The pictures below are of a couple full carbon Classic Mini boot lids I’ve recently finished. Of course full carbon parts can be very light weight and yet quite strong, the examples below have the full frame on the back side and are made to be used with stock hinges and latch / handle. The stock boot lid weighs around 8 or 9 pound and the full carbon parts come in at right around one pound.
I’ve still been buried with orders lately but would like to post a few pics of some of the carbon overlay work I’ve recently sent out.
First are some Mini Cooper interior parts including a three piece dash, the shifter ring, cup holder, steering wheel inserts and down tubes. The other pics are a few BMW E36 parts including a front lip, rear diffuser and a variety of interior parts.
I’ll try to post some more info on Mini down tubes soon, since I’ve been receiving some requests for info lately. I’ll also post some pics of a Classic Mini boot lid that is going out.
Just a quick update on the gauge pod / binnacle:
The pictures are of the second part from the new mold. Again I used green carbon kevlar and while I was at it I made a set of headlight rings from a new mold I made for them. Parts are also in green. I just need to finish up the mounting area for the headlight rings and they sould be ready to go and I’ll be able to start producing these.
I started making the carbon cowl scoop for the Honda Fit around a year and a half ago and have sold well over 100 of them. The idea for the scoop is based primarily on looks but some say it does lower the temp under the hood and some have taken it a step further by ducting cool air to their intake.
Here are some pics of the Honda Fit cowl scoop:
Since the Fit scoop went over well I started working on a similar idea for both the Toyota Yaris and Scion Xd. Like the Fit, the Xd has a small removable panel in the cowl where a scoop can easily be added. The only difference with the Xd panel is that it extend under the hood and an additional piece need to be made to replace that section. I started off with a couple different prototypes for the Xd scoop but finalized on a that I think will look quite nice.
Here are some pics of the Xd scoop, the first showing one of the prototypes and the rest showing the final design:
The cowl piece for the Yaris is a bit different than the Fit and Xd in that there is no removable panel, rather a larger piece of the plastic cowl can be removed to access the components under it. This means that the scoop area has to include this larger cowl area. This piece is nearly finish and I’m working with MicroImageonline.com in developing and offering this one. Here are a couple pics of the prototype scoop for the Yaris:
I’m a bit behind on posting since I got buried with orders about a month ago, but here is the first part from a new mold. The part is the center gauge pod or binnacle, based on the MKII Austin Mini part. This is the first sample part so I didn’t spend much time on it and didn’t even use gel coat before bagging it, but it shows the basic part and is done in green carbon / kevlar which works great with a BRG car. I know a couple owners have been waiting for this, so I’ll try to get a couple good examples made up soon.
I recently sent out the first set of Texalium, silver, steering wheel inserts for the Fit and the owner gave a very nice diy write up on the FitFreaks forum. Here are a couple pics of the silver inserts and a link to the diy install:
http://www.fitfreak.net/forums/gauge-interest-fit-product-group-buy/47596-rogue-carbon-steering-wheel-insert-interest-2.html
These carbon fiber headlight rings for the Austin Mini are not new items but I haven’t taken any new photos for a while so thought I would share. The rings are full replacement parts and fit pretty much like the original pieces. This small batch included a couple sets in 2×2 twill and one in plain weave but they are offered in carbon kevlar as well.
I’m working this week on finishing the mold a carbon 3 gauge pod for the classic Mini and hope to have some more info on that early next week.
Here’s some other carbon steering wheel inserts. These are for the Mini Cooper. The set of three are for the newer R56 Mini and the single one is for the first generation R53 Mini. As with the Honda Fit carbon inserts shown earlier these are overlaid oem parts and add a great look to any interior. There are many other carbon fiber Mini Cooper parts shown in the site gallery.
Here’s a project I started on some time back. It’s a ‘bulged’ bonnet for the classic Mini for use with a 16 valve conversion or possibly a turbo setup. The bonnet provides nearly 2″ of extra space over and around the rocker cover, allowing space for a larger head and timing belt or maybe an inter-cooler and plumbing for a turbo. The idea is to also allow for vents or a scoop near the front and some vents at the back for extra air flow. I hope to finish up this prototype soon and will post an update, there are a couple more pictures in the photo gallery.
Here’s just a couple of the new parts I’ve been working on lately:
First is the carbon overlay of the steering wheel inserts for the Fit. These are pretty basic overlays but do add quite a lot of impact to the interior.
I’m also working on some carbon winglets similar to these that were made for a Fit owner (pics also shows Fit carbon cowl scoop and H emblem). The new designs will include a couple different sizes and shapes and should fit a number of different cars.
I’ll try to post some of the other new products soon.