My carbon love has returned!!(which led me into another wee project)

ajax1976

ajax1976

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Well it was only a matter of time before I fell off the wagon and got the carbon itch again:-(

Started with the DTM splitter, spotted a set of interior trims for a great price then found a rear valance. Going to justify them as my Xmas treat to myself.



It got me thinking or more the price of carbon got me thinking what bits could I do myself. I have done bits for motorbikes in the past with good results and had some cloth left so cracked on with some bits. B pillars were an obvious choice to start with as they are easily wrapped so got a pair from Ebay to experiment on. Obviously I'm cheating as basically only skinning the parts but it's quite rewarding and not that much harder than vinyl wrapping but looks 100% better, well hopefully they will. I thinking grill surround and number plate holder next but struggling to get hold of cheap 2nd hand parts, will keep looking tho.

Tonights progress. Cut, fit and first coat of resin. I like to just give them a light coat to begin with just to get them stable and secure, once it's cured I can trim off any stray fibres that have came loose then build up the further layers of resin. Then it's just a case of flatting off the resin, wet sand and polish up, well fingers crossed.



Dry wrapped, cheating here and used aerosol carpet glue to secure it with some tape holding the edges around the back.


First coat of resin,

 
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The pillars look like a good job, and along with the rear valance should tie the front bumper in nicely.
 
The front splitter look the dogs * gotta look a thousand times better 'in the flesh' than the printed vinyl wrap ! How much work is it to flat and polish the resin once cured ?
 
Thanks guys,
Not really that hard at all Gary, I gave one of them a quick 10min sand with a mouse sander today and considering it had only had 2 coats of resin the face flatted out nice and smooth. The sides will need more resin as you can still feel the weave in the resin, once it's had another couple of coats I'd be confident I can flat them totally smooth. It's then just a case of working my way down the grades of wet and dry then polish them to a gloss finish.

Also had a quick try of the diffuser and to my surprise it actually fits very well which I wasn't expecting. The attaching tabs aren't the best so think I'll semi-bond it on with a small bit of tigerseal when the time comes.



 
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WOW! Your attention to detail is incredible! Really am enjoying seeing the work done to your car, especially when its CARBON FIBRE
 
Well B pillars are coming along, polishing the resin was taking forever and being quite impatient I decided just to just shoot them with clearcoat. Turned out quite well but will give them a wet sand and polish once fully hardened after a week or so.




Plate holder was coming along well until I sanded through the carbon on the top edge, was gutted. The holders quite a tight fit at the ends so didn't want to recover it with carbon so had an attempt at patching it in which in fairness went very well. I concentrated on the blending it along the top edge which worked well but you can see where I lost the profile on the bottom lip but the plate will hide that so not overly bothered, it's turned out better than I thought. I'm going buy another one and make a proper job of it, just sort of learning as I go so will do bits differently next time.


 
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Actually almost tempted to try a mirror but not the usual part, would like to keep the coloured cover but carbon the black plastic parts. Going to finish all the bits I've started before attempting anymore!!

Grill surround is being a bitch but think I've got away with it and past the hardest bit.

Matted out with one coat of resin


Trimmed up, quick sand then more resin
 
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Do the whole car!!!

Love carbon fibre. Even bought some chopsticks made of it. Totally pointless but every mouthful is just that little bit more special :)

Where did you get the diffuser from? And where do you go to learn how to carbon fibre things and how much stuff do you need for to be able to do it at home....I could see me getting out of hand with it which is why I'm interested..
 
JudderMan said:
Do the whole car!!!

Love carbon fibre. Even bought some chopsticks made of it. Totally pointless but every mouthful is just that little bit more special :)

Where did you get the diffuser from? And where do you go to learn how to carbon fibre things and how much stuff do you need for to be able to do it at home....I could see me getting out of hand with it which is why I'm interested..
Click to expand...

Trying hard not to fall into the trap again but wasted literally thousands on a bike years ago, never again. Just finished my apprenticeship, lived with parents and not a penny of debt and just got carried away. Started with small accents then just ended up going crazy, spent more on the carbon than I payed for the bike in the first place. Ended up I was too scared of damaging it so spent more time waxing it than riding it then ended up selling up stupidly cheap, still regret selling it. Kind of glad no one makes Audi carbon wings, panels, doors etc but in all honesty it's much nicer doing these things yourself.



I just sort of picked it up myself, have done fibre glass stuff in the past which helps. In reality though it's not that hard, can be frustrating if things go wrong tho. Quite a simple process and if you pick an easy item to start with you can build up your confidence. Think I've spent about £40 in materials so far and I've done the grill surround, 2 sets of B pillars and the small window rear triangles. I did buy the parts from Ebay so I haven't actually done the bits on my own car yet, wanted to see how they turn out first!!
 
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Excellent all sounds good mate. Lovely bike too.

