DIY Carbon Fiber

jumbowolfe · May 14, 2012

Hey guys, first time new thread....

I've been looking at various pics of Carbon Fiber, and wondering how hard it is to DIY. I have shot urethane's before on guitars, and car parts, so I'm familiar with gravity guns and other clearing type techniques. What I'm wondering is, does anyone have a good website that walks you through the process? From what I understand, you overlay the material and it "sticks" to the object, then you layer clear until you get a fairly thick coat.

I'm familiar with epoxy resin type polyester, as this stuff is fairly common in guitar finishing (at least in the 80's). Is this what is commonly used?

Has anyone ever done carbon fiber on 94-98 GT dash elements like instrument bezels, door handle inserts, etc?

I don't really want the stick on "kit" parts, I really want it to look like a stock mod.

Thanks if anyone has advice!
Mike

ttocs · May 14, 2012

do a search for carbon fiber skinning. I have looked at it myself and it doesn't look too bad with the fiberglassing exp I have but I am sure the devil is in the details getting it to lay straight and set up perfectly.

LilRoush · May 14, 2012

I think with the newer 3D carbon fiber looking wraps, getting the look of 'real' CF has become cheap/easy compared to truely wrapping CF.
Was it someone on here who was using real CF to do interior trim parts... or was it on SVTP?

Ferocious · May 14, 2012

I have a buddy who did the whole dash/trim of his s197. He just bought the carbon fiber wrap material and went at it with a heat gun.
It turned out really nice. Unfortunately, i have no pictures of it and he got rid of the car a few months back.

justinschmidt1 · May 14, 2012

The carbon fiber wrap stuff is good but ive seen tutorials where they use wrap and resin, looks liek a long process but looks well worth it.

Check it out: http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29556

joekd · May 14, 2012

justinschmidt1 said:
The carbon fiber wrap stuff is good but ive seen tutorials where they use wrap and resin, looks liek a long process but looks well worth it.

Check it out: http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29556

Am I the only one in complete amazement that he did so much work for a piece to go on a Yaris?

justinschmidt1 · May 14, 2012

ahahaha yea man, I read through that before and then realized it was for a fucking yaris...instant face palm, who puts carbon fiber parts on a yaris.

jumbowolfe · May 15, 2012

Thanks for the info guys.

boston2k4 · May 15, 2012

Hey now! the yaris is... a toilet yes but it small light and can be supercharged and get up to 150 -170 hp at the wheel! (ok i just face palmed myself) but seriously the stock weight of 2200 lbs with 150 could be go kart fun speed.

CC'S95GT · May 15, 2012

You can also look into hydro imaging. It's not a carbon overlay but a more of a paint that's floated on water the you part is set down on it and the paint wraps itself around the part. There is probably something similar closer to you if you want to look into it.http://www.atlantahydroimaging.com/pricing

jumbowolfe · May 15, 2012

Has anyone here carbon fibered their bezels or peices of the dash on their mustangs? I have a friend with a wrecked 03', so I'm going to buy his instrument bezel and shifter cup to use as a project (so I don't jack up the original parts).

Pictures would be cool.

That hyrdo imaging looks awesome!

ttocs · May 15, 2012

You guys need to know what you can wrap easily and what would be harder with the real CF or even with the decals. Wrapping a solid object with no "negative space" or pockets in it is easy but as soon as you start talking about door-pulls or cup holders you are going to have a GREAT time trying to do it. The CF will give a little bit around corners/edges but to get it to look good you need to make sure it is not stretched/pulled anywhere harder then anywere else. Stretching it in different directions will cause the weave to not look even and as soon as those lines are out of arrangement it will draw your eye to it. Even the curves of the center portion below the radio and above the shifter will cause issues because of the way you would nee the material to move to fill it and stay flat on the dash. You would either need to stretch the matial or make some cuts in it to get it to lay flat. Decals can stretch into these spaces to a point but they will reach their limits as well and would either need cuts or multiple pieces.

A good example of what I am talking about is just yesterday when I was laying the mass loaded vinyl in my car for sound damping. This material doesn't give AT ALL so to get it to fit into the gentle curves of the floor I had to cut some "V" shapped cuts out of the top. In this case it was no big deal to cover the cuts with duct tape but you will not really have that option.

foofinator · May 15, 2012

When I was in engineering school I had to make carbon fiber helicopter blades. Anyone who can do a job like that Yaris center console is a master craftsman. Carbon fiber is a BITCH. Oh yeah, wear a mask and gloves. Stinky shit too.

ttocs · May 15, 2012

covering pieces like his and making a precision balanced item like some heli blades is hardly the same thing. Skinning/wrapping pieces is not all that hard. Smelly, well I guess but thats if you don't kinda like the smell of carcinogens....