Reinforcing the floor.

[Gmg31]

I found this stuff on line.  Looks very interesting

http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/#!/core-materials/closed-cell-foam-and-3dcore/3d-core-pet100-foam-core.html

[Gmg31]

Well it turned out that I had a real GRP fibreglass expert only a few miles away and after discussing this with him he recommended Combi matting and Crystic resin. The matting is 2 layers of fibreglass topped with an extra tight woven mat which is  all stitched together.  The resin is apparently the toughest you can buy and my local expert insisted that I only need one layer.  He tells be he used it repair a mini submarine once and it's still in daily use.   So that's this weekend plan.

[Gmg31]

This stuff is amazing, so easy to cut and fit and because it is woven and stitched it stays together even when it's soaked through with resist.  It goes almost transparent when wet and sets rock hard.

[Gearbox]

Buzzer has the right idea if penetration is your concern.  Layers of fiberglass or thin aluminum isn't going to do much, kevlar on the other hand will stop bullets.  But as for the Foose Europa, has anyone seen that car run or drive?  Outside of the engine running once when they installed it, I have yet to see a youtube video of the car driving around. 

[EuropaTC]

(part quote) But as for the Foose Europa, has anyone seen that car run or drive?  Outside of the engine running once when they installed it, I have yet to see a youtube video of the car driving around.

Yep, there have been a few short videos posted. The owner is "7upJohn" on this forum and he's posted a few times of progress made after the show finished.  It's fair to say that the car wasn't fully operational at the end of the show but John & others have been sorting out the bugs.  He's taken it to shows and it's been very popular with the punters.

This is the thread on the car  http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=338.210

But as for reinforcing the floor, especially to the extent they did on the Foose Europa, well that escapes me.   Each to their own though, it'd be a dull world if we all thought alike.

Brian

[Chuck Nukem]

Alternative to consider is laying some Kevlar and bonding it  on the floor. Kevlar has very good penetration resistance properties and would be lighter than an ally sheet.

Dave

Buzzer I bought some Kevlar for mine. Just make sure your Epoxy is warm because kevlar has a hard time soaking up the resin. I would advise to vacuum bag it. While we are on the topic, I have a friend who works in the aerospace cabinet making business and he offered me some scrap honeycomb panels that are skinned in GRP. I was thinking about getting him to cut the scraps on his router to make a reinforcement for the lower sill. Part of me wants to embrace the motorcycle aspect of the car but the other part is concerned about losing my manhood to a construction site (our entire highway system is currently one). Motorcycles do offer pretty good testicle protection if nothing else.

I also went to a load of trouble to do a carbon/kevlar firewall. Way overkill in price, time, and trouble... If I could do that over I would have just bought marine grade plywood and fully enclosed it in GRP.

[Gmg31]

The Crystic resin took quite a long time to set so during that time I had several opportunities to use a flapper roller to ensure full penetration and no air bubbles. Cost was never a concern on this job but it actually only cost me £35

On the subject of other reinforcing products check this out.

http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/#!/core-materials/closed-cell-foam-and-3dcore/3d-core-pet100-foam-core.html

[StrawberryCheesecake]

 What do folk think about this 'woven roving' mat? Looking at doing the same thing.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/121332748564

[buzzer]

I would use woven kevlar matting rather than glass.

[Gmg31]

It certainly looks like it will do the job.  You do need a lot of resin for this job.  I used a full liter on each side and then once it had set I put another half liter on top of each side. Don't forget to buy a flapper roller as well.   I would also recommend buying a large bottle of acetone in case of mistakes.  I rather clumsily got some in my hair and if I hadn't bought the acetone I would have had to shave my head!!!

[StrawberryCheesecake]

I've bought some Carbon/Kevlar hybrid mat from ebay, and some marine grade epoxy resin (as I read online that it's the stuff to use with Kevlar). It should arrive this week. I'll post an update when I've done something with it.... or when I find I can't cut it

[buzzer]

Epoxy resin is more difficult to handle than polyester and much more difficult to work, but it does have a longer working time, on a flat floor it will be ok. It is stronger and bonds better to anything. But NOTE you will not get polyester resin to bond to the epoxy if you need to do any other work on the body. Be interesting to see how it works out.

Dave

[StrawberryCheesecake]

Epoxy resin is more difficult to handle than polyester and much more difficult to work, but it does have a longer working time, on a flat floor it will be ok. It is stronger and bonds better to anything. But NOTE you will not get polyester resin to bond to the epoxy if you need to do any other work on the body. Be interesting to see how it works out.

Dave

Thanks for the tips Dave. I think It's probably worth the aggro for the floor. I can always use epoxy resin if I need to do more repairs in the future, or go from the other side of the floor

Do I need to layer some fibreglass mat on top of the carbon/kevlar to keep it sealed up?

[buzzer]

I don't think you will need to lay up any fibreglass on top and I don't think it will add anything, I think it will be a better finish with the Kevlar. the key bit is bonding to the floor.

dave

[Gmg31]

Don't over do it. There needs to be some flexibility in the floor.