DIY: Carbon fiber vinyl dash pieces
07-07-2011, 09:40 AM
#1
2nd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: IN
Posts: 483
DIY: Carbon fiber vinyl dash pieces
I've had my car over a year and I thought it was time for an interior change. I have a black interior with IUP package. While I don't mind the silver and chrome, it really doesn't fit in with the looks of the rest of the car. I was reading the thread in Pimpin It about textured carbon fiber vinyl and decided that's the way I wanted to go.
Before the hate, I am a fan of carbon fiber IN LIMITED USE (in this case, just on the dash panels).
First step is removal of the dash pieces. All are quite simple except for the airbag panel, which is just a bit nerve racking. I can explain how to remove each if necessary.
Before I could begin the wrap, I wanted to paint the vents and surrounding parts flat black. This required disassembly of the vents.
Then I needed to paint around the outside of the vent pods and the chrome around the gauge bezel as these areas would be difficult to wrap and wouldn't look very good even if it could be pulled off. The masking took quite a while!
Vent pods are done at this point:
This is the material I'm working with. Basically a knock off of the 3M di-noc vinyl. It was good quality for $20.
Once I started wrapping the pieces with vent pods, I quickly found out that I just wasn't good enough with the vinyl and heat gun to get it right. It requires a lot of stretching and I kept distorting the pattern. Obviously keeping the pattern straight is pretty important. Instead, I made templates out of cardboard and trimmed the vinyl the rest of the way around the vent pods. Took about 6 hours!
And here the pieces are ready to be installed
I'll have pics of the pieces installed later on today.
Before the hate, I am a fan of carbon fiber IN LIMITED USE (in this case, just on the dash panels).
First step is removal of the dash pieces. All are quite simple except for the airbag panel, which is just a bit nerve racking. I can explain how to remove each if necessary.
Before I could begin the wrap, I wanted to paint the vents and surrounding parts flat black. This required disassembly of the vents.
Then I needed to paint around the outside of the vent pods and the chrome around the gauge bezel as these areas would be difficult to wrap and wouldn't look very good even if it could be pulled off. The masking took quite a while!
Vent pods are done at this point:
This is the material I'm working with. Basically a knock off of the 3M di-noc vinyl. It was good quality for $20.
Once I started wrapping the pieces with vent pods, I quickly found out that I just wasn't good enough with the vinyl and heat gun to get it right. It requires a lot of stretching and I kept distorting the pattern. Obviously keeping the pattern straight is pretty important. Instead, I made templates out of cardboard and trimmed the vinyl the rest of the way around the vent pods. Took about 6 hours!
And here the pieces are ready to be installed
I'll have pics of the pieces installed later on today.
07-07-2011, 11:41 AM
#6
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: NY
Posts: 157
This looks great. I was considering getting one of the kits from AM and just not using the entire kit (think all of that "CF" may be too much). The texture and overall look of this struck me tho. Anyone see any of those trim kits in person?
07-07-2011, 11:52 AM
#7
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Canada
Posts: 214
Looks awesome, you did a great job. I did the same thing using the 3M dinoc vinyl. I feel your pain about not being good enough heh.
Did you cut a slit in the airbag piece so it can still flip open in case of a crash? (I would suggest being careful with this since I had to rewrap that piece after my blade went where it wasn't supposed to go.)
Did you cut a slit in the airbag piece so it can still flip open in case of a crash? (I would suggest being careful with this since I had to rewrap that piece after my blade went where it wasn't supposed to go.)
07-07-2011, 01:49 PM
#10
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Canada
Posts: 214
The vents actually just pull out. Stick your thumbs inside the vents, grab the trim ring with your other fingers and pull straight forward. The rest of the disassembly (trim ring and vent flaps) all come apart easily when you have the vent out.