carbon fibre dash...
Discussion
Anyone got any pics? I reckon it'll look good with the all black interior and yellow ext. (See my previous post for pics) the veneer is in a state... plus probably dont have the skill to re-veneer properly...
Anyone used the flexible carbon fibre (Sticky backed)? or does ridged stuff look better?
Cheers
Greg
Anyone used the flexible carbon fibre (Sticky backed)? or does ridged stuff look better?
Cheers
Greg
Unless it's an early car it won't have real wood veneer anyway. Most wedges have some kind of Fablon-style stick-on vinyl, often (but not always) over-sprayed with a clear lacquer (like the real thing would have been, although 'proper' veneering was done with Shellac whereas most folk probably have polyurethane).
It's not rocket engineering to strip it off and redo it with a self-adhesive yourself; the difficulty is in finding a replica wood-grain that looks right. Most 'real' veneering was done with burr walnut (gives that characteristically gnarly, knotty, swirly appearance) but most re-covers I've seen have been in a straight-grained finish... like having bits of plank for a dashboard.
I seem to recall when one guy had his dash stripped, he thought the original veneer may have actually been Formica, which would make sense - my parents used to have a Formica-walnut coffee table. Whatever it was, it was thicker than vinyl and had a coarse cloth-like texture on the back, but it wasn't real wood.
It's not rocket engineering to strip it off and redo it with a self-adhesive yourself; the difficulty is in finding a replica wood-grain that looks right. Most 'real' veneering was done with burr walnut (gives that characteristically gnarly, knotty, swirly appearance) but most re-covers I've seen have been in a straight-grained finish... like having bits of plank for a dashboard.
I seem to recall when one guy had his dash stripped, he thought the original veneer may have actually been Formica, which would make sense - my parents used to have a Formica-walnut coffee table. Whatever it was, it was thicker than vinyl and had a coarse cloth-like texture on the back, but it wasn't real wood.
I'm doing mine with solid CF sheet, cut to fit and stuck down with 3m double sided adhesive, as the stick on stuff is either fake, or the real stuff is poor quality plus you get a frayed edge.
A solid sheet 0.5 mm for dash speedo and glovebox was about £80 IIRC.
The more expensive part is all the REAL hole cutters you need. as this was the only way to cut a hole without it looking a mess.
Starrett HSS hole cutters are about £15 each then you need the holder another £15 but this can be used for all of them.
Also clamp the CF onto a big sheet of wood, so the centre drill bit has something to keep it cantered.
Be playing to do it for ages, but had more serious stuff to do. but it next on the list after the light conversion (Which I wish I never started) so should be done in a weeks time. so will post pic's shortly.
Some of the fake stuff can look very good. one of the cars at BBWF had fake stick on stuff. and it looked real, unless you was actually looking to see if it was real or not. the owner was surprised as he thought it was real.
A solid sheet 0.5 mm for dash speedo and glovebox was about £80 IIRC.
The more expensive part is all the REAL hole cutters you need. as this was the only way to cut a hole without it looking a mess.
Starrett HSS hole cutters are about £15 each then you need the holder another £15 but this can be used for all of them.
Also clamp the CF onto a big sheet of wood, so the centre drill bit has something to keep it cantered.
Be playing to do it for ages, but had more serious stuff to do. but it next on the list after the light conversion (Which I wish I never started) so should be done in a weeks time. so will post pic's shortly.
Some of the fake stuff can look very good. one of the cars at BBWF had fake stick on stuff. and it looked real, unless you was actually looking to see if it was real or not. the owner was surprised as he thought it was real.
This post I posted last year may be of use to you:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Cheers for the help guys, woody, would love to see a pic if not too much hassle. Think it'd really look good with the rest of the colour scheme. Lee, saw your post, also really like the look of that stuff too! it'd certainly look better than the stuff there now! just not sure if the cf suits the car more. The wood looks a little civilised for the rest of it, thinking a subtle carbon fibre would look mean! inkeeping with the rest of the car!
Probably should be sorting out things like the non working temp guage first but hey ho!
greg
Probably should be sorting out things like the non working temp guage first but hey ho!
greg
I've just ordered some samples from stweartsf1... Looks pretty nice stuff, sticky backed but real carbon fibre. They also do glass fibre in lots of colours and have a titanium coloured one coming through too which might look good against the black!!
Wedge is awesome to own so far (3 weeks in!)!
Greg
Wedge is awesome to own so far (3 weeks in!)!
Greg
I did get a sample for stewartsf1,
But it has 2 problems
1'st the weave close up has a lot of un-even gaps, may be just my sample.
The other problem is when you cut it you will get frayed edges, as its too thick to wrape round.
I'd either get the fake film type or use solid CF.
But it has 2 problems
1'st the weave close up has a lot of un-even gaps, may be just my sample.
The other problem is when you cut it you will get frayed edges, as its too thick to wrape round.
I'd either get the fake film type or use solid CF.
jeahgreg said:
I've just ordered some samples from stweartsf1... Looks pretty nice stuff, sticky backed but real carbon fibre. They also do glass fibre in lots of colours and have a titanium coloured one coming through too which might look good against the black!!
Wedge is awesome to own so far (3 weeks in!)!
Greg
Wedge is awesome to own so far (3 weeks in!)!
Greg
As an alternative, mine has something different.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2531035350102...
The white is actually the TVR logo repeated.
Let me know if you want more details.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2531035350102...
The white is actually the TVR logo repeated.
Let me know if you want more details.
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