Bespoke Carbon Parts - 12v Socket Holder, Knee Trim Panels, Fuel Pipe Cover and Pedal Box Cover

Ever since I had my car weighed, I've been on a bit of a mission to 'add lightness' wherever I can.  After-all every gramme saved is a little more performance, and considering I'm not going to the gym right now, I need all the help I can get!

Having replaced the interior earlier this year with a full set of carbon panels, and my carbon'itis' well and truly settled in, the things that have been on my hit list are:-

• 12v socket holder
• Knee Trim Panels
• Fuel Pipe Cover
• Pedal Box Cover

Now I know I could just remove these parts, but I want to keep as much of my car as it is, but replace things with lighter versions, so after some considerable "no's" or stupidly high quotes, I found a company online (Ultimate Carbon) who seemed 'delighted' to take on the job.

The chap there, Bryn gave me a ring, we discussed the detail and the only real issue was I had to 'donate' my parts to the cause...  I managed to overcome that problem within about two minutes of putting the phone down to him, as the parts were swiftly bubble-wrapped up, packaged and ready for the courier to collect!

My donation to the cause - parts bubble-wrapped, and packaged ready for collection

A couple of months later this photo arrived - my 'own' carbon parts, finished in matte lacquer and looking very smart indeed.  

My very own carbon parts - finished in matte lacquer and looking very smart

Here is some of the moulding process info, pictures and weights of both original and new carbon parts.

12v Socket Holder / Fuse Cover - and manufacturing

Starting with the most awkward part to manufacture first, the 12v socket holder.  Here is the mould in various stages. 

Pictured below is the carbon mould and laid up component inside a pink bag which is a bagging film used to seal everything.  The white material inside the bag is a breather cloth wrapped around the carbon component and resin which helps the air to be sucked out during at the vacuuming stage.

The bag with the component inside is autoclaved for three and a half hours at around six bar / 90psi at 130c to cure and bond everything together.

Caterham 12v socket holder mould in it's pink bag as it came out of the autoclave

The picture below is of product removed from the bag after the autoclaving process.  The component has had the white cloth removed and is left with the red halar release film, which is used so that the bagging materials don't stick to the part and stops the resin bleeding.

New carbon 12v socket after autoclaving, prior to halar release film removal.

The halar release film is like peeling greaseproof paper from a freshly baked cake that peels off nicely, which reveals the final product (below) which is the product ready for trimmed and final lacquering... I went with a matte lacquer which I think is perfect and suits the components extremely well.

Fresh out of the autoclave - my new Caterham Carbon 12v Socket / Fuse cover.  Just needs trimming and lacquering!

12v Socket Holder / Fuse Cover - weights

The original Caterham 12v socket holder / Fuse cover weighed in at 288g 

Original metal Caterham 12v socket holder / Fuse cover weighed in at 288g 

The carbon version was less than half the weight at just 130g!

Bespoke carbon Caterham 12v socket holder / fuse cover weighs 130g

Then it was onto fitting... All that's required is a little velcro and the tongue pushing into the lower edge of the dash and it's fitted, and looks ace too!

Bespoke manufactured Carbon Caterham 12v socket holder and fuse cover

Knee Trim Panels
Onto the knee trim panels - I guess the easiest (and cheapest weight saving method) with these is to simply remove them completely, but I find there's quite a lot going on in terms of wires in this area, so prefer to keep the knee trim panels fitted.

The two original metal knee trim panels were put on the scales and weighed in at 270g

The two original metal knee trim panels were put on the scales and weighed in at 270g

As you can see from the picture below the matt finish and general construction of these parts is superb.  I popped them onto the scales and the two of them were less than the weight of one of the metal ones - weighing in at 116g for the pair!

Both carbon knee trim panels weighed in at 116g - less than the weight of one of the original metal versions!

With the knee trim panels fitted you can see the excellent weave, not only that the matte lacquer is a perfect match to the carbon interior panels.

Carbon knee trim panels fitted, showing excellent weave and great match to carbon interior panels

Fuel Pipe Cover
The fuel pipe cover in the boot is again one of those parts I think you can just do without, but I like the neat and tidy look of the boot with the fuel pipe cover in place, so decided this part should also get the 'carbon' treatment!

Pictured below is the original Caterham fuel pipe cover removed from the car (just two screws hold it in place) and it weighed in at 154g

Original Caterham metal fuel pipe cover weighs 154g

The carbon version isn't a considerable weight saving, but is nearly half the weight of the original at 86g.

Bespoke Carbon Caterham fuel pipe cover weighs 86g

Fitting the Carbon fuel pipe cover is easy, just two screws either side hold it in place - taking the picture below was more difficult though!

Caterham Carbon fuel pipe cover fitted in boot

Pedal Box Cover

I think this was the part that set this whole project off in the first place... The pedal box cover... For some reason whenever I removed the bonnet it always seemed as though the pedal box cover should've been made out of carbon - well now mine is!

The original metal pedal box cover comes off really easily - just remove the eight or nine bolts and it'll lift pretty much straight out.  The original Caterham pedal box cover weighed in at 310g. 

The original Caterham pedal box cover weighed in at 310g

The bespoke matte lacquered carbon Caterham pedal box cover on the scales - tipping in at nearly one third the weight of the metal version, just 108g.

Bespoke matte lacquered carbon Caterham pedal box cover on the scales weighs just 108g

Now onto what I've been waiting the last two years to see (well not quite!) but it still looks good....  The carbon pedal box cover fitted, and for those 'eagle eyed' readers you'll notice I've used black anodised bolts to secure it which I think look cool and finish it off nicely.


Caterham Carbon Pedal Box Cover only 108g!

Combined Weight Savings
Before I 'donated my parts' for such a good cause, I popped them all onto the scales to see how much they weighed.  Surprisingly it was over a kilo, weighing in at 1.028kg

Metal interior parts weighed in at a combined 1.028kg

And in comparison the bespoke carbon parts total weight is 438g - which is a saving of 590g... It all adds up!

Bespoke carbon parts total weight is 438g - which is a saving of 590g

Want these for your car? Where to buy...
Having considered arranging a 'group buy' - which on the face of it seemed like a good idea... I just don't have the time to arrange this and answer the questions and so on related to it, so have decided it best to link to the ultimate carbon website where you can make your own enquiries directly should you wish to purchase any of these parts:- http://www.ultimatecarbon.co.uk/

Overall I'm very impressed with the fit and finish of the items, the weight saving is a bonus and I'd certainly recommend having them finished in the matte lacquer as it looks really smart, and compliments the .