Red and black carbon dashboard

[Griff4.0]

I've tried to reveneer my Griff dashboard, got the job done only to see cracks forming almost immediately. The problem is the large temperature changes here (in Bulgaria) and the expansion of the metal backing. Anyway rather than try different glues with more flexibility I've decided to go the route of carbon fiber. I saw this red and black fiber on Ebay. Has anyone done a dashboard with this? Any piccies? Also any advice on what tools to use for cutting out the holes for the instrument would be appreciated as I'm a carbon fiber nooby.

[swisstoni]

There are a fair few readymade alternatives to veneer, including cf and aluminium dashes available.
Personally I’d get one of those but I’m lazy.

[GreenV8S]

Make sure you aren't leaving yourself with the same problem. Carbon fibre is very stiff and will not stretch to accommodate thermal expansion of the metal plate. For this to work I think you would need to remake the whole metal panel from CF sheet rather than just laminate the existing panel. That would need to be much more substantial.

You would drill holes in the CF panel with a hole saw, just like any other composite panel.

[Griff4.0]

My thinking is that the carbon fibre is very stiff and would only need something like silicone spots to hold it in place. That should allow for the thermal expansion but not show to the extent that it would with a veneer.

[tapkaJohnD]

Griff,
Presuming the backing for your dash is made of steel, and is about 2metres wide (say), then the change in dimension due to temperature change would be detemined by the climate and the thermal expansion of steel.

Theremal expansion coeff steel: 11x10^-6 meters/meter degreeC
Climate raange Bulgaria: -17 to +32C (call it 50 degrees)

So 11x10^-6 x 2x 50 = 0.000011 x 2 x 50 = 0.0011 metres = 1.1 milimeters

I really don't think that heat and cold are your dashboard's problem! Vibration from rough roads? Is the body shell warping?
Securing the dash with rubber or plastoc bushes in the support might help.

JOhn

[GreenV8S]

tapkaJohnD said:

I really don't think that heat and cold are your dashboard's problem!

Forcing a decorative laminate to stretch by over a mil could easily damage it over time and this is commonly seen as the reason the oem laminates fail.