site (when i get hold of the web man
) which will hopefully educate everyone a little and answer some unaswered questions.
Cheers
Bic
Notably I have just received a letter from one of our supplier informing us of a price INCREASE of the pre preg materials as of January 2009
To give you a bit of a breakdown of the work involved when producing a bonnet from our workshop . . . which may help appreciate the prices charged:
Lets presume we already have the mould (I won't bore you with work involved to create one)
Apply release agent to moulds, 7 coats of to each mould
Template pre preg materials to size, 2 seperate plies per panel plus templating of hinge positions, latch etc
Spend approximately a whole day laminating both moulds with the pre preg materials, after each ply of material is working into the mould, the mould (and its contents) are wrapped in release film, then a breather material then placed in a vacuum bag, (but not before you have to make the vacuum bag, ensuring it is leak free), seal bag, and connect hose and pump, work material into the mould whilst the mould is under vaccum for 30 minutes, remove mould
Then laminate next ply of material into the mould, and then same again as above.
Once this has been done 4 times (2 times for each mould) the moulds are then loaded into the Autoclave (pressursed oven) and cured for 10-12 hours. We of course currently take the moulds to a 3rd party composite company with an autoclave large enough to fit bonnets, tailgates and roofskins into, round trip of around 2-3 hours once loaded mooulds into van (being very careful not to damage the vacuum bags in the process)
Next day, remove both moulds form Clave, return moulds to workshop, demould the components from moulds.
Then spend approximatley 2 hours trimming excess material from edges of components and completing any specific trim detail also.
Prep undersides of both panels and apply structural adhesive to inner panel and bond/laminate catch into inner panel.
At this point we generally like to have the inner panel trial fitted to the car and bonded in place to avoid distortion, if this is not available, place bonnet in to moulds when bonding together.
Leave to cure overnight in position on vehicle in unlacquered stage
Another 2 hours spent completing final trim detail, deburring, removal of any excess adhesives etc.
Flat panel (s) with 600-1000 grade paper - approx 2 hours
Degrease then apply mist coat and 3 additional coats of lacquer
Allow to air dry over night
Again, flat panels with 1500-2000 grade paper - approx 2 hours
Machine polish, apply waxes, sealants etc
Final fit to vehicle
Job done
Material costs even though expensive (pre preg2x2 twill carbon currently £35.00 + vat psm) is not the main outlay, time is
the Honda Civic bonnet we did a few months ago for my other half had approximately 20 hours in it plus materials. We would charge a customer on a bespoke job £30 per hour (per man and some of this work is a 2 man job) for our services, as you can see selling our pre preg bonnets for between £750-1000 is dear to you as a car enthusiast prioritsing how much and where you choose to spend your money, to us, in actual fact it doesnt cover the ACTUAL labour time spent producing a part, I am not asking for sympathy by writing this, just trying to explain form the manufacturing end.
The intricacy of the clio 197 rear diffuser will take some time, at least there is only 1 panel to it (plus the heatshield) probably around 10-12 hours to complete from start to finished, lacquered product.
Another example os our engine covers available for the 106/Saxo, the OE plug cover design retails at £149.99 compared to £79.99 for a cover which covers the complete top side of engine, yet uses more than double, if not triple the materials, Why ? purely down to the intricacy of laminating the materials into the mould, the trim detail, deburring and lacquering, flatting time.
Hope this gives you and others a bit more of an insight into how we produce our products that we sell to you guys, and also the extent of the pre preg composite methods used and the time involved.
I will try my best to grab some good pictures of the process start to finish for people to view and put the step by step process on our site (when i get hold of the web man
) which will hopefully educate everyone a little and answer some unaswered questions.Cheers
Bic
