Fiberglass panels on a single seater

[goodwoodweirdo]

Chaps, 

Has anyone experience racing (750mc) a single seater ? I'm just curious to know how many layers of fiber matting are being used and the weight m2 - looking for just strong enough and not too thick / heavy :-)

I don't find a 750mc forum to ask under... plenty advise on the interweb from making ponds to carbon F1 cars - if anyone knows of another suitable forum, i'm all ears 

thanks in advance 
Matt

[dickie65]

Panel area and curvature will affect the layup required.
I would look towards Kayak construction.
Are you using a mould ?
Biaxial glass cloth is easy to drape and wet out 300 gram M2 cloth is about right this cloth will give a more constant thickness than Chop Strand Mat
Two or Three layers should suffice for panels with added thickness in stressed areas.
I cant remember the resin to glass ratio off the top of my head.
Resin choice is important as some resins cure to be more brittle than others.
I hope this will point you in a forward direction.

[Nick Lettington]

Try this...

https://historic750formula.proboards.com/

[goodwoodweirdo]

Perfect, just the information I was looking for, thanks very much.  Yes have molds that haven't been used since the 60's ... so the first plan is to have a expert check the molds out and see if they are usable, possibly have a positive made. 

Thanks for the link to the 750 forum, pity to see it really isn't very active ... 

Many more questions to follow, this will be a long term project 

cheers
Matt

[dickie65]

At the very least the old moulds will need a thorough clean degrease
Then compound the moulds to bring the surface back to a shine if possible. Low speed buffer needed.
If the moulds have be badly stored they might be warped or twisted.
Craze cracks can be repaired.
PVA will allow a release from a mould in bad condition.
If you paint the finished bodywork you can hide a lot of defects from the mould.

[goodwoodweirdo]

Thanks for that, indeed a good clean is the first step. I'm waiting for feedback from a local company and will keep everyone informed. 

I might even give the nose cone a go myself 

cheers
Matthew