How to Make a Composite Shroud - (Cont.)

Resin Prep and Application-

Mixing the resin is easy, if you can read the instructions on the bottle you should be ready to do this. Be careful not to add to much catalyst into the mix, as it will accelerate the chemical reaction too fast and cause the mix to become very exothermic. So much so, that it could burn your finger when touching it, and could deform some plastics. For first timers, you might want to go with a little bit less catalyst than what is recommended, so as to give you a little bit more time. Remember to mix it well, before applying it to the nylon shroud.

This is where the fun starts. If you are new to this resin thing, do not be surprised if you fail miserably the first couple of times. It is not easy. The idea is to have the stretched stocking and flanges, all evenly covered in a film of resin, then once the resin cured, it forms the body of the shroud.

The resin takes about 45 minutes to set. Once the resin has cured completely, in about 5 to 6 hours, remove all the tape and trim the access stocking from the sides. You might want to use sandpaper to remove any ugliness from the surface, before you go ahead and paint it your favorite color.

Now all that is left to do is to drill/tap the fan mounting holes, as well as fitting it to the Radiator

Making it Fit-

To get the radiator to seal airtight onto this shroud, I'm going to make a HDF seat for it, This I do by cutting 4 appropriately sizes strips of the stuff, then with the help of some glue, stick it onto the shroud, like so:

The fan, on the other end, pretty simple, 4 tapped holes on the corners, one BIG hole in the middle, and we are set for moving some heavy duty hotness.

As an additional space saver, the fan, in this case, can snugly fit inside the shroud, Making this unit look almost like a custom made fan, that has a shroud for a body. Now there's a novelty for ya.

That brings me to the end of this little How2. I sincerely hope you all had a lot of fun going though it. I am confident however, that it was not as much fun as I had making it. I hope some will have success with this method, it has served me well in the past.

If you have any comments or Questions please pm #Rotor in the Pro/Forums