Carbon fiber dash pad.

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younggun2.0

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I’ve always wondered why nobody has taken alternative routes to dash pads. Most are cracked, nice ones are brittle and crazy expensive. So mine was cracked, my car is super custom so I said screw it, a carbon fiber one would be cool.
I stripped the foam.

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This gave me my base. I coated the foam in epoxy resin that I tinted black.

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I made a tent with pvc and plastic to get the materials warm enough to cure.

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Then I did a second epoxy coat.

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at this point the foam is rigid and I can begin to add filler and shape the piece.

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Now I’m ready for a layer of fiberglass

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Then I blocked the fiberglass

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Then I prepped the final carbon layer.

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Here it is ready for a layer of epoxy

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then I let it sit till epoxy was tacky but not cured. This is important because it needs to grab the carbon.

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Then I applied the carbon.


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I let that sit for 3hrs and put top coat of resin.

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at this point I need to let it cure for 24hrs. And lightly sand it. Then I need to put 3 coats of clear and I can block it and final coat it.
 
Then I did a second epoxy coat.

0E09DF39_2945_4DF2_BE6E_AFEC854568A6.jpg


D08199CE_F4D5_499B_A776_07A6AE58350F.jpg


at this point the foam is rigid and I can begin to add filler and shape the piece.

58AAFEB4_C8E5_4FE8_8528_11BAB9F3E155.jpg


6190E5E0_64C6_45AB_840D_A540FE5AD5F3.jpg


02634534_26D8_4981_96FC_2DC126C96BBF.jpg


Now I’m ready for a layer of fiberglass

AA5486C6_551A_4BDD_92A5_4B23C2C0C266.jpg


EFF1AC86_3749_4718_AB51_9D294786F30E.jpg


2A72D423_C07A_4FFD_9DFA_8B8AE7C04663.jpg


Then I blocked the fiberglass

9B5EA4B7_1DF3_4BC7_8196_6C8271F85CC9.jpg


9863AE08_4751_4387_9E7F_23DF899EB8DB.jpg



Then I prepped the final carbon layer.

95B26E6C_DB22_4B87_AA97_BC11A3800C44.jpg



Here it is ready for a layer of epoxy

97B2ED2F_F4B6_460B_B92B_4B03905417CA.jpg


then I let it sit till epoxy was tacky but not cured. This is important because it needs to grab the carbon.

B21E0CFB_48C9_424E_9BD3_E776E22B6E79.jpg


Then I applied the carbon.


BB98F02E_2C95_47A3_96EC_3DE057D6A001.jpg


5912193E_D246_4ED7_B236_D16A6D5E93FC.jpg



I let that sit for 3hrs and put top coat of resin.

5510A649_78A8_4929_8715_CA3EE2A89EF4.jpg


B290ECD9_B4CC_4DB0_AFBB_D82B7F7B800D.jpg


B04185FD_0A43_47C9_991D_9A46A848EECE.jpg


B290ECD9_B4CC_4DB0_AFBB_D82B7F7B800D.jpg


at this point I need to let it cure for 24hrs. And lightly sand it. Then I need to put 3 coats of clear and I can block it and final coat it.
 
Man is that awesome, that's going to look so good in your car. Wish I had your talent, wouldn't mind a carbon fiber one in mine. Keep up fantastic job.
 
Man is that awesome, that's going to look so good in your car. Wish I had your talent, wouldn't mind a carbon fiber one in mine. Keep up fantastic job.
Trust me! If I can do this. Anyone can. Just watched YouTube videos and sanded my *** off. I don’t have any special skills. That’s what I love doing, something I thought I couldn’t. Most people’s talents are limited by ambition. One day when I was young, I was working on a project and was giving up. My father sat me down and asked me why I was quitting. I told him I couldn’t do it. He said “if I gave you $1 million if you finished would you do it”? He then says “ life is about priorities, if you want it bad enough you’ll do it”. I’ve never forgotten that talk. I will have that same talk with my kid someday. Any person can do anything if they want it!
 
