carbon fiber wrapping the interior, opinions needed

[newaccorddriver]

i was just wondering if anybodys tried carbon fiber wrapping their interior, like their dashboards and such. im kinda sick of that ugly looking brown stuff all over my car, and the carbon fiber look would defeintly stand out whenever i get in it. what do you guys think of it?

[89AccordResto]

It's a stupid idea for a multitude of reasons:

1. Dash overlay kits never fit right.
2. They always look good from about 10 ft away, but up close they look like crap thanks to poor fitment and mediocre finish.
3. Think gaps. Lots of gaps.
4. It looks like it's something stuck on over the top of something. ie, ghetto.

5, and most importantly, STICK ON CARBON FIBER IS RICE. It's worse than rice, it's basically sacrilidge to anybody who likes performance cars. CF is used in cars because of it's light weight and high strength... if your'e sticking it over the TOP of something, it isn't necessary, and is ADDING weight... which is going against the very thing that carbon fiber is used for in the first place: REMOVING WEIGHT.

I hate stick on carbon fiber. But that's my opinion. If you were to take a mold of parts of your existing interior parts, and build them out of CF to save weight, now THAT would actually be cool and LEGIT.

[86-accord-lxi]

The maroon interior in my car is not my favorite, But I would definetly not go covering it all with stick on carbon fiber... YUCK! Why don't you just paint it , and reupholster the seats ? I always favored the two tone black/silk ivory interiors in 3g's.

[A18A]

It's a stupid idea for a multitude of reasons:

1. Dash overlay kits never fit right.
2. They always look good from about 10 ft away, but up close they look like crap thanks to poor fitment and mediocre finish.
3. Think gaps. Lots of gaps.
4. It looks like it's something stuck on over the top of something. ie, ghetto.

5, and most importantly, STICK ON CARBON FIBER IS RICE. It's worse than rice, it's basically sacrilidge to anybody who likes performance cars. CF is used in cars because of it's light weight and high strength... if your'e sticking it over the TOP of something, it isn't necessary, and is ADDING weight... which is going against the very thing that carbon fiber is used for in the first place: REMOVING WEIGHT.

I hate stick on carbon fiber. But that's my opinion. If you were to take a mold of parts of your existing interior parts, and build them out of CF to save weight, now THAT would actually be cool and LEGIT.

now thats something i agree with

[newaccorddriver]

how about using 3m rockguard in my interior?

[86-accord-lxi]

how about using 3m rockguard in my interior?
Yesterday 02:31 AM

WTF ??? Why ? Like they say... To each his own .

[BDaccordguy]

from what Im told, there are only certain kinds of paints and dyes that you would want to use in the interior. I cant remember any off hand, but if you use something like regular spray paint, or rockguard, basically something for the outside of the vehicle.. the interior will stink like paint for the rest of its useful life.

[lostforawhile]

well i'm working on a project kind of like this,but in black tweed for the inside of the hatch. I wanted to cover the two giant ugly plastic pieces in the hatch,but due to their complex shape,it's very difficult. what I have done is create a mold for each side of those pieces,I'm overlaying fiberglass mat in the molds right now,when it's cured and trimmed,I will upholster the fiberglass caps in the tweed,then they fit right on over the plastic in the car. when I created the mold,I created an area for a six inch monitor also,this is raised and fits right over the existing plastic. it's all blended so it looks factory. the monitor is for an atari flashback console i'm putting in the hatch. forget playstation,it's been overdone,I want eighties video games in an eighties car. it doesn't take an space in the hatch,as I am utilizing non used space. this same idea will work for a dash cap that fits pretty close,if you upholster it,and are good at streching fabric,it can end up looking really nice. the plastic finish looks really bad as is though. I also covered the plastic inside rear quarters,that was a very difficult job due to their odd shape,but with the extra courtesy lights i instaled,they look really nice now. I tried using the proper plastic paint on those areas,but even with a ton of prep work,and an adhesion promotor,it just doesn't work where they can get scratched. the paint really only works good on trailer queens. I will post some pics of the project when I get them developed, I'm using real film on this one,so they will be clear. I had to isolate the flash from the work area due to the explosive nature of the resin i'm using. when i get one side all done,I'l post pics.

