$500?  The last time I checked, graphite cloth in a 6 oz, weight was
selling for about $75/yd.  I don't remember if that was 38"wide cloth
or 60", but the fact of the mater is that you're looking at maybe 3
layers minimum to make that top stiff enough unless you took some
sort of foam core stiffener and that carbon top would likely not
survive much of a hail storm either.  The foam core stuff ain't cheap
either. d.  Something with that many convolutions would almost have
to be vacuum-bagged and I'd want a couple of layers of kevlar under
the foam core just for strength. The kevlar is a bargain at like
$15-18 a yard if you get it from www.sweetcomposites.com  Then
there's the cost of making the mold for the top after you make the
male plug to make the mold from.  The Westy top wouldn't be rigid
enough to mold.

Let's see, that first carbon top would cost about $12,000, and the
next one maybe only $2,000 if you di all the work yourself.

DM&FS

At 10:34 PM 9/6/2007, Don Hanson wrote:

>a Van top from carbon fiber, while it would be very trick, from a practical
>standpoint makes little sense.  Unless you're Bill Gates or Jay Leno or
>someone with lots of money to spend on a questionable project.  The amount
>of material you'd use to make the part...fiberglass or carbon fiber.. is a
>lot.  Glass fabric is a little heavier and not quite so stiff, but it is
>about 1/100th the cost of carbon fabric..In a piece as large as a Westie
>style roof, you might save oh, say 20-30 lbs, by using carbon fiber rather
>than the normal glass,  but you'd probably spend $500 doing it...You could
>save almost that much weight just by vacuum-bagging a fiberglass lay up and
>being very careful with the fabrication..
>   Now, in a racecar or a bicycle or an America's cup yacht or an
>airplane...that kinda dollar per lb. may be worth it..but for the top of a
>Vanagon?  Prolly not to normal humans...
>   Don Hanson