Can anyone telle me if this is Kevlar ?
 

I just had the side panels out of my Top Gun. Ihis is the color of the hull behind them. Is it Kevlar ? The foto is not to good. It is gold in color and you can se throug the material. But judging from the picture can someone tell me what it is ?

Cigaretteman

From what I have seen Kelvar is gold in color but is not see through. Id say from the picture that is not kelvar. Ive never seen it come in that type of weave.

Kevlar ?
 

From what I have been told , Kevlar is a real heavy Cord
looking material. Almost like shoe string, If you look in
area's like exhaust cut outs you should be able to see if
you have Kevlar or not by looking at the ends of the
glass/Kevlar.
Also told that Kevlar can and will take on water.
So your finish layers in your layup is Fiber Glass to
keep your Kevlar sealed up.

Hope this helps

Cougarman

I don't believe that is Kevlar either. It's almost a dark walnut color. Wardey

my fiberglass in my 76 donzi looks like that. it's a thicker cord than other fiberglass i've seen and it's yellowish in color.

Fiberglass is white, but can look to be a different color because of the tint in the resin that is used. If it is a gold color, but NOT transparent, it could be Kevlar. Kevlar is very, very difficult to cut, and can leave a fuzzy edge, so that's another indication.

Here's a picture of Kevlar:

It's 2415 Fabmat. 24 oz Woven Roving w/ 1 1/2oz mat on the adhesion side and is probably been built with Polyester Resin. If you think I am wrong? Take a small grinder to an area and if it doesn't "Hair Up " on you, it is not Kevlar....;)
Also, that little patch up on the right is tri-directional glass. with probably 3/4 oz mat on the adhesion side... ;)
And Chuck, Your Kevlar firewall has been vacuum bagged...:D :D :D

It's kevlar and I wont repeat what sharkey said.....

Ok...It looks like you will have to Grind it and post some pics!!!
What year is this hull?:confused: It looks to be around an '89....

This how they are built today:
Multi directional glass, vinyl ester resin, prisma stringer wrapped in carbon fiber, deckalite bulkheads, air cell transom, vacuum bagged cored lay-up.
Yeah!!! You've got to love the innovations in fiberglass...They've come along way.....:cool:

Actually, the entire hull was bagged (and cored). (And it was built w-a-y back in 1994!)