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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Carbon Fibre Skinning... Anyone Tried This Kit?


JamieP

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Looks good. But im guessing you need a few hours to kill to do this?

 

Its going to take a couple of days by the look of it, i like a challenge though, stuff it, im gonna order a kit, will post results with all my fingers stuck together:D

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Yep - have got a few bits 'n' bobs on the go as we speak. Have just finished one of a set of wing mirrors (just started the second one).

 

It is pretty hard to get a good finish in the clear resin without any bubbles and requires a lot of patience and time.

 

My tips would be:

 

1. Apply resin thinly with a soft haired brush (good quality so the hairs don't detach and end up in the resin). I bought some decent one from a model/art shop rather than use their bristle ones.

2. Make sure you get the Hardener:Resin ration spot on! Too much hardener will leave the resin coat with a 'milky' look to it.

3. Ensure the temperature of whatever room you are doing it in is somewhere between 20-21 deg C. constantly.

4. Allow 24hrs drying time between coats (despite what the tutorial says)

5. The base colour of whatever you're applying it to ought to be black. The resin basecoat is not opaque - therefore, light colours not only show through the basecoat but also through the weave in the carbon! Spray item with black plastic primer first.

6. I finish off with 2000 then 3000 grit wet and dry (they only supply upto 1200 in the kit)

 

Thats all I can think of at the minute. I will say that the overall finish is awesome! It looks like I've bought a carbon mirror basically.

 

Will post up some pics of the mirror tomorrow when I get a chance.

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Oh and...

 

7. If you use a hairdryer to help with some of the smaller air bubbles like they suggest, make sure you let it blow for a few minutes away from the item. Amazing how much dust etc accumulates and blows out when you turn it on.

8. Don't hold it too close (50cm min) or in one place for too long. If you've got the consistency of the resin correct it will create a ripple - meaning more work for you at the flatting back stage

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There's a company called Robson Leather in Japan that will carbon overlay parts for you. They're bloody expensive, but the finish is by *far* the best I've seen. I had my injector cover done. If it doesn't work out and you want their details drop me a PM.

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It's your basic wet lay-up using the existing component as the mould.

 

He seems to get a good finish on those bits he's done, but having done plenty of wet lay-up in the past, I can tell you it's not half as easy as he makes it look.

 

We tend to use pre-preg which has the resin already on the resin (and in a tacky state) so we just have to lay it onto the component, stick it in an oven to get the resin to flow evenly over the part and jobs a good 'un.

 

Have often thought about scanning in the dash panels and making some proper CFRP panels but it would cost an absolute bomb, so this may well be a reasonable alternative.

 

Let us know how you get on Jamie. :)

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Ok here are the pics of the mirror I've skinned.

 

Due to having to use the flash on the camera, the harshness of the white light hasn't done it justice.

 

Think I'll photograph the process from start to finish on the next mirror and post it up here if anyone is interested.

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Ok here are the pics of the mirror I've skinned.

 

Due to having to use the flash on the camera, the harshness of the white light hasn't done it justice.

 

Think I'll photograph the process from start to finish on the next mirror and post it up here if anyone is interested.

 

Too right we're interested Stevo. That looks like a great finish. :)

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Only problem with this is it can become loose over time. I overlayed my inlet scoop a few years back and it looked really good, due to the different expansion rates of the resin and the original plastic base the two have now become seperated.

I guess I could glue them together but at the moment the shape stops them finally falling apart.

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Yeah i was looking at this kit a while back, and the mirrors is what i wanted to do !

Looks like a good job from those pics steveo, very interseted if you got a bit of spare time on your hands, even got a set of spare mirrors ready to go ! ;)

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