F355GTS Posted July 29, 2002 Share Posted July 29, 2002 Is there an easy way to cut a hole in my carbon dash in situ for a fuel gauge? Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted July 29, 2002 Share Posted July 29, 2002 Drill and file! Fat Arn Visit the K2 RUM site See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted July 29, 2002 Share Posted July 29, 2002 Wear a face mask Edited by - Peter Carmichael on 30 Jul 2002 10:47:20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted July 29, 2002 Share Posted July 29, 2002 I don't have one. Oh..... wear........... Fat Arn Visit the K2 RUM site See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby dooby doo Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 cone cutters work *very* well - but i doubt you'll find one that big... They worked really well for the big holes in my rear wings for the cable to pass to the light cluster though. HOOPY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterg Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 Hi Mark You can buy proper hole cutters from good tool shops (ie. not Homebase) in sizes from 10mm up to about 200mm and every size in between - If this is for a 'standard' 52mm gauge then you need a 51mm cutter and suitable mandrel which I just happen to have - email me if you want to borrow it and I'll post it to you Regards Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby dooby doo Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 do hole dutters work ok on carbon? they're great on Ali but doesn't the composite nature of CF cause a worry? I'm *sure* they'd make a mess in a curved surface like the wing. HOOPY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterg Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 I've only used it on a 'plank' (ie. a carbon dash) and so long as you cover it with masking tape and back it with a piece of wood to allow the pressure to be distributed then it works fine and I haven't tried on a curved surface and I suspect I'd use a Dremel or hacksaw blade on that instead. 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby dooby doo Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 carbon EATS dremels. A friend had to cut holes in his dash for dials etc and used 3 dremel cutting discs... the tape is very necessary though. ALthough I didn't have a bit of wood handy with the right curvature so just used tape on the inside of the wing as well when cone cutting HOOPY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelspeed Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 Those two piece punch things that you tighten up with an allen screw work surprisingly well on carbon too. I used one to cut the hole in the rear wing behind the light that lets the wiring loom plug thro. I was worried so tried it in a bit of scrap carbon (one third of the old wing....) and it worked well, not quite as neat as in ally but not bad. As it was out of sight didn't worry so can't recall whether it would be good enough for a gauge mount. You could use the next size down to get somewhere near and fine tune it with a file of course. The biggest punch I've got is 2" or 51mm (I forget whether I bought the metric or imperial set....) but I lent that to someone months ago and it hasn't come back yet. I got mine from http://www.nfauto.co.uk/punch_set.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjwb Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 Point of order! The 'two piece punch thing' is a Q Max cutter. Steve B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby dooby doo Posted July 30, 2002 Share Posted July 30, 2002 ok - i was worried it wouldn't work in the rear wing but the cone cutter was easy. and let me make it a bit small and file it out in the right direction... Q-max cutter - thats the job! knew it had a "proper" name HOOPY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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