My SECOND wrapped carbon fiber part.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 4:18 pm

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.

theTeejmiester · Post by **theTeejmiester** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 4:22 pm

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

Ntyvirus1 · Post by **Ntyvirus1** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 4:25 pm

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

edit: wherd u get your cf cloth from?

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 4:32 pm

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.

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 4:48 pm

I HATE CF...

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

Dylan-00Blue · Post by **Dylan-00Blue** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 4:49 pm

loooks great dude

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 4:50 pm

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.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:02 pm

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!

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:03 pm

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

Either way I hate you...

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:14 pm

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.

n20sxt · Post by **n20sxt** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:30 pm

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.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:38 pm

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

heydockyle · Post by **heydockyle** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:42 pm

Wooden Coilovers.

More on topic:

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

sxxxt · Post by **sxxxt** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 6:08 pm

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

Tam · Post by **Tam** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 6:18 pm

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

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 6:31 pm

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.

teamliviD · Post by **teamliviD** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:24 pm

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

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 9:00 pm

lol Joe I had you in mind when I posted this

DOSneons · Post by **DOSneons** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 10:49 pm

that looks great man

superdan · Post by **superdan** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 11:04 pm

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

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 11:07 pm

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.

quicksilvr · Post by **quicksilvr** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 11:09 pm

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.

superdan · Post by **superdan** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 11:09 pm

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

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 11:14 pm

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?

a23dranger · Post by **a23dranger** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 11:14 pm

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

superdan · Post by **superdan** » Mon Oct 25, 2010 11:18 pm

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

probably, so you can call me a ricer lolz

Caraudioholic24 · Post by **Caraudioholic24** » Tue Oct 26, 2010 1:36 am

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!!!

whyconform · Post by **whyconform** » Tue Oct 26, 2010 9:42 am

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

esfan · Post by **esfan** » Tue Oct 26, 2010 11:02 am

Looks very nice! Good job!

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Tue Oct 26, 2010 11:15 am

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.