DIY: Carbon fiber wrapping/skinning

cwood1388 · 7 June 2012

Man that defrost vent looks sick!

mr_goat · 7 June 2012

Nefarious said:
Those parts came out great!

Yes! :biggrin:

Grimeas said:
That would be nice to do to that defroster grill.... I may have to do that sometime just to fix the one i have which is cracked..

FernandoLens said:
+1 Mine too. ?

This is a perfect mod to cracked defroster grills. It will be stronger and there will be no signs what so ever of that it was once broken.

mr_goat · 7 June 2012

cwood1388 said:
Man that defrost vent looks sick!

NO it looks quite healthy actually :wink: Thanks.

mr_goat · 3 July 2012

Just some more pics:

More to come!

//Johan

Nefarious · 4 July 2012

Everything is coming out spectacular! I bet your hands hurt from sanding so much.

cwood1388 · 5 July 2012

sweet! I think I've found some more stuff to do with my own car.

With the console are you vacuum bagging?

comptonassdaniel · 6 July 2012

Can I just send you my parts and you do this for me? Thanks. :biggrin:

Russ · 6 July 2012

Amazing work, just beautiful. Looking forward to more interior shots.

comtec · 9 July 2012

Think i am going to play around with this. Good place to get supplies in US?

What does the 2k and 3k mean?

Mike

myw · 9 July 2012

those handles (actaully everything) looks AMAZING

cwood1388 · 9 July 2012

comtec said:
Think i am going to play around with this. Good place to get supplies in US?

What does the 2k and 3k mean?

Mike

Its a measurement that tells how many filaments per tow. so 2000 and 3000 in your case.

The Tow is an individual strand of fiber that is woven into the fabric.

Heres a video for you. Gives you a better idea of how the fabric itself is made:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaoq8Mc4xxw&feature=related

comtec · 9 July 2012

cwood1388 said:
Its a measurement that tells how many filaments per tow. so 2000 and 3000 in your case.

The Tow is an individual strand of fiber that is woven into the fabric.

Heres a video for you. Gives you a better idea of how the fabric itself is made:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaoq8Mc4xxw&feature=related

Hey Chris,
Cool video. So from what you said the 3k would be a heavier/thicker cloth then the 2k? I don't like the quality of the cf injector covers for my CT kit so thought i would give it a try skinning them. Now just have to pick a cloth, lots of cool options i see.

Thanks
Mike

Stephen@NCAutoUSA · 10 July 2012

comtec said:
Hey Chris,
Cool video. So from what you said the 3k would be a heavier/thicker cloth then the 2k? I don't like the quality of the cf injector covers for my CT kit so thought i would give it a try skinning them. Now just have to pick a cloth, lots of cool options i see.

Thanks
Mike

Yes 3k would be a heavier duty cloth than a 2k but that's not always a better thing. It is when you're making parts I think but for wrapping/skinning/overlaying I think it depends. The thinner stuff is easier to wrap around complex curves from what I've been told. Gil may want to chime in since I know he's used both and can comment on the workability on both and which one would be best for your part.

comtec · 10 July 2012

sduffass said:
Yes 3k would be a heavier duty cloth than a 2k but that's not always a better thing. It is when you're making parts I think but for wrapping/skinning/overlaying I think it depends. The thinner stuff is easier to wrap around complex curves from what I've been told. Gil may want to chime in since I know he's used both and can comment on the workability on both and which one would be best for your part.

Great Thanks, So i will go with the 3k. The kit come with epoxy but on the site it says to use resins which cure clear on colors. The epoxy doesn't list that, only the poly's and something called "Kleer Kote Table Top Epoxy". Should i just buy everything indivual and go with poly?

Here is what they say about the poly

This is a polyester resin and cures water clear. Uncured....this resin has a light green tint. Most resins on the market have a brownish tint to them but this resin is unlike the rest. This resin is best used with the variety of colored fabrics that we offer. The colored appearance of the fabric will stay bright and vibrant like it should. UV protection is also added to this resin to prevent the damaging effects of the sun. This resin was created for the surfboard industry and made to withstand hours of direct sunlight. We have produced panels using this resin and a few years later, they are in as good of condition as they were when we originally produced them. This resin is rated to withstand 180 deg F, However we have used this resin for a few panels that are 3" away from an 1500 degree F exhaust pipe. The resin was unaffected and still remains intact today.

Mike

Stephen@NCAutoUSA · 10 July 2012

Sent you a pm, but for overlaying you may want to rethink about doing it for something like injector covers that sit over the engine bay since those temps get pretty high with everything else going on.

comtec · 10 July 2012

sduffass said:
Sent you a pm, but for overlaying you may want to rethink about doing it for something like injector covers that sit over the engine bay since those temps get pretty high with everything else going on.

Thanks for the info :smile:

The covers are already CF, i just wanted to add a cosmetic layer. Think that would work?

Mike

synergy004 · 10 July 2012

If you overlay injector covers I would hope it is vacuum bagged. I would hate for it to lift on a conventional wet layup. Your part would come out ten times better and would require less of a mess to do so.

comtec · 10 July 2012

synergy004 said:
If you overlay injector covers I would hope it is vacuum bagged. I would hate for it to lift on a conventional wet layup. Your part would come out ten times better and would require less of a mess to do so.

You mean lift as in come apart from the other cf?

So we are clear what the parts are, just simple and mostly flat pieces shown on the bottom of the box.

Mike

synergy004 · 11 July 2012

comtec said:
You mean lift as in come apart from the other cf?

So we are clear what the parts are, just simple and mostly flat pieces shown on the bottom of the box.

Mike

I have seen flat pcs as mentioned lift from the edges due to poor lay up. I am a firm believer in doing it the right way without cut corners. Doing a lay up is a no brainer, it is the after affect of the product IE: weave, material types (resin to hardener mix) etc that play a roll other than preparation.

West system has a vacuum bagging kit for a little or under 250.00. Another 100 bucks on twill weave carbon fabric can net nice solid pcs.

mr_goat · 16 July 2012

Yes, my hands hurt!

Sanded rough:

Clear coated, needs a final polish:

Done =) No vacuum bagging here, just manual work.

''

Installed:

Thanks for all the compliments! :biggrin:

synergy004 · 16 July 2012

Are you getting different seats?

mr_goat · 17 July 2012

synergy004 said:
Are you getting different seats?

I initally wanted to upholster my OEM ones but decided against it, I'm eventually going for aftermarket. Now I just want to fix the small stuff left and enjoy my car for the rest of this season! :smile:

synergy004 · 17 July 2012

mr_goat said:
I initally wanted to upholster my OEM ones but decided against it, I'm eventually going for aftermarket. Now I just want to fix the small stuff left and enjoy my car for the rest of this season! :smile:

Awesome, Sparco makes seats in alcantara Red/gray/black or blue.

PHOEN$X · 17 July 2012

mr_goat said:
Yes, my hands hurt!

Jeez, if that's what it takes to get CF parts then I'll happily live without them.

cwood1388 · 17 July 2012

Yeah things like that happen doing this kind of thing. Those slivers of carbon can destroy your finger tips.I've even had one go under a finger nail before.

Mr goat. Regarding that ashtray door. Do you have any problems with yours binding opening and closing?the only time I did one I couldn't wrap the entire plastic piece and keep it from sticking.

DIY: Carbon fiber wrapping/skinning

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