New to CF - CF Skinning Interior Dash


New to CF - CF Skinning Interior Dash
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scyzer
scyzer
scyzer
posted 12 Years Ago HOT
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Hello,

I've watched a few of the Youtube instructional videos regarding CF skinning and I'm willing to give it a go.

Here is a picture of the interior of my car. http://www.caradvice.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Toyota-86-interior-full-dash.jpg

I'll be trying to CF skin the various silver plastic dash pieces (e.g. steering wheel, shifter, vents, handles, etc.) as well as the currently fake CF wrapped dash.

A few questions - firstly regarding the difficulty of the exercise and particulars of the process:

  1. With regards to areas where there are odd curves and sharp corners, such as the steering wheel and shifter parts, how should I go about it? I'm wondering if I should try and fold the CF fabric into the sharp edges or just cutoff at the edges? There was an individual who has done a good job on this (but a language barrier made it hard for me to understand the specifics of what he did) and his work can be found here:

    http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showpost.php?p=480097&postcount=39
    http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showpost.php?p=483596&postcount=43

  2. With regards to the excess CF that hangs off the part (or gets wrapped around and taped behind the part) - does this receive a similar amount of epoxy resin? If you tape up the edges as per the following video, how do you deal with the fraying ends once the tape is removed? If you don't use tape, do you just dremel and sand the excess (making sure the CF is fixed tightly onto the edge upon application)?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rTWaV1imzs


With regards to products I need to purchase, I have had a first go at making a list of items I probably need. Could someone please check over this list and add/amend as necessary? I've decided not to go with a kit as I suspect I'll need more of each item (for 2 car interiors):

https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/200g-profinish-coated-22-twill-3k-carbon-fibre-cloth
- Does this come in a larger size?
- How much will I need?
- What was the width of the sheet?

https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/el2-epoxy-laminating-resin
- Was this the correct "top coat" resin? If not what should I be looking at?

https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/xcr-black-epoxy-basecoat
https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/topfinish2-natural-ultra-gloss-polishing-compound

https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/high-capacity-digital-electronic-weighing-scales
https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/10-inch-carbon-composites-shears
https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/mirka-wet-and-dry-abrasive-paper-combination-pack
https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/p1500-wet-and-dry-abrasive-paper
https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/medium-paper-mixing-cups
https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/regular-mixing-sticks
https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/composites-laminating-brush
https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/nitrile-gloves

Finally, if all goes well, I'm also considering creating a CF overlay for my roof. Not sure to go about this (hoping to make a CF part that I can adhere on rather than skin it - and there are currently no aftermarket options) but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Cheers,

Collin
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Matt (Staff)
Matt (Staff)
Matt (Staff)
posted 12 Years Ago HOT
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Posts: 680, Visits: 1.9K
Hi Collin,

Thanks for the post. Answers to your questions as follows:

With regards to areas where there are odd curves and sharp corners, such as the steering wheel and shifter parts, how should I go about it? I'm wondering if I should try and fold the CF fabric into the sharp edges or just cutoff at the edges?


A lot more experience since we first made that Carbon Mods skinning video has taught us than in many instances, particularly on smaller more fiddly parts, it's better to just run the carbon fibre straight off the edges, let the basecoat fully cure, then scalpel the fibre off clean at that point. This seems to help a lot with keeping the fabric neat at the edges and helps to prevent a sort of 'ballooning' that can occur at the edges where you loop it back round if the fabric doesn't stay pulled really tight so I'd definately say in most cases just run it straight of the edge.

With regards to the excess CF that hangs off the part (or gets wrapped around and taped behind the part) - does this receive a similar amount of epoxy resin?


Refer to the above answer really. If you cut off the excess carbon afetr the basecoat has fully cured then you should have a really neat edge already. This way, the clear layers of resin that go over the top will create a nice glossy edge to the carbon, sealing it it.

https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/200g-profinish-coated-22-twill-3k-carbon-fibre-cloth
a) Does this come in a larger size?- How much will I need?
b) What was the width of the sheet?


a) It's sold by the linear metre, the 'quantity' you buy will determine the length fo the roll you get. Buy '3' and you'll get a 3m long roll. I'm not sure exactly how much you'll need because the first picture you linked to won't open and I'm not sure if it will have dimensions on anyway. I'd guess at around a couple of metres per interior.

b) That fabric is 1m wide.

https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/el2-epoxy-laminating-resin
- Was this the correct "top coat" resin? If not what should I be looking at?


Good questions and no, it's not. It's a bit confusing (the two different names on Carbon Mods and Easy Composites for this product - this is something we'll rationalise at some point. On Easy Composites it's essential that you purchase our Epoxy Coating Resin for skinning. That's the one you need (and the one that we use in the Skinning video).

**SHOPPING LIST**

Apart from ensuring you get the Coating Resin and not the EL2 Laminating Resin then the list looks spot-on. It's worth thinking about whether you're going to finish the parts with clear lacquer or whether you're going to just polish the epoxy all the way up to a full gloss. My general advise would be to go for a spray lacquer because this will give you a very good gloss to your parts very quickly, add UV stability and mean that you've only got to flat up to about an 800 grit. For small interior parts (where it will be difficult to use a power polisher) I think you'll find it much easier to lacquer rather than polish the very hard epoxy up to full gloss.

Finally, if all goes well, I'm also considering creating a CF overlay for my roof. Not sure to go about this (hoping to make a CF part that I can adhere on rather than skin it - and there are currently no aftermarket options) but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there.


Great, well, you know we can advise you on that too! - Just let us know when you get to that point.

I hope it all goes well and look forward to working with you.

Best regards, Matt



Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales
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