DIY Carbon Fiber Interior Trim
Mar 28, 2009, 06:34 PM
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DIY Carbon Fiber Interior Trim
Lately people have been wrapping their interior trim with a carbon fiber leather/vinyl. Not real carbon fiber, just a weaved material that looks alike. I remembered reading a few sites on DIY CF and decided to give it a shot, if all else failed I would just remove all of the resin/CF and paint it black.
I got a yard of the carbon fiber at a fiberglass plastics and paint store for 50$ a yard, nothing special just a normal weave. They have lots of different weaves and even carbon kevlars if you want to mix it up. The hardest part of this project was finding the carbon fiber locally. If you want, you can order it online in rolls for really nice prices.
You'll also need some resin, preferably get epoxy resin not polyurethane(spider cracks, yellows, isn't UV protectant), this epoxy resin is really expensive. As for what stuff to buy, just ask whoever sells you the CF weave.
What you need
Carbon Fiber Fabric
Resin (get the good stuff please)
X-Acto knife
Sandpaper (try to keep it under 500)
Optional Materials
Dremel
Super Glue
Clamps
Take off whatever trim you'll be laminating with the carbon fiber. What I'll be doing my first peice on will be the small criss crossed interior trim to the left of the steering wheel.
Sand it down so the resin or super glue (your choice) has something to stick to. Sand it under a running stream of water.
Place the piece on the carbon fiber and tape up what you're going to cut out for it. I cut out way too much just in case and so I could clamp it a bit easier. Mkae sure to cut over the tape so it doesnt fray.
I decided to use super glue, I've read of people using it becuase it doesn't really matter what is underneith if you're only doing it for the looks. Applied it generously, and then wrapped the fiber over it. I clamped the fiber in certain places where I stretched it on tight.
Above picture is after it was sitting for 10 minutes, I then touched up some areas on the edges just to make sure. If you are going to do a layer of resin underneith it is pretty much the same. I practiced with both and prefer the glue for decorative applications.
Mix up the resin, make sure you follow the directions as every resin is different. I made the mistake of mixing too much, you really don't use a lot per layer. Apply the epoxy on generously, and get a plastic spoon and use the backside to move the resin around. The stuff I was using was really thin (epoxy resin is thinner/harder to work with than the polyeurothane junk, but it is worth it) so I had to do a lot of layers to get rid of the bumps from the fabric. Just apply the resin generously, it will spread out itself, but I helped it a bit with the spoon
.
First layer :
Let it dry for a few hours and apply a second layer.
Second layer
I know the second layer looks like **** with the lumps of resin at the bottom, but I fixed that after I took the picture. Even if they dry like that, you can dremel or sand them off or ignore them if the peice still fits back in and you can't see it anyway (most of the edges are like this anyway).
Second layer after sitting for a bit (hard to tell in the pictures, but some areas are wet and some dry)
Now I added the third layer.
I like these
I'm going to let it dry for a day or to at this point. I'll cut the excess fabric off, and dremel the edges to make it real nice. Since this project isn't fully complete yet, I'll be updating it as I go.
Oh, and I know what I am doing is ironic since I'm actually adding weight so it defeats the process of CF, but I had to do something with the checkered trim
.
I got a yard of the carbon fiber at a fiberglass plastics and paint store for 50$ a yard, nothing special just a normal weave. They have lots of different weaves and even carbon kevlars if you want to mix it up. The hardest part of this project was finding the carbon fiber locally. If you want, you can order it online in rolls for really nice prices.
You'll also need some resin, preferably get epoxy resin not polyurethane(spider cracks, yellows, isn't UV protectant), this epoxy resin is really expensive. As for what stuff to buy, just ask whoever sells you the CF weave.
What you need
Carbon Fiber Fabric
Resin (get the good stuff please)
X-Acto knife
Sandpaper (try to keep it under 500)
Optional Materials
Dremel
Super Glue
Clamps
Take off whatever trim you'll be laminating with the carbon fiber. What I'll be doing my first peice on will be the small criss crossed interior trim to the left of the steering wheel.
