carbon fibre front emblem badge

[philstar]

Hey guys, a couple of my friends have just started making carbon fibre parts and they very kindly offered to make me a front VW badge for my bus!

I posted about this previously here: http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=27296

Since they now have a mould they have said they can make a batch so I suggested offering it to the forum first, if we can get a group of people interested they can buy the materials in bulk and reduce the price which helps the forum and helps them to start grow business!

The badge mould was made from my GENUINE VW emblem so it is spot on, and they created a jig to locate the mounting points. Instead of using the pins and bushes for the mountings, they were concerned about theft once fitted and decided to use stainless steel nuts and bolts instead and secured them to the badge using a Formula 1 grade adhesive Scotch weld d490.

This is incredibly strong and allows you to remove/reposition the badge multiple times without having to purchase new grommets, as well as allowing the badge to follow the contour of the front panel by simply adjusting the tension on the nuts at the back.

The badge came to me in a bespoke box as they knew the badge wasn't going to be fitted straight away ...the box alone is awesome and has foam packing so you can safely store your own badge in their once you fit the new carbon fibre one. The quality of the badge was amazing and you can see they’ve put all they’re engineering skills to make me this masterpiece! I have also created a full size template for them which will be provided with each badge order, or you can download and print your own from the link in the thread I mentioned above.

I hope I have done this product justice as these guys haven't charged me, they just wanted some help getting their business off the ground and their craftsmanship is excellent. They are thinking of doing more VW products (or anything that is in demand really) so if anyone has anything they want making just let me know!

I will get a price from them based on individual and group orders and some better photos (currently there is the one in the thread I linked to).

 

[Graham L]

I'd tell them to be very careful as unless this is approved by VW themselves they are likely to receive a 'cease and desist' order from VW themselves. Its their copyright and last year they clamped down on all people making VW front badges and they had to stop producing them, I think its down to one or 2 suppliers now that VW have approved and no one else.

 

[philstar]

Oh right, I didn't see that coming! Cheers for the heads up, I'll raise this issue with them...

 

[philstar]

OK the price is £150 per badge, if they can get 10 orders they can drop it down to £145.

 

[Graham L]

Oh right, I didn't see that coming! Cheers for the heads up, I'll raise this issue with them...

You are infringing their copyright and stealing revenue from them so thats why they took action last year

 

[philstar]

OK the chaps have informed me that the design is slightly different as they didn't want to adhere to the original, it was initially done as a one-off for me so they could test their processes, it is their first product.

The point here is that the one I have is absolute quality craftsmanship, and they have a custom mould that can be used for more runs should anyone else be interested.

On top of this, these guys are just starting out, they are actively looking for more products to make which is a great opportunity for us here on the forum to get some rare parts recreated. My bus is in it's very early stages so I don't know the ins and outs of what parts are rare and what parts often break, but off the top off my head - heater control switches? Door furniture? Heck, even a removable rear valance is a simple shape which I'm sure they could do; the options are vast.

 

[Moseley]

It's certainly an interesting idea, but I just can't see you're going to appeal to a mass market of old VW owners. Carbon fibre is a modern material, and the cost of making any part is going to be more than OE items, and I struggle to see people wanting a space-age material on their retro camper.

The guys can clearly make a quality item, but if I were them, I'd probably be targeting the modern Japanese or German market if they want to make some automotive bling and capture a wider market.

 

[SiDev]

It's certainly an interesting idea, but I just can't see you're going to appeal to a mass market of old VW owners. Carbon fibre is a modern material, and the cost of making any part is going to be more than OE items, and I struggle to see people wanting a space-age material on their retro camper.

The guys can clearly make a quality item, but if I were them, I'd probably be targeting the modern Japanese or German market if they want to make some automotive bling and capture a wider market.

I completely agree, mass infringement on protection that I don't believe they have overcome aside, I can't see many people shelling out this amount for an ultra-modern material to fit a classic vehicle. I think the "chaps" are way off the mark here.

 

[philstar]

Moseley you are absolutely right, the chaps are working in other areas that will obviously have a bigger interest - track day cars etc.

Yes, some parts may cost more than OE, but carbon fibre is a specialist material so in terms of the VW community I expect their main interest will come from the more well-off folk who want bespoke parts made, or are customising their buses. For example, I did ask about them creating a carbon fibre roof skin complete with gutters, as I have an original roof ready to weld on to replace mine, but the weight of it is phenomenal. Unfortunately the size of the mould and apparatus needed is not feasible for these guys until they have raised more capital.

This part wasn't created in order to sell on as a product in huge numbers, it was originally made as a one-off for me so they could hone their skills. I just thought it would help them out if they could run a few more pieces off considering the moulds are already made, and there may be one or two people on here that are interested; it's all good practice for them to improve their workflow etc.

The point of this thread is to let our members know that we have a carbon fibre team available to us (perhaps I should have chosen a more generic title for the thread), at the very early stages of their business; this can offer various advantages over going to a well established company.

Perhaps that may be of particular interest to you Graham at Midland Early Bay, if you have certain customers that are looking for something a little different? it's another selling point for you to be able to offer bespoke carbon fibre parts in conjunction with the guys I know, and they are only 5 minutes away. Just a thought anyway, that's what we're all in this forum for at the end of the day, to improve our buses and help each other out.

 

[westy1]

How would you bolt it on you can not get to the rear for the cold air box, that's why they don't have bolts