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Removing fake CF dash trim?

Don't bother trying, find a company that specializes in automotive plastic restoration and refinishing or fork out the $1400.-1600 for a new OEM set.
I found a company by the name of 'GCAR' a co. that specializes in concours level restoration of automotive dash plastic and chrome.
Here are the before and after pics of my console. The before pic was old nasty CF that was peeling, bubbled scuffed and just ugly looking as well as the clock & ac vent area had been cracked and sloppily painted. The after pic which is not even close to representing the quality they accomplished is amazing in person. One benefit is they can do the painting in any color you could imagine, plus plastic welding repair plastic plating.
 

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JIMSBLACK92 said:
Don't bother trying, find a company that specializes in automotive plastic restoration and refinishing or fork out the $1400.-1600 for a new OEM set.
I found a company by the name of 'GCAR' a co. that specializes in concours level restoration of automotive dash plastic and chrome.
Here are the before and after pics of my console. The before pic was old nasty CF that was peeling, bubbled scuffed and just ugly looking as well as the clock & ac vent area had been cracked and sloppily painted. The after pic which is not even close to representing the quality they accomplished is amazing in person. One benefit is they can do the painting in any color you could imagine, plus plastic welding repair plastic plating.

Contact info? Pricing? :smile:
 
http://www.gcartrim.com/

Can't remember the contact name but it is a one or 2 person shop and I am sure they will remember the job it was their 1st NSX. The majority of their work is in 50's-60's miscle cars.
I recall the cost as being around 550.00 and about 6 weeks Leadtime which is the downside, but it was well worth the wait.
 
JIMSBLACK92 said:
http://www.gcartrim.com/

Can't remember the contact name but it is a one or 2 person shop and I am sure they will remember the job it was their 1st NSX. The majority of their work is in 50's-60's miscle cars.
I recall the cost as being around 550.00 and about 6 weeks Leadtime which is the downside, but it was well worth the wait.

Thanks Jim! So this is something you send in to them, right?

-James
 
JIMSBLACK92 said:
http://www.gcartrim.com/

Can't remember the contact name but it is a one or 2 person shop and I am sure they will remember the job it was their 1st NSX. The majority of their work is in 50's-60's miscle cars.
I recall the cost as being around 550.00 and about 6 weeks Leadtime which is the downside, but it was well worth the wait.

$550??? That's seems really high. For less than a third of that, you could take it to a body shop and have it painted. It isn't that difficult, unless it is severely cracked and needs repair. I had mine done this way and it looked as good as the ones in the pictures above. Smooth as glass with a clear coat and all.
 
I agree with Jlindy. I just had mine done by pbasso up at Vince's. The hard part is getting the matte finish like the original. Mine came out perfect, admittedly Joe said it took a few "mixes" to get it dead on. I did notice in the pic that the redone verison above is not a matte finish, it looks great, but then you have to do the door parts too, which I did not want to do.

I also feel the matte finish is used to minimize glare from sunlight, JMO.

HTH,
LarryB
 
In my case, the main console piece was cracked into almost two pieces the some of the screw bosses were broken, the door switch panels, most of the tabs along the underside were broken off and the ac vent/clock bezel was in really bad shape so I needed some plastic welding done. After spending nearly 3 hrs of trying to remove the cf on just one switch panel along with the 3 layers of OEM finish which consists of the top finish and 2 layers of what appered to be nickel plating with an Exacto knife and ending up with a piece of junk. My alternatives were new parts or find someplace to repair them. After interviewing a couple of body shops on the phone and showing the parts to one of them I determined that in my case I was not going to settle for anything less than equal or better looking parts than new OEM.
I have seen on this forum the work of several 'CRAFTSMAN' who have done their own work and in a couple of cases it is very nicely done, my inspiration came from seeing D'ECOSSE'S outstanding work in person, but my talent does'nt match my inspiration so I paid professionals to handle that part. My particular finish is several coats of a PPG color I liked, then I think a couple of coats of clear. It really isn't shiney at all but it does photo like it is.
Whatever or whoever you end up using make sure they pay particular attention the indentation area around the window switch otherwise you WILL notice it.
The $500 or so is expensive(maybe yours would be less) but after spending lots of time on the phone & e-mail with these people during the weeks the parts were there & they taking the time to explain in detail the various processes involved I received good value for my money.
Good Luck!
Jim
 
Jim,

You had a lot more then just a refinish on the center console. Sounds more reasonable now:).

Regards,
LarryB
 
JIMSBLACK92 said:
After spending nearly 3 hrs of trying to remove the cf on just one switch panel along with the 3 layers of OEM finish which consists of the top finish and 2 layers of what appered to be nickel plating with an Exacto knife and ending up with a piece of junk. Jim

That OEM metal film is a B!^(H to get off. It is better to sand, feather the edges, and then bondo to make smooth again. Not an easy job and I would rather pay someone to do it right too.
 
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