CF Intake plenum. Etching?

[bahtenduh]

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Hey guys. First CF project i'm working on. Gonna be an intake plenum for my Nissan RB20. It will see at the most 20lbs of boost. I think i have everything worked out i just have a question about the first layer of glass which will attach directly to the aluminum base plate.

Here is the base plate i machined bolted to the lower intake runners.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

Here is the original mold i made out of wood.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

I was going to try and form some aluminum on this but that wasn't working out too well. I will be making a new mold out of foam. The foam mold will be a little bit inset around the edges of the baseplate and i will wrap the glass/CF around the edge of the baseplate kind of like this [-----] ([) being the glass and (-) being the aluminum baseplate)so i can get a good bond to the aluminum. I hope that makes sense.

I will be using probably 2 layers of s-glass to bond to the aluminum to prevent galvanic corrosion. So my question is what is the best way to treat the aluminum so i can glass directly to it? From researching i found i need to etch it. Just wondering if anyone has any preferences for a certain product to use. I will be using West Systems epoxy and will be vacuum bagging it then use acetone to melt the foam mold.

 

[Hansmeister]

There are a number of techniques to prep the aluminum, but in your case, probably a bead blast followed up with a thorough cleaning with acetone should be sufficient.

 

[bahtenduh]

What about the West Systems Aluminum etch kit? Doesn't seem too bad at $15 or so. I would rather be on the safe side.

 

[Deltona]

None of the pic links in your first post work for me......