2GN.ORG

srt_coupes recent fs thread got me looking into carbon fiber work and I started to do my research. I decided I wanted to give it a shot myself figuring the worst that happens is I'm out the money I spent on supplies (which were not cheap), but if all goes well I'd have a new skill and some cool parts.

I had a specific project in mind I wanted to try, so I just went at it after getting my carbon fiber, resin, and tons of foam brushes. I already had the Super 90 and the random assortment of sandpaper. I have been wanting BUX style door inserts but they are hard to come by in the U.S. so I decided to just make my own. I wanted to do them with a twist. I currently have inserts wrapped in black suede and it has already faded to a nice purple since last year... So instead of re-wrapping them only to have them fade again I decided I wanted to do something I hadn't seen done before and do CF door inserts. (After searching I found a company did these in a GB on SRTForums back in 06 but Krackstar was the only person I could find that had them. They were $250 per set ) Another twist would be color matching the bottom of the door insert, which is "wood" on the BUX door, PS2 to match my car.

I started off by using a junk door insert (thanks Dan) and taking some rough measurements to decide where I wanted to cut the piece into two pieces. Sharpied a nice line on it and proceeded to cut it with a jigsaw for a straight cut.





Once cut, I beveled the bottom edge of the top piece so I could wrap the CF around it nicely.





Next up was removing the nasty glue stuck all over the insert. I tried adhesive remover with no luck, so I used a random orbit sander and a 60 grit disk to clean them up. Didn't get any pics of the top piece but I did it too.





Next I measured the CF cloth I needed and used a straight edge to line the weave up and taped the edges so it would stay straight and not fray then cut along the tape





I bombed the insert black and let it dry so it wouldn't be visible through the weave.



I Super 90'd the insert and wrapped the carbon fiber around it



Mixed my resin and started applying the first coat



After several coats of resin







After 4 coats, I let the resin cure for 2 days then wet sanded the high spots with 80 grit sandpaper, then 180, 320, then 400 over the entire piece. I washed the piece and let it dry. After that I applied two coats of UPOL #1 Clear.







Test fit on one of my door panels





It's not 100% perfect, but for my first piece wrapped in CF I'm very happy with it. The weave is consistent and no strands popped. I need to do some bodywork on the bottom piece to get it to fit how I want then I'll paint it PS2. I just thought it'd be a cool project, and it's not something anyone else has done that I know of.

After these are done, I have a few other pieces I'd like to wrap in CF and eventually try my hand at some full replacement parts.

When I feel comfortable enough with my work, I may start doing some parts for some of the other CF whores if there is any interest, but I'd have to look into becoming a vendor at that point I guess.

fun isn't it?? and you did a pretty good job for your first time, many people make the mistake of trying to make complicated parts for there first part and then get discouraged. you chose a perfect starter part

looks damn good. Those will look great in the car.

edit: wherd u get your cf cloth from?

Teej, yeah it's a slow and tedious project so I can understand why many don't want to take it on, but that's why i HAD to try it And yeah, I wanted to start off with a project that didn't have insane compound curves because I knew I'd fail.

Ntyvirus - thanks a lot, man. I'm satisfied with how it came out. My interior is really lacking so I have a few projects I wanna do to spice it up some and be unique, maybe even have people raise their eyebrows a bit at some of the strange ideas I wanna try. I got my CF cloth from an ebay vendor "pennon". No real reason, other than the auction was ending soon. I had a good experience with them. Any 2x2 twill carbon fiber cloth will do.

I HATE CF...


that being said, I do like the idea here, good job!

loooks great dude

I considered trying to make my own part from a block of wood... but gave up when I realized I don't have any woodworking tools. And that I'm lazy.

TheRandom1 wrote:I considered trying to make my own part from a block of wood... but gave up when I realized I don't have any woodworking tools. And that I'm lazy.

wut.



that had nothing to do with this, but that project got sidetracked because I didn't mix enough hardener into the resin for the fleece I was fiberglassing. I might try something different with that. And yeah, a lot of people seem to hate CF. Oh well, I figure either way people can appreciate the work that went into it.

Thanks Dylan!

Wait, you had one of those whipped up prior to this thread, or you just did this now?

Either way I hate you...

That wooden thing? rofl. I gave that pic as a teaser in my log over the summer and people guessed what it was for. It is for a GPS mount I was working on.



I stretched that in fleece, and was going to fiberglass it and make a GPS mount for the top "sunglasses" tray on top of the HVAC on the dash. But anyway, I don't wanna take this thread too far off-topic.

That CF wrap came out awesome man and you did a great job explaining each step Im definitely gonna try this when i get home.

This should be posted in the "How To:" as well as here.

Yeah, I was wondering whether I should make a quick "how-to" with more details.

Wooden Coilovers.


More on topic:

I'm still waiting to see these in person so I can say how nice they are.

hey man looks great.. take ur time and ull have ur self some clean cf... keep uo the good work and cant wait to see more

That looks damn good, Ryan. Nice job! Looks so glossy like if they were made from a company!

Thanks guys, the only imperfections are a few tiny pits. Nothing major, more resin would fix it if I cared. I left them since this will go on the back door.


PS - check How-To Miscellaneous section for a how-to I made.

very nice man, ill be bz this winter with cf myself

lol Joe I had you in mind when I posted this

that looks great man

looks good ryan...now that you have experience we are going to cf wrap my whole car just for sean

Dan I have a few ricy fucking ideas I want to try out on some inserts... not just with CF, but your car might actually make it work.

Aaron - thanks, bud.

The carbon fiber looks real nice, especially for a first try. The best part of the whole thing though is the two piece BUX look. The line you chose is great, gives it a really sharp professional feel.

lmao...reminds me i never posted my latest rice mod

quicksilvr wrote:The carbon fiber looks real nice, especially for a first try. The best part of the whole thing though is the two piece BUX look. The line you chose is great, gives it a really sharp professional feel.

Thanks, Dave. I agree the BUX look gives it that extra kick I had been looking for. Once I get all the CF work done and get the bottom pieces painted PS2 I think it'll look great back on the car.

Dan... do I even want to ask?

looks good man.. ive been meaning to try c.f out sometime soon. all due in time..

sidepipe87 wrote:Dan... do I even want to ask?

probably, so you can call me a ricer lolz

Looks good man came out better than my center armrest I tried making LOL


I am changing to 3rd shift so Im gonna have a lot more time on my hands soon!!!

Nice work

Your not the first with CF door panels...."Top Shelf" was a vendor on SRTforums a while back that sold em...I have it for each door.



don't mind the strange girl modeling..its the only pic i found showing the cf panels.....(notice no inside B pillar,, CF was being installed at the time)

actually..here's another....you can see how shiny it is

Looks very nice! Good job!

Bill, I mentioned that SRTForums vendor in the first post. I believe they were actually called Top Shop Carbon Fiber. When I searched I found that Krackstar had them but couldn't find anyone else. They're still not very common, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one with BUX style CF inserts.

Thanks! I need to get my hands on a few other parts I wanna try wrapping now. Or I might just raid the red car and if they come out like dookie I'll replace them later.