[Marvin306]

Thought most of you might be interested in a unique project that im planning for the interior of my 2003 MR2. Something I haven't seen anyone do just yet on any car interior I've ordered a HUGE roll of Metro M500 3D carbon fiber vinyl. Im planning to use that to wrap a lot of parts of the interior with it, including the entire door! Don’t worry it wont look tacky cause all the leather or fabric parts will be red suede or red leather.. Red with carbon fiber looks verrrry nice.. Like the Pagani Zonda and other supercars

Im not doing any of the work.. I tried and found out that its very difficult when working on very curvy interior parts that are not glossy or are porous (non-smooth)

Here is the first part completed.. It’s the extended centre console I ordered from Malaysia. It arrived in perfect condition.. I was surprised with how well built it was! I had it first light sanded and then sprayed in matt black. And hired 2 professional vinyl installers to do the job for me.. Wanted to see if they can wrap something as complicated as this. Took them 2 hours and 20 minutes with a hair-dryer and the end result is amazing!

Only issue is after 2 days the vinyl started to peel on areas where the vinyl was stretched.. I spoke to them and they said its because a heat gun wasn’t used in order to stretch the vinyl even further. Also they will use a solvent (3M?) to make it adhere better. I do have the RapidTac but not sure if that’s good or not.

As for the vinyl itself.. I highly recommend the M500 vinyl. These installers work exclusively with 3M vinyl so they had a chance to compare the two. They said the M500 is thiner and glossier than the 3M Di-Noc.. The thickness of the M500 makes it more applicable to interior as its easier to work around corners. And ill have to say the semi-glossy effect is a lot more dramatic! The pictures don’t to it justice but it looks amazing in person

I'm leaving the car in today at the interior shop to get the entire interior re-trimmed in black leather, red suede, red carpet, and have a lot of the parts wrapped in the 3D carbon. Once its done im sure its gonna look truly unique

Will post a separate thread when its all ready in a weeks time.

 

[greenstreak]

I hate to pay anyone to do anything but I think even I would have paid someone to do that for me. All those curves would have had me pulling my hair out. Looks like it is coming out nicely though.

 

[gmhl10]

Wow... that wrap was done amazingly well.
I have the same 3M CF vinyl and have only done the HVAC side posts and the door armrest trim and even that was hard to do.
This guy seems to do an incredibly good job.
How does he get the ends so flat?
I can't seem to get the 3M Super77 spray even and it's just super sticky everywhere.

Note: I did not use a heat gun though... Does it help?

 

[madmaxbiaggi]

Wow...it looks like the real thing. Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[cleethree]

They probably know better than me as they are pro. vinyl installers but could the vinyl have pulled off the black paint? Perhaps it would have been better to just apply it to the bare glass with some adhesive. You'll soon find out when you remove it.

 

[OldMan]

While I personally find exposed (unpainted) carbon fibre hideously ugly, I must admit that the fellows doing your modifications did a remarkable job. Top Notch :icon_thumright:

Now let's wait and see how it fares in the Dubai sun!

 

[Marvin306]

Wow... that wrap was done amazingly well.
I have the same 3M CF vinyl and have only done the HVAC side posts and the door armrest trim and even that was hard to do.
This guy seems to do an incredibly good job.
How does he get the ends so flat?
I can't seem to get the 3M Super77 spray even and it's just super sticky everywhere.

Note: I did not use a heat gun though... Does it help?

Heat gun is a must.. makes it a lot easier to work with. They heat up the vinyl before the application so it conforms to shape. The reason the vinyl was coming off in the last pic is because they couldnt heat it up properly with the hair dryer. He just heated it up again and made it stretch further. Doesnt come off now

I even spent money 3M Edge sealer which he never used. All thats needed is thorough cleaning with alcohol before sticking it on.

 

[Marvin306]

They probably know better than me as they are pro. vinyl installers but could the vinyl have pulled off the black paint? Perhaps it would have been better to just apply it to the bare glass with some adhesive. You'll soon find out when you remove it.

nope nothing like that. And I obviously dont intend to ever remove it after so much work, time and money spent. It looks incredible the way it is.. dare I say better than factory plastic

 

[Marvin306]

While I personally find exposed (unpainted) carbon fibre hideously ugly, I must admit that the fellows doing your modifications did a remarkable job. Top Notch :icon_thumright:

Now let's wait and see how it fares in the Dubai sun!

Never heard a car inthusiast say carbon fiber is ugly! but ill have to admit, the vinyl actualy looks better than the real thing. I know it might sound crazy but its soo much more uniform and even. Has a better feel to it as well. My previous car, a 350Z, had loads of CF in it.. I kept having issues with some parts of it and it just looked messy in the end.

