> > > Paul
> >
> > what will it take to make a composite bell housing?
> >
> > Tony
> >
> > Good idea.
> > A female mold and high temp epoxy.
> >
> > As I recall the 2nd gen man tx bell weighed 7.5 pounds
> > so you should get a lot of pounds out of that.
> > Probably about to .125 wall thickness would be enough.
> > My guess is 13 plies of carbon cloth will do the job.
> > Vacuum bag would be wonderful.
> >
> > You could sell them or rent the mold out to a composite
> > shop and let them make and sell them for you.
> > Carbon fiber would be required for the stiffness needed.
> > You need to embed some small aluminum spacers where the
> > bolts go so the composite is not crushed when the bolts
> > are tightened. You can buy spacers from McMaster car.
> >
> > I'll do a sketch of the required spacers for you.
> >
> > http://www.dragonplate.com/sections/technology.asp
> >
> > .0956 oz per square inch for 13 plies (.124" thick) of carbon
> > fiber. You will need roughly 6" x 6" x 3.1416 = 113 square
> > inches for the front and 12" X 3.1416 X 3" deep = 113 square
> > inches for  the sides or 226 square inches times .0956 = 21.6 oz.
> > looks like 1.35 pounds. Add another pound for misc reinforcements.
> >
> > It would be a significant weight savings.
> >
> > Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.
> > One thing to remember is carbon eats aluminum by galvanic action -
> attach points for aluminum will need an insulating layer of fiberglass
> or whatever.
> You might be able to get away with some plastic, wood or just the carbon
> for the hardpoints
> if the stresses are low enough.
> Weight savings do look extremely attractive...
> Cheers
> Cary

The guy we need on board here is the guy building the race cars
and has an all carbon airplane with a corvette motor in it.
I have his card somewhere what is his name again? anyway,
he would be the guy to do this one, without a doubt. I tried
to convince him to make just redrives when we talked at OSH
he seemed open to it if he could get rich doing it. I think
his concern was the market was a little lean for all the work
involved but a simple bellhousing shouldn't be a problem. Plus
his workmanship is unbelievable.

Tony

Paul I liked your drawing of the bell housing but I was hoping
the design would look a little more like what Algie is doing.
IMHO I think the housing needs to look more like an airplane
part. That Aquapour stuff I bought will work real nice for
making a mold. maybe I can convince Algie to vacuume it up
for me or if anyone else can do that kind of work I can send
them the mold. I'll use Doug Muellers redrive as a reference
I can mold that in real nice. What brand of heat resisant
epoxy do I want to use?

Tony

Good question for Algie.