Making a Carbon Fiber Headlight Duct 

I believe this is my duct!! AJ- thank you so much for making this for me even though like you said it’s “discontinued”. I didn’t realize it was as intense of a process as it was until watching this and my mind is blown. Huge thanks to you again for making me one of my long time dream parts. I can’t wait for you to see it on my M3 all finished up!!

Imagining the work that would have gone into the plug - pattern to make the mold, before making actual part, is enough to justify your reasoning of economics… Great looking product!

Wow, that is a lot of work. Shows the pride you take in your part making!

Thank you for taking the time to explain it's precious

If you are not infusing...you cannot understand the complexity of these kind of infusion setups.great job man..keep it up! Deffo pre-preg range of complexity on that one.

Hi AJ, on point with explanation...it's a tough one for sure...great work..enjoy the clips...Thx

of course it makes sense 👍 great work all in all 👍 part looks awsome

Great to show this. I can make a carbon roof quicker than a set of brake dust sheilds. Less money- more work dosnt pay the utility bills 😔

Very instructive indeed. And very business focused. My take is that if the customer wants it and is willing to pay my time: effort, knowledge and profit, then I would make whatever part he/she wants. I think that in this line of business mold is almost 70%… a bad mold is a stopper even if you have best infusion equipment. It is like preping a car before paint. Would love to see tips and process in making molds.

I dig the vest. Do you have a video for creating a mold? Even a simple one for someone just getting started.

Looks awesome!

Great video. You know your story with CF. Thanks for your time.

What do you use for the premold coating? I assume it is a clear gel coat of some kind. The finish on your parts is amazing.

Hey AJ, what is your sequence for mold preparation- Do you use a dedicated mold cleaner before the release agent? And more importantly, what and why do you spray into the mold before the layup? Thank you, the videos are a great help!

Man you should really look into making parts for the BMW E82 1 series platform. Not a lot of aftermarket support on carbon fiber parts & a lot of enthusiasts. Narrow body front fenders, doors & rear seat delete would be a great products to sell. Great content BTW, I really appreciate it.

Have you experimented with smooth-on silicone bagging to cut costs on consumables?

Such a cool guy and video. Can I ask what spray are you useing to hold the fiber in place?

Nice job man 😎👌

could you do a video on making a custom air box for a 1984 honda v30 magna VF500c? Preferably one that uses a generic car air filter and has a simple flash arrester? tnx.

LOVED this vid! please put back on your site for sale! just raise the price to what makes it make business sense for your time. let the customer decide if that number is too high or not. id buy one.

Wow so much time to prep the part so the price should worth the time spent :) Nice

Noice. I was always just making them from frp. I used to make them for nissan s13s and s14s.

I wouldn't even consider that part for fab and I understand why you stopped. I'd bet you can make 2-5 diffusors in the same amount of time and sell them for exponentially more money. A lot of people assume the part is small so it should be cheaper and this is a perfect example of why that isnt the case.

Do you get bridging where the individual pieces overlap on the surface, or, does the vacuum pressure take care of that?

Do you have a video on how to make those molds? I need help on learning to make one.

I've been watching your channel for a few years now.... great stuff, fantastic content and final product.... However could you please do a video on making moulds.

Thats a Fantastic duct with a Capital F! I tried making a couple of parts at home, while the quality was adequate, theres a silly amount of plastic to be disposed at the end of it all!! I really, really want to make and use more CF/Fiberglass products while using minimal or no plastic. Thoughts, Anyone?

Thats cool man

My Carbon fiber rims on my BMW S1000RR has some cracks on the seem in between the spokes and I would like to use something to repair them back to show room quality! Can I use what you use to fix these (BMW CLAIMS THAT THEY ARE ONLY COSMETIC BLEMISHES BUT HUNDREDS OF US HAVE THE SAME ISSUE) Thanks for any advice you might be able to share.

What type of clear coat do you paint the parts before the CF?

have you ever molded the wing of an aircraft and made a carbon copy?

So i want the same pare for my 2012 charger how much it will cost me

How do you make a mold like that but round ????

People can’t expect you to work for nothing it’s your livelihood

What adesive do you use for layers?

I need Skyline R32 GT-R N1 front bumpervents, which are kind of similar, but smaller. Any possibility to have those made? ^_^

quick question. ահҽɾҽ վօմ bought those resin ɑղժ carbon fiber cloth, can վօմ give the link? thanks in advance

I think I am going to get one of those vests.....and fill it up with 10mm wrenches and sockets. As many as I can fit in there.

How is the mold made

No kidding, that was a lot of prep work for the complex shape. I notice you use a tape to stop the carbon weave fraying - looks to be more like thin tissue tape than a masking tape and looks to become part of the composite matrix - can you share some details on what tape your using and experience with alternatives. Great videos BTW

Wouldn’t Pre Preg with parts of this size be a significant advantage? Being able to vacuum and run through a bake cycle. Pre Preg is more expensive but in my experience beats the layup/Setup of resin infusion.

Amazing work AJ, I would love a bonnet for a Mercedes CLK and the people that would like it,

Have you thought about doing prepreg or is the set up cost not worth it ? I couldn't do it because of the cost because I don't have a client base I'm just getting started, so I built a shop like yours thank you for the oven video. My oven works very well I have made a couple rear defusers for 99-04 mustang they are just nice to look at not a high functioning one like yours I will shoot you a email to get prices on your mold Thank you for what you do hopefully we can get you higher up in the RU-vid algorithm. Might look to your suppliers to see if they might sponsor your videos I would buy there products to at least try in my shop ,I can't argue with your results. I use Carbon Envisions right now.

Have you thought about bringing it back but only as a chopped carbon? Wouldn’t that make it faster and easier to make?

Quick question is the layer of breather necessary ? It suppose to absorb all the excess, but I’m going to run vacuum lines similar to your setup . I’m not to sure if that’s the proper term .

Out of curiosity, how come you don’t use prepreg? I switched over from wet layup and infusion and it is just sooooo much easier and time effective. Especially on these complex parts. It’s not even close. Awesome work! Keep it up and thanks for sharing!

How to make headlight mold?

id really like to see how you made the plug and mold

Hi.. do you have any website.? How to order ?

Are the 05-09 Mustang headlight carbon blanks in the same boat as these where they just didn’t make financial sense to offer on the website?

Good day I have some fishing reel clamps I want you to build for me how can I get in touch with you

i love this stuff AJ, I think molding smaller more intricate parts is probably more valuable to the typical weekend warrior. You can always look at it this way: Making and selling smaller parts may not turn a direct profit, but acting as a loss-leader they get your name out there, and time-lapsing the process for the sake of a YT video hopefully returns you some ad revenue as well. I'd consider more branding decals and stickers/swag, to get your brand spread far and wide! keep up the good work!

I suppose the trickiest move is to split it off the mold because of such a shape 😬 do you use air or it just comes off easily?

What's a headlight duck

How did you cut carbon fibre without strain seperate in edges 🤔

Do you male any parts for fc rx7's? I'd definitely be in the market for some of your work after seeing this. Please lmk

uhhh! this looks familiar lol. like straight away!

👍

do you ever de gas your resin

you need a laser CNC to cut our your parts

Fast forward videos suck!