Page 1 of 3

Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, update pg 2 3-13-13

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 6:30 pm
by crash93ssei
Updated from this topic - viewtopic.php?f=7&t=32547

Got the wrap today, also got out of work early so I thought I would try it out real quick.

I am very impressed with this stuff, looks great and is quite easy to work with, just make sure you are very generous with a hair dryer when heating it up and take your time. This is the first time I have ever worked with covering something in vinyl and it took me about 20 minutes including running outside for a screwdriver and the bathroom for some rubbing alcohol to clean up the bezel.


Bezel before. Boring, gray, we all have them.... blah :lol:
Image

3M 1080 Scotchprint black carbon fiber vinyl
Image

20 minutes later
Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image



Installed in the '03 SSEi
Image

Image

Image

Image

I REALLY like the look and can't wait to do the rest of the parts :) I am sure that after a few get done and I really get my technique down I will be able to do one of these vents in about 10 minutes or less :beerchug:


Thoughts? Like, dislike? Constructive criticism?

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 6:45 pm
by 01bonneSC
Is there heat involved? Looks good how you can see the open/close molds through it.

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 7:01 pm
by yourgrandma
Looks way better than I thought it would. Is it very hard to wrap it around the compound curves?

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 7:58 pm
by harofreak00
Must be a lot thinner than the stuff I used, considering you can see the vent mode bump out things behind it.

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 8:44 pm
by crash93ssei
It definitely isn't thin, it would be near impossible to work with on this bezel without heat from a blow dryer or heat gun. I let the blow dryer on high on the flow indicators for about ten seconds then pressed it pretty hard and held it to make sure they showed through.

With heat applied it is actually very easy to work with and wrap around tight spots.

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 9:33 pm
by nos4blood70
It looks amazing! Did you think about spraying a layer of clear coat over it to give it a shinier appearance? To be honest though, I can't decide if it looks better flat-ish, or glossy like the GXP stuff.

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 9:34 pm
by SSEiMan01
Looks good! Also kinda trippy. I like it though!

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 11:17 pm
by crash93ssei
nos4blood70 wrote:It looks amazing! Did you think about spraying a layer of clear coat over it to give it a shinier appearance? To be honest though, I can't decide if it looks better flat-ish, or glossy like the GXP stuff.
I have thought about it, unsure at this point as to if I will try it or not though.

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 11:22 pm
by 00Beast
Do them all, then take a scrap, apply it to something, clear it, and decide what you like better. That way you don't "ruin" the vent.

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 11:49 pm
by crash93ssei
Not worried at all about ruining a vent, if I don't like it I can just remove the vinyl ;)

I have a complete extra set right now that I will sell when I am done if anyone is interested.

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Sat May 05, 2012 2:04 am
by BonneMe
That looks very good, awesome work! Definitely a service you'll be able to offer with detailing :wink:

I think clear coat really wouldn't be smooth enough on the textured surface. I've read online where clear coat crushes the detail/texture of it.

http://www.carbonfiberfilm.com/blog/exp ... ng-di-noc/


Heat gun on low is muuuuuuch faster than a hair dryer on high, but depending on the curves your're working with, it might not be necessary, and you have to be careful.

I've been considering this for a while in my car to darken the light grey interior, and even got a 1'x2' sheet of this stuff to try it out as it was only $5 and I wanted to wrap part of a phone.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005BT ... 03_s00_i00

I haven't heard of the 1080 yet, but it sounds like it's better for curvier surfaces?

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Sat May 05, 2012 8:28 am
by crash93ssei
BonneMe wrote:That looks very good, awesome work! Definitely a service you'll be able to offer with detailing :wink:

I think clear coat really wouldn't be smooth enough on the textured surface. I've read online where clear coat crushes the detail/texture of it.

http://www.carbonfiberfilm.com/blog/exp ... ng-di-noc/


Heat gun on low is muuuuuuch faster than a hair dryer on high, but depending on the curves your're working with, it might not be necessary, and you have to be careful.

I've been considering this for a while in my car to darken the light grey interior, and even got a 1'x2' sheet of this stuff to try it out as it was only $5 and I wanted to wrap part of a phone.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005BT ... 03_s00_i00

I haven't heard of the 1080 yet, but it sounds like it's better for curvier surfaces?
Actually even the blow dryer on high made quick work of heating the vinyl enough to make it very workable without issue.

Definitely give the stuff you got a try, I can't say either way if it would be better or worse for curves, but I do know that without heat applied there is absolutely no way I could have gotten it to take shape like this.

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Sat May 05, 2012 9:14 am
by yonkerse
Looks much better than expected Ryan! I figured that would be a real PITA but you seemed to prove its not!

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Sat May 05, 2012 10:24 am
by crash93ssei
I will have a write up for it soon, finishing the last vent right now ;)

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 12:52 pm
by Dark_Knight
I like the way it looks! I did the same thing to both of my visors actually! since they were sagging bad and i didnt want to waste money just replacing them :)

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 12:33 pm
by crash93ssei
Got three sample packs of vinyl from 3M today, each pack includes a 3"x5" sample of every style and color available in their 1080 Scotchprint lineup. Some colors are WAY out there, but some are REALLY nice! The metallic colors especially look really good!

Image

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 2:57 pm
by Blown93SSEi
Looks great! I can't wait to save up the $$ and get this done!

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 3:03 pm
by yourgrandma
I want to try the brushed steel.

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 3:01 pm
by jreigner
In addition to my 01 ssei, i have an 87 fiero gt which I wrapped in the 3M 1080 matte black vinyl. it was super easy to work with. For compound curves you must use primer 94 or it will lift up in any heat. I surmise this will happen to the venting as soon as it is cold and heat passes through it or the dash reaches 200+ deg. in the summer. Cool idea though. :)

Re: Carbon fiber vinyl wrap, with pics!

Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 12:57 am
by crash93ssei
jreigner wrote:In addition to my 01 ssei, i have an 87 fiero gt which I wrapped in the 3M 1080 matte black vinyl. it was super easy to work with. For compound curves you must use primer 94 or it will lift up in any heat. I surmise this will happen to the venting as soon as it is cold and heat passes through it or the dash reaches 200+ deg. in the summer. Cool idea though. :)

Already had one in the freezer for an hour then pulled it out and hit it with my heat gun until it was basically hot enough to burn me, no peeling issues at all. I made sure to leave enough to wrap around the back side just in case because I was worried about that possibility to begin with.



Jerry (RepinS) his girlfriend Liz, my fiance Heather and I went out to my dads boat last night, he has a Rinker 320 EC and the entire dash is plastic woodgrain. It looks very classy, but doesn't really fit with the rest of the boat... Needless to say at the end of the night I took home the center section of his steering wheel to do some work on, after about two hours and ruining two pieces of vinyl attempting to make it work, I finally got it. I am sure the rest of the wood grain will be covered in this as well :beerchug:

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image