[89AccordResto]

I tried using the proper plastic paint on those areas,but even with a ton of prep work,and an adhesion promotor,it just doesn't work where they can get scratched. the paint really only works good on trailer queens.

WErd. That's why I don't like painted interiors. It just doesn't last.

[lostforawhile]

wel what I ended up doing on he rear interior quarters was to give up on the paint and upholster them. the only reason they are able to be covered is that the top edge along the window unscrews from the rest of the panel,making it possible to upholster each half seperatly. it's just a lot of fabric streching. you have to start in a certain area on the panel and upholster and strech the fabric from there,if you start on the wrong edge of the panel,the fabric will never lay right. I also had to create pieces to go over the change pockets,and upholstered panels to fit in the recessed areas of the panel. this made it possible to cut the fabric in order to make it lay flat,and hide all the edges. automotive upholstery is all about hiding the seams. oh today I took the left side hatch panel out of the mold,now the backside of it has to finish curing then i can trim and cover it. I don't think the carbon fiber look would really work that well,maby on a new car with modern styling,fabric always looks nice,and tweed is a classic thats been used for years,it suits any interior. I've seen the carbon fiber look on imports at car shows and it really screams rice,like a fiberglass interior with high gloss bright paint. those painted gaudy interiors looks like the plastic at a chucky cheese. now i've seen a few painted interiors on here that actually look good,thats because they aren't overdone and riced out. it's all about restraint and not going too crazy. I've undone more then a few things on my car over the years because I was able to admit to myself it just didn't look right.noww a touch of carbon fiber looks nice,like the early headlight trim resembles CF,but not overdone. just my opinion here. http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/10/web/2050000-2050999/2050019_7.jpg

[89se-i]

If you were to take a mold of parts of your existing interior parts, and build them out of CF to save weight, now THAT would actually be cool and LEGIT.

I'd say that is the biggest waste of time and money ever. The percentage of mass removed by replacing plastic parts with "carbon fiber", because carbon fiber is really carbon fiber reinforced plastic. The big reason for useing carbon fiber is the strength. The mass is about equal to most plastics use in your interior.

Now if you were making CFRP doors, and a roof, that would eb considered weight reduction, but not carbon fiber dash pannels. That is soley for cosmetic appeal some find in carbon fiber weave.

[HostileJava]

Honestly I wouldn't use the stickon cf, because it just looks like exactly that. If it actually looked like the interior was made of CF i'd say maybe, but it doesn't. I painted the interior of my first hatch with Fusion paint. I did very little prep work and it lasted along time and didn't show any scraching(it bonds with the plastic). Do what you wish though. Remember, it is your car.

[89AccordResto]

I'd say that is the biggest waste of time and money ever. The percentage of mass removed by replacing plastic parts with "carbon fiber", because carbon fiber is really carbon fiber reinforced plastic. The big reason for useing carbon fiber is the strength. The mass is about equal to most plastics use in your interior.
Now if you were making CFRP doors, and a roof, that would eb considered weight reduction, but not carbon fiber dash pannels. That is soley for cosmetic appeal some find in carbon fiber weave.

Almost. Thing is, you can make CF pieces a lot thinner than normal plastic parts, because of it's strength. Also, you wouldn't need all the extra bracing underneath each panel, because of it's strenght. So yeah, technically if you did make CF replacement parts, you could remove a lot of other parts BENEATH the dash that help support it. :)

[HostileJava]

Almost. Thing is, you can make CF pieces a lot thinner than normal plastic parts, because of it's strength. Also, you wouldn't need all the extra bracing underneath each panel, because of it's strenght. So yeah, technically if you did make CF replacement parts, you could remove a lot of other parts BENEATH the dash that help support it. :)


I suppose, but if you're at the point where that little weigh matters you should probably just be removing the parts of the dash you don't need :)

[89AccordResto]

Just sayin. :P

[lostforawhile]

well the dash in this car is already so light,it really wouldn't matter much,remember a lot of it is foam. the advantage would be in an american car with a large heavy steel dash,or steel dash reinforcing. it's mostly for looks in this car. by the way has anyone found a decent dash cap for our cars? I'm probably going to follow my own suggestion and upholster one for my car.