How to DIY a carbon fiber car interiors

How to DIY a carbon fiber car interiors

In car modification, besides the lighter quality, the unique texture of carbon fiber also very attractive. However, the high price of carbon fiber has also made it always in the high-end market. How to make your car also have a carbon fiber exterior or interior? Right here, we would like to show you how to DIY hand-made carbon fiber central control interior panel for your car.

There are currently several types of carbon fiber processes: stickers, water transfer printing, carbon fiber coating and vacuum process(pure carbon fiber), sticker stickers. In addition to convenient and cheap, there is meaning at all. Water transfer printing is just a layer of paint, and the price is expensive. Vacuum process requires certain technology and equipment,which is not suitable for personal DIY. Carbon fiber coating became the only option .The following is a list of materials need to prepare:

1. 3K twill carbon fiber, there are many types of carbon fiber cloth. There are twill weave and plain weave, and 1K 1.5K 3K 6K 12k...... 3K is the most suitable for appearance covering, the price is moderate, the thickness is moderate, the texture is good.

2. Black primer resin,to bonding the parts and carbon fiber, can be replaced by resin, but it is strongly recommended to use primer resin, which save both time and labour.

3. Surface layer epoxy resin, carbon fiber surface layer, there are many models, request high transparency, strong toughness, high hardness, less pores, etc., you can ask suggestion from sellers.

4. Varnish(or you could find the professional spray painting suppler do it for you )

Tools:

1) Disposable gloves and masks.

2) Sandpaper

3) Disposable cups and brushes.

4) Electric grinder or polish by hand.

5) Polishing paste

6)Crowbar, for dismantling the interior.

7) Electronic scale, 0.1G unit is the best

8) Textured paper

The first step is to disassemble, remove the interior parts that need to be coated with carbon fiber..

The second step is to use sandpaper to polish off the paint on the surface. In order to have a better adhesion of the back glue, every corners must be polished. After polishing, the powder produced in the polishing process should be carefully washed with water.

The function of the primer is to allow the carbon fiber cloth to adhere to the interior parts. After the primer is prepared, wait for 10-20 minutes. After the primer becomes mushy, start brushing the primer. After brushing, leave it for 1-2 hours according to the temperature. After the glue becomes very viscous, you can stick the carbon fiber cloth.

The third step is cutting

Put the part on the carbon fiber cloth, and then cut out the approximate shape and outline, leaving 3-5 cm at the edge. Before cutting, use masking paper to paste the edge of the carbon fiber cloth to make it well protective, otherwise the edges will easily fall off. It will be out of control once it falls off.

Step 4 Paste the carbon fiber cloth

This step is very important. It is directly affect looks of the car interiors. When the carbon fiber cloth is pasted, the cloth should be gently covered on the piece.make sure the carbon fiber texture will not be messy. If you are messed up, don't try to correct it, it's almost impossible, just tear it up and paste another one.

The curing speed of epoxy resin depends on the temperature. The higher the temperature, the faster the curing, but not the higher the better. After many trys, it is better to cure at about 70 degrees, and the curing is completed in 1 hour.

Step 5 Upper surface resin

After the curing is completed, the surface resin can be applied.The surface resin generally needs to be brushed 3-4 times to make sure its thickness enough for next process

The surface resin needs to be precisely blended like the primer. Stir it with a wooden stick.instead of a brush which will mix with a lot of bubbles.

The resin on the surface of the first brush must be relatively thin so that it can penetrate into the carbon filaments. Brush lightly with a brush several times.

On the second day, start brushing the second time, and oven bake after that, after the surface is dry, you can brush the glue for the third time. After the third time is the last process. This time, let it completely solidify, because we are going to start polishing.

Step 6: trimming and polishing

We are about to start polishing after the parts complete curing. After the third brushing, the resin on the surface will have certain thickness, but due to the texture of the cloth and the leveling of the resin glue, the surface will be very bumpy. So we will use sandpaper to flatten it so that it looks good afterwards. Before polishing, you can use a paper knife to cut off the excess carbon fiber cloth. Once flattened, you will enter the polishing step. Wipe it off with paper towels.

　　The seventh step: varnish

After drying thoroughly, you can actually see the frosted carbon fiber. At this time, the surface is dirty and has no texture. At this time, you can wipe the surface with a cotton cloth dampened with polishing paste, and the gloss will slowly come out. You can also choose to spray varnish directly, and the surface of the carbon fiber after spraying the varnish is full and three-dimensional.