Heat wont be an issue in this case I would imagine. I asked him to use less stretching and rely more on wrapping something in as many parts as possible. That way theres a lot less chance for peeling or bubbling due to heat (at least I hope it will work).

 

[Marvin306]

Ps. These guys are genuiuses in figuring out how to wrap anything.. and I mean ANYTHING, in vinyl. nothing is too complicated for them. It takes months of experience and practice but its possible.

They just finished wrapping every part today. I took some pics and post them up tomorrow. But I can tell you this much.. it came out incredibly well! they even wrapped the steering wheel surround (top and bottom part)! I didnt even think that was possible but apparently by doing it in sections and "splicing" pieces together its almost impossible to notice. looks like one piece of vinyl was used!

 

[cool_apple]

good work marvin,

nice to see enthusiast churning out what could be done with this centre console ^_^

its probably will take a better daily usage beating than my painted one ^_^
(even that i got someone to paint it for me) kudos in getting the carbon vinyl to shape

 

[Marvin306]

Check it out. All done

Yesss I know its the wrong way around. I fixed it hehe

 

[dev]

Never heard a car inthusiast say carbon fiber is ugly! but ill have to admit, the vinyl actualy looks better than the real thing. I know it might sound crazy but its soo much more uniform and even. Has a better feel to it as well. My previous car, a 350Z, had loads of CF in it.. I kept having issues with some parts of it and it just looked messy in the end.

Heat wont be an issue in this case I would imagine. I asked him to use less stretching and rely more on wrapping something in as many parts as possible. That way theres a lot less chance for peeling or bubbling due to heat (at least I hope it will work).

Actually there are a good number of real enthusiasts (By real enthusiast I mean that they like the material for its attributes) that find carbon fiber look ugly and stupid for three reasons. The first reason is because most of the people that leave carbon fiber unpainted did so to show off the fact that they paid a premium for the material which was considered rice. The second reason is that it looks ugly and the third reason is because it is so overdone like polyester from the 70s.

With that said real enthusiast would love a carbon fiber hood and everything carbon fiber however they would also like it to be painted.

Don't get me started on Carbon fiber wrap as it falls into a whole different category.

 

[cleethree]

Don't get me started on Carbon fiber wrap as it falls into a whole different category.

I've found that CF wrap is the best way to add lightness.

 

[dev]

I've found that CF wrap is the best way to add lightness.

Fictional lightness when you tell your buddies it's real like your laminated kitchen cabinets. LOL :lol:

The way things have been going lately I assume the next big thing is to get a fake cut out supercharger over the hood.

 

[Marvin306]

Fictional lightness when you tell your buddies it's real like your laminated kitchen cabinets. LOL :lol:

The way things have been going lately I assume the next big thing is to get a fake cut out supercharger over the hood.

I think thats already been done lol. I'm not faking anything. If im building my car for show then everyone will look at it differently. Either way its a very expensive way of modifying a car.. but def worth it in the end if it gives me that satisfaction

 

[dev]

I think thats already been done lol. I'm not faking anything. If im building my car for show then everyone will look at it differently. Either way its a very expensive way of modifying a car.. but def worth it in the end if it gives me that satisfaction

Thats all that matters. ^_^

 

[dblazer]

I'm just an old stick-in-the-mud I guess, it just doesn't compute with me to add weight to the car to create the illusion of being constructed of lightening materials.

I will say that you've really done an exceptional job of it, and the additional material looks genuine.

Having said that, how much did the whole roll of carbon fiber emulating material weigh? Is it at least lightweight ?

 

[greenstreak]

The <1lb that he added with thin vinyl should be a non issue really.

 

[SDSUsnowboards]

Actually there are a good number of real enthusiasts (By real enthusiast I mean that they like the material for its attributes) that find carbon fiber look ugly and stupid for three reasons. The first reason is because most of the people that leave carbon fiber unpainted did so to show off the fact that they paid a premium for the material which was considered rice. The second reason is that it looks ugly and the third reason is because it is so overdone like polyester from the 70s.

With that said real enthusiast would love a carbon fiber hood and everything carbon fiber however they would also like it to be painted.

Don't get me started on Carbon fiber wrap as it falls into a whole different category.

In agreement here.

To OP: you know the saying: if you're going to do something, you might as well go all the way. Despite my feelings towards carbon fiber, I'd be interested in well-lit photos of your interior when it all comes together. If nothing else, you're being thorough, which is a higher form of rice, sort of like how Monty Python is a higher form of fart jokes.