Carbon Fiber doors - anybody making them yet?

AndradeRacing

Amateur Racer
Nov 20, 2007
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405 Ok
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malicad

Dragway Regular
Dec 8, 2009
1,383
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South Milwaukee, WI
I'd be in line for them IF they'd accept all the factory stuff. That'd be a weight savings of probably, what? Like 200 pounds? That would be awesome!
 

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MalibuRacing Junkie
May 21, 2003
4,284
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Westminster, MD
Glasstek will make c/f doors, pretty much double the price of glass doors.

200 lbs? No, not a chance. My car lost around 120 lbs going from steel doors with rollup windows (crash bars removed) to glass doors with fixed lexan windows.

Even if you could keep the rollup windows, your not going to lose anywhere near that weight. The stock glass & regulators are a good portion of the weight of the door assembly.

Seems like wasted effort & $$$.
 

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MalibuRacing Junkie
May 21, 2003
4,284
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Westminster, MD
BTW, Glasstek f/g doors sell for $690 plus truck freight. I had a little over $800 in the pair shipped. Including all the parts (formed lexan windows, door striker latch kit, aircraft window latch kit, 12 10-32 rod ends, inside release handle, etc) I had over $1500 in parts. That doesn't count raw materials (4130 chromoly tube & plate) for building the window frames, inner latch rods, door striker (stock too short), and custom door hinges. Add to that 40 hours in fabrication time, so putting light weight doors on is no small project, nor is it cheap to do the job correctly.

Then came the carbon fiber sheet to make the door panels...
 

malicad

Dragway Regular
Dec 8, 2009
1,383
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South Milwaukee, WI
I haven't had doors off in quite a while, so 200 pounds was a guess. True carbon fiber is quite a bit lighter than fiberglass, though. That I know for sure. And, much, much stronger. But yeah, a lot of money, that's true. Would be kind off cool, though.
 

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MalibuRacing Junkie
May 21, 2003
4,284
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36
Westminster, MD
my bare door shells were 18 lbs piece. Yes, c/f can be stronger, but typical race body parts are one thin layer (with foam or wood reinforcement panels bonded in) but given the thickness, they may not be as strong as glass.

I had a few cars in the shop with 5 Star c/f bodies on them. Single layer C/F (not carbon/glass) and super light, but also flexed a fair amount due to being laid up for weight. The best composit parts I've worked with to date btw.

Just like 4130 chromoly vs ERW mild steel tubing. Strength has to be compared based upon material thickness.

And for a carbon fiber door to support the weight of a glass window and regulator assembly, it would need to be laid up thicker which would add to the weight bringing it back closer to the weight of f/g.
 

10secBu

MalibuRacing Junkie
May 21, 2003
4,284
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36
Westminster, MD
malicad said:
I haven't had doors off in quite a while, so 200 pounds was a guess. True carbon fiber is quite a bit lighter than fiberglass, though. That I know for sure. And, much, much stronger. But yeah, a lot of money, that's true. Would be kind off cool, though.

As I recall my stock doors were 95 lbs each including door panel. Only thing they lacked was the crash bars.

My f/g doors complete were 26 lbs, but I don't think that included the c/f door panels.
 

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