Trust me! If I can do this. Anyone can. Just watched YouTube videos and sanded my *** off. I don’t have any special skills. That’s what I love doing, something I thought I couldn’t. Most people’s talents are limited by ambition. One day when I was young, I was working on a project and was giving up. My father sat me down and asked me why I was quitting. I told him I couldn’t do it. He said “if I gave you $1 million if you finished would you do it”? He then says “ life is about priorities, if you want it bad enough you’ll do it”. I’ve never forgotten that talk. I will have that same talk with my kid someday. Any person can do anything if they want it!

Might do just that when this dash pad cracks. Would match my side mirrors I put on :)
 
To be completely honest when I read the title I thought on no another ricer mod on a classic! But damn that looks really good! I like that alot. Nice work you have alot of talent!
 
Beautiful job and I really like the look of it. I do have a concern of it being too shiny in the end product. Did you know there's a reason you never see a shiny dash? it will reflect off the window in the sun. And you won't be able to see... Maybe some kind of satin clear coat or something like that just to dull it down a bit...
 
If you have access to a large oven, you may want to do a post-cure. Contact the resin manufacturer and ask them about the recommended post curing times and temperature stepping. It will make the finished part tougher. It will crosslink the resin bonds better. The finished part will be harder, more resistant to scratching, and it will be MUCH easier to finish by wet sanding it. We use different programs for the stuff we make to give the different parts certain properties. Fuselage is different from wings, is different from spars et cetera.

Be very careful to not sand through the top resin layers to the carbon cloth. It is much softer than the resin. If you do, the appearance will be significantly altered.
ALSO, when you do multiple layers, let them cure or do them within about half an hour of each other (this will vary depending on the type of resin that you are using so contact the manufacturer for confirmation). Between each layer of resin, wash the surface with soap and water and a good brush. Soap and water will get rid of the amines (they are like wax). The surface will be covered in amines and failing to remove them can weaken the finished part. You may get delamination between layers, the resin in the different layers is more likely to have issues bonding.

Also, when you do an initial layup with carbon, make sure that the surface has a decent amount of resin and stipple the cloth with your brush. Trimming the brush and using thin Zap-a-gap/CA/Superglue at the base to hold in any loose bristles will make your life much easier. Stippling the cloth with the brush helps pull the resin through the cloth, giving you better saturation, fewer bubbles and other issues. Do NOT pull on wet cloth if at all possible.

The pictures so far look really good.

Make sure that the resin is cured (check with the manufacturer for cure times) before sanding it. Sanding on soft resin sucks. You probably won't need to go past a 1200 grit wet sanding. If you decide to try buffing it, don't. You can wax it though.
 
Beautiful job and I really like the look of it. I do have a concern of it being too shiny in the end product. Did you know there's a reason you never see a shiny dash? it will reflect off the window in the sun. And you won't be able to see... Maybe some kind of satin clear coat or something like that just to dull it down a bit...
Very smart! I plan to do the epoxy work which is very high end UV stable then shoot a top coat of 2k clear.
 
Very smart! I plan to do the epoxy work which is very high end UV stable then shoot a top coat of 2k clear.
Of course like everything I found this out the hard way. When I was young I thought it would be really cool to cover my dash in this black and white camo.. I drove out onto the street on a sunny day and was completely blinded.. I only made it about a half a block before I had to stick my head out the window to navigate back home and get that stuff off in the dash...
 
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You can always experiment with a flattening agent in the final stage of clear. Put the carbon fiber on a few panels & spray it with different ratios of the flattening agent.
 
Really nice work younggun!! I need one now...
 
Awesome! I'd like to see it in the car. I bought the bezel inserts in carbon fiber just to be different. Very cool!
 
Awesome work! I need to get back into composites. I was originally thinking about doing this, but I was stupid and didn't leave the foam on my dash frame. Now I have a bare frame and I'm trying to brainstorm what I should do with it. I do have a vacuum pump and a roll of fiberglass in my garage.
 
Awesome work! I need to get back into composites. I was originally thinking about doing this, but I was stupid and didn't leave the foam on my dash frame. Now I have a bare frame and I'm trying to brainstorm what I should do with it. I do have a vacuum pump and a roll of fiberglass in my garage.
insulation foam?
the stuff in a can
 
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