Sand it down so the resin or super glue (your choice) has something to stick to. Sand it under a running stream of water.
Place the piece on the carbon fiber and tape up what you're going to cut out for it. I cut out way too much just in case and so I could clamp it a bit easier. Mkae sure to cut over the tape so it doesnt fray.
I decided to use super glue, I've read of people using it becuase it doesn't really matter what is underneith if you're only doing it for the looks. Applied it generously, and then wrapped the fiber over it. I clamped the fiber in certain places where I stretched it on tight.
Above picture is after it was sitting for 10 minutes, I then touched up some areas on the edges just to make sure. If you are going to do a layer of resin underneith it is pretty much the same. I practiced with both and prefer the glue for decorative applications.
Mix up the resin, make sure you follow the directions as every resin is different. I made the mistake of mixing too much, you really don't use a lot per layer. Apply the epoxy on generously, and get a plastic spoon and use the backside to move the resin around. The stuff I was using was really thin (epoxy resin is thinner/harder to work with than the polyeurothane junk, but it is worth it) so I had to do a lot of layers to get rid of the bumps from the fabric. Just apply the resin generously, it will spread out itself, but I helped it a bit with the spoon
.First layer :
Let it dry for a few hours and apply a second layer.
Second layer
I know the second layer looks like **** with the lumps of resin at the bottom, but I fixed that after I took the picture. Even if they dry like that, you can dremel or sand them off or ignore them if the peice still fits back in and you can't see it anyway (most of the edges are like this anyway).
Second layer after sitting for a bit (hard to tell in the pictures, but some areas are wet and some dry)
Now I added the third layer.
I like these
I'm going to let it dry for a day or to at this point. I'll cut the excess fabric off, and dremel the edges to make it real nice. Since this project isn't fully complete yet, I'll be updating it as I go.
Oh, and I know what I am doing is ironic since I'm actually adding weight so it defeats the process of CF, but I had to do something with the checkered trim
.
Last edited by DrasticK; Mar 28, 2009 at 09:03 PM.
Mar 28, 2009, 07:09 PM
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Really, don't think you can't do it for a second! Just covering stuff without baging and using a vacuum to make really good stuff is real easy. Give it a shot, even if you screw up 10 times you'll still have enough CF and resin to do it again! I did some Tupperware for practice, it really isn't too hard. The cost of materials kind of hurts though, the resin and fiber is like 100$ Canadian 
I got more pictures uploading now, I wish I had a decent camera to take good pictures of the piece.
Edited main post. I'm pretty much done until it comes time to trim it.
I got more pictures uploading now, I wish I had a decent camera to take good pictures of the piece.
Edited main post. I'm pretty much done until it comes time to trim it.
Last edited by DrasticK; Mar 28, 2009 at 07:19 PM.
post more pics when you update...
Mar 28, 2009, 08:54 PM
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Really, don't think you can't do it for a second! Just covering stuff without baging and using a vacuum to make really good stuff is real easy. Give it a shot, even if you screw up 10 times you'll still have enough CF and resin to do it again! I did some Tupperware for practice, it really isn't too hard. The cost of materials kind of hurts though, the resin and fiber is like 100$ Canadian
I got more pictures uploading now, I wish I had a decent camera to take good pictures of the piece.
Edited main post. I'm pretty much done until it comes time to trim it.
I got more pictures uploading now, I wish I had a decent camera to take good pictures of the piece.
Edited main post. I'm pretty much done until it comes time to trim it.
Do you have lots of supplies leftover
I'd like to do this too...
And I have a nice camera!
Mar 28, 2009, 09:05 PM
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You might have to grab a yard.
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Mar 31, 2009, 08:33 PM
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Where did you purchase the fabric and resin from? What was the brand?
Did you clear coat the finish or was that just resin with some wet sanding?
Did you clear coat the finish or was that just resin with some wet sanding?
Last edited by Viciouz; Mar 31, 2009 at 08:40 PM.