It it kevlar or fiberglass??

[jrork]

Hi everyone. Been a lurker for a while and now with my new project I thought I would make it official and join.

I just picked up a new project which is a 1983 Eliminator Daytona 21' tunnel hull. As I was removing the interior I noticed that the sides and deck are a dark gray fabric instead of the lighter colors that my other projects have been.

I know they built a small number of Kevlar hulls for racing and am curious if I may have stumbled across one. Is there a way to tell?

Thanks a bunch............john

[gonzo]

Kevlar is yellow. Gray or black could be carbon

[jrork]

Thank you Gonzo. I'm going to try to find out something from Eliminator but thought I would ask here too as I suspected I would get a quicker response.

Here's a picture of the material underneath the gunnels. It looks like the entire deck is made of this material. It's really hard and rough.

[jrork]

Thanks Sam.

I sanded it in a out of the way spot and it stayed gray/black and no color came off on the sand paper.

Here's a couple under the deck where you can see it extends even under there and shows in the upper left and upper right corners of the pictures (depending on which one you're looking at). Also in the one, you can see some of the color shining thru on the side where the sun was shining.

Just want to make sure I know what I'm getting into.

ps....Eliminator is trying to look up the HIN # for me too.






Thanks again for the help..........john

[tunnels]

Its most likely carbon but the reason for the colour gray is it could be polyester resin that has changed colour not the carbon .

[Jimbo1490]

Basalt is gray but it don't know of any builders using it yet; and certainly not in 1983.

[tunnels]

Originally Posted by Jimbo1490

Basalt is gray but it don't know of any builders using it yet; and certainly not in 1983.

Baslt is coffee brown and its relativly new discovery .

Go back to sleep . !!!

[Jimbo1490]

Originally Posted by tunnels

Baslt is coffee brown and its relativly new discovery .

Go back to sleep . !!!

I have some samples that were sent to me and they are definitely a sort of silver/gray color. Nothing like brown. But the stuff is said to vary depending on where it's quarried. Have you ever seen the bright blue aramid from Japan? (don't dare call it Kevlar!)

[jrork]

Guys, thanks very much for your replies. I just may learn something. Keep it coming

[tunnels]

Originally Posted by Jimbo1490

I have some samples that were sent to me and they are definitely a sort of silver/gray color. Nothing like brown. But the stuff is said to vary depending on where it's quarried. Have you ever seen the bright blue aramid from Japan? (don't dare call it Kevlar!)

Just been to the composites show in shanghai all that was on display there was brown coffee colored and the sample i have is deffinitly brown . .

Kevlar comes in every color of the rainbow and can be done in combitaions of almaost any color you want as well . Red and black is interesting orange and yellow . Pretty to look at!!! :

included is gold and silver !!!!


http://compositeenvisions.com/raw-fa...er-kevlar-100/

Check out this place has the fancest looking fabrics ive seen !!! Nice weaves with nice patterns !!!



http://www.solarcomposites.com/ heres some more

[jim lee]

I'm betting its a black gelcoat under coat. In the last pic it looks like a red line was taped off and you can see the overspray on the inside. KZ's Daytona 19 was dark like that on the inside as well. I don't think it was carbon.

-jim lee

[Jimbo1490]

When I worked for a (very famous) Porsche dealer's race team we had all our plastics made from fiberglass. These parts took a lot of punishment so carbon did not make sense for us. But we used to spray paint the backside of all the parts with gloss black so the 'Porsche faggots' that bought pit passes could go "Ooooh and Aaaahh" over the 'carbon fiber' air dams and spoilers

[gonzo]

I believe that in 1983 Kevlar was available in yellow only

[jrork]

Originally Posted by jim lee

I'm betting its a black gelcoat under coat. In the last pic it looks like a red line was taped off and you can see the overspray on the inside. KZ's Daytona 19 was dark like that on the inside as well. I don't think it was carbon.

-jim lee

You might be right Jim it is is some black kind of coat or resin as other have mentioned though the material sure has a different feel and sound to it when I run my scraper across it.

That color lines you see are actually the sun shining thru the side of the boat and you can make out some of the lines of the gel coat colors.





For what it's worth, I contacted Eliminator and they are looking at the HIN # and pictures to see if they have any record of it during construction. Fingers crossed and I'll share what, if anything I learn from that.

Thanks again everyone.........john

[marshmat]

Hopefully Eliminator will be of some help.

My bet is on plain old fibreglass in a polyester matrix. I've seen an awful lot of black-dyed fibreglass and black-dyed resin in '80s work.

Even today, some companies will sell you black-dyed glass cloth, "the look of carbon with the cost and working characteristics of E-glass".