Unfortunately my carbon bike doesn't have an engine but it's pretty special to me. A friend of mine said the only thing that let's it down was the alloy seat post....now changed to a...you guessed it...a carbon one.
377a7adf2b4efe56d084202bedbc27f2.jpg
 
Went that way too a few years ago, actually prefer not having an engine although my tyres are still a bit chunkier than yours. My only gripe with mine is that Specialized decided to hide the beautiful weave but at least the weight saving makes it justifiable on a push bike.

Lovely bike tho mate, had a Giant TCR composite a couple of years ago but couldn't adjust to a road bike so stuck with the MTB.
 
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great bike ajax, i would think you do miss having that bike it is great, once a biker allways a biker even if you dont have one , i'm not sure an MTB would really fill the space after having that BMW mate.
Totally agree with you though on throwing money at something, i spent an absolute fotune on my dukes, carbon everything inc the fuel tank etc all the bodywork , mag swinging arm , mag wheels , proper factory race fork , the list just goes on and on, in the end it just was'nt safe to take it out and use it in case i dropped it or it got pinched, just silly money , but a fantastic machine, would i do it again, probably yes.

keep up the brilliant work.
 
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Would love a carbon bonnet but my car is wrong colour to pull it off, if I had a black one I'd have been tempted!!

Like the stuff here but far too many ££££s for me, http://www.carbongoodies.co.uk/Audi/A4/1

Interested in their pricing, Going from the two sites I've saved just over £400 by doing my plate holder, B pillars and window triangles myself:)

More so with bike stuff but I've always thought these companies would shift so much more gear if the prices were much more realistic, sell more for less. I can't believe the production costs are that high to justify some of the prices. £110 for an Audi badge, refuse to believe anyone would buy it for weight saving so with some basic vacuum equipment you could skin a normal badge fairly cheaply purely for the carbon look. I've tried twice so far to skin a badge using my method but been unsuccessful so far but not giving in yet, have one more plan to try.
 
Sounds like a small on the side business is afoot ;)

I imagine there would be plenty of customers as your work is top notch sir
 
Some great work there. Looks the piece.

This is next on my list...
 
Grill surround, pillars and window triangles finished.



Bought a new plate holder as wasn't 100% happy with my first attempt, much better finish this time. I'll fire the compressor up tomorrow night and a quick waft of 2k clear then a flat and polish and it'll be done.



Bought a cheap mirror from Ebay so hopefully it'll turn up soon. The plan is to keep my red covers but carbon the black plastic base parts, going to be tricky but worth a shot. Got some off cuts of cloth left so might have a 3rd attempt a badge, going to try a different technique this time.
 
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Latest batch, rear wiper arm and cover, front rings and mirror base parts.

Mirror was a bit of a pig to dismantle but wrapped fairly easily. Rings were a nightmare to do and it's 50/50 if they'll be useable, a bit rougher than I'd like but might sand back ok, time will tell.

 
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really great work there:cool:, but you have way too much spare time mate;), how long is the waiting list for your services:icon thumright:
 
I know, I'm blaming on the winter evenings and weather, need to start reading or watching tv!!

The waiting lists very short, absolutely no plans to do this for others, I only meant to do small bits and bobs, admittedly it's got a bit out of hand;-)
 
A bit out of hand you say? lol

As long as you enjoying yourself that is the main thing.

I will wait for the order list to appear ;) no good wasting free time when money could be made :kissmyrings:
 
Just need to buy a drivers side mirror and honestly that'll be all the bits I'm doing, realise there's a fine line between nice and just overkill. I do actually enjoy it, always like learning new things and pushing my limits, pretty much hacked off with the constant sanding but I've started so I need to finish.
I'd rather encourage others to do it for themselves, it's definitely something people shouldn't be scared of, it's not F1 composite construction:) Personally I'm finding it easier and more forgiving than wrapping in vinyl, just takes 10x longer and a lot messier!!

Cleaned and sanded the bits today, mirror and wiper are good and going to be useable so trimmed and fitment checked.





The dreaded front rings are getting there, still not sure if I'll use them but will persevere. Cleaned them up then gave everything a final coat of resin.



Pretty much ****** off with sanding things now so thought I'd fire the grill together as a reward, rings haven't been cleared yet but rest looks good so very happy so far.



Just need to buy a drivers side mirror then I can push on and get these all finished.
 
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Finally the end is in sight!!

Built the DTM bumper back up, badges and other mirror now ready for some 2k clear tomorrow.

Pictures don't do them justice and they've been well worth the effort.



 
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i think you maybe getting a little obsessed with this whole carbon thing;):), nice work that man:cool:
 
That crazy !
What kind of clear resin you are using ? In the end you spray it with clear laquer ?
Also, how you glue the carbon cloth to the part ?
 
Love this thread can wait to see the pics of it all fitted,

Any tips for a carbon newbie as my friend has just bought a kit?
 
WOW!
i want what you have done!
do mine please :D
 
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