Making a carbon fiber chassis the novice way

[RC10resto]

Persistence pays off
Very impressive result.

[JosephS]

Persistence pays off
Very impressive result.

Thanks. It’s actually so much nicer than I was expecting I am not sure I can use it on my basher like I expected to.

[JosephS]

I am working on making a 1 off chassis this way for a t-3 rtr.

I am making this directly off the chassis with satin carbon fiber
5.5oz 4HS Satin Weave Carbon Fiber
thin Epoxy with 4:1 fast resin

I made accidental diamond plate.

I removed the skin from the chassis and started to reinforce it from the inside with some scraps

i am making this in 2 parts. The base chassis and then the bulkhead portion. This prevents the need from stretching the fabric into tight corners.

[JosephS]

Nearly done with the t3

I finally can make nice nonwrinkled pieces

No wrinkles in the bag or release film

Nice smooth finish inside

I am going to do a cosmetic layer to clean up the rear bulkhead.

I may do another external layer if the diamond plate takes to long to fix

This feels pretty stiff and may be fine enough after the full epoxy cure

[JosephS]

I did some filing and drilling to see how well the rear plate would fit and I was eventually able to get something that resembled what it was supposed to be. I decided that the black of the bulk head would be flat, and I would use shims along with locknuts to secure links, transmission and rear tower. I have some areas that aren't square and I will fill them in with jbweld putty just to get things sitting right.



I'm trying to figure out the best way to make the posts for the front brace. In the B/T3 chassis there are supports that are built into the edge of the chassis. I'm worried if I used tubing to make standoff that they would rip out if the edge of the chassis. I don't have the proper epoxy to fix metal to carbon fiber so it would be bolted though the bottom of the chassis.

Would JBweld putty be strong enough on it's own? I could just shape the parts I needed freehand and regular epoxy would create a good bond.

I made some of the plugs using the top plate as a mold. I used some epoxy release and was able get the soft set jbweld off the part easy enough.

Got the front end from the truck that was the donor and just sort of stuffed the front with jbweld. The chassis screws are very thin, maybe 1/8. I have a the top plate screws are 3/4” so I assume those mounts are meant to take the force of the suspension .It’s not pretty but it’s aligned.

[Dadio]

The chassis is looking excellent , those front mountings are where a 3d printer would shine .

[JosephS]

The chassis is looking excellent , those front mountings are where a 3d printer would shine .

I don't have access to a 3d printer anymore. I'm not sure that pla would be strong enough for this.
I removed the brace before the epoxy fully cured and broke one of the tops off the stand. Right now the jb weld feel strong but chalky and scrapes off. I'm going to try and get the 2 sides to look about equal and put some black epoxy over them so they blend in.

[JosephS]

I had to redo the initial attach points but the front end now is stable.

Now on to making structural mounting points for the rear plate

[JosephS]

Jb weld did the job just fine.

It doesn’t look pretty yet, but the mounts stiffer than the aluminum. I am able to use longer bolts and nuts to secure the plate.

Now it’s just a matter of making this cosmetically appealing.

The JB weld needed to be sanded and flattened much better before the final layer

[JosephS]

Clean up the inside of the t3 chassis

Now to make the outside match

[JosephS]

Outside finished. There is one dry spot that did not get enough resin.

The chassis weight in at 4.4oz vs 4.8 for the stock. It’s going to loose a little more when fully trimmed down. It’s not exactly a huge weight savings.

It feels rigid enough to actually work.

[*]Note : when skinning one side of the chassis. use tape to plug the holes on the opposite side so the epoxy doesn't leak over to a finished side.