VY-VZ Carbon fibre bits anyone?

[Phreddy]

G'Day All.

After thinking that a few interior trim items on my VZ would look pretty trick done in carbon fibre, I actually went ahead and did it.

I laminated CF cloth over the gear knob (manual) plastic "insert", the hand brake lever insert, and am currently working on the "spokes" from the steering wheel. Damn! Looks OK as far as I'm concerned!!

(it's all for aesthetics, as the CF is just laminated over the original plastic bits - no weight saving there!)

As I had to buy far more materials than I needed for what I was doing, it'd be nice to cover my costs. Would anyone else out there be interested? I'll post up a couple photos soon, for a nominal fee I could maybe sort it out.

Watch this space....

[Ratty]

yeah I am interested what state are you in? Also would love to see ur pics!

[Phreddy]

Hey Ratty.

I'm in NSW - I see you're a little further west.

Here's a pic of the handbrake and gear knob, excuse the untidy state of the things around it!

As you can probably see, the gearshift pattern on the knob isn't exactly the original - see, it was moulded impressions in the original plastic knob which I was unable to duplicate. However, I have a specialised printer which can print chrome and gold foil on decal film - I duplicated the font originally used and printed a decal of the pattern, applied the decal, and then flowed another coat of resin over the top so it wouldn't wear off.

The other problem I have is that whilst the handbrake lever trim is available as a spare part, the gear knob insert isn't, so I'm told by my "friendly" local dealer. I can't even buy the gear knob itself - this bloke reckons that it has to be bought as a complete shifter assembly!! (although I will check this out further)

Anyways, as I said the steering wheel trims are in progress - I'll post a pic of them as soon as they're done.

Have a squiz, see what you think.

Cheerz!

[Ratty]

Looks SWEET! Well done I like it a lot

[hothouse_ss]

looks good mate how much for a piece???

[Phreddy]

G'Day Hothouse, Ratty.

How much is a good question! I sorta wanted to see what interest is out there at first.

The main thing it depends on is really whether I'd laminate over your original trim bits, or whether I'd have to get those from Holden . In other words, if someone didn't mind that the trim items would be removed for about a week it would be a good bit cheaper.

(I say a week because there is a little work involved in the final rubbing and buffing. The resin is only brushed on and the finish is fairly rough to begin with but buffs real nice.)

Oh - news flash! The wheel is done, put it back together last night. I'll shoot a pic and post it up in another hour or so.

Cheerz!

[Phreddy]

OK - Here's a pic of the wheel.

(gettin' those trims off is a PITA but worth it, I reckon!)

Cheerz!

[hothouse_ss]

looks great, if i wanted to give it a go myself where would get the cf from and the resin????

[Phreddy]

Heh... Problem, that. See the woven CF is a metre wide, and you have to buy minimum 1 linear metre. So that's a square metre of cloth you get, when you need less than a quarter if it! (from where I got it from anyhow)

Not sure where you're located, but in Seven Hills (West-ish Sydney) there's a mob called FMS (Fibreglass Material Services) - they carry the cloth and the West System epoxy resin I chose. (DON'T use normal polyester resin - it'll eat your plastic bits before it sets!!) hmy:

The cloth ran at about 65 bucks for the metre, then the resin and hardener was about 35 I think. That was the 600ml kit (500ml resin and 100ml hardener) and probably wouldn't be enough to use up the metre of fabric. (would probably just make half - don't forget you need to lay up TWO coats of resin. One to wet out the fabric, then at least one more flow-coat to allow smoothing and buffing)

Plus you'll need a few other things - a litre of acetone (solvent), a few small to medium brushes, plus I bougt a box of those disposable latex gloves from the supermarket. They're great when you're working with sticky crap like that!

Best of luck - it's a bit fiddly, but if you've done a little fibreglass work before you'll do OK.

Cheerz!

[hothouse_ss]

thanks heaps for that, i am in melbourne so will have to have a bit of a hunt around. i have a motor bike as well that i am thinking i could do a few bits on as well

[Phreddy]

Hey Hothouse.

See if there's a mob called "Polymer Daystar" near you somewhere. I know they do the cloth, not sure about the West System resin though.

(I chose that brand of resin 'coz it's a particularly good one. Used by the boffins who build these "F1" styled racing boats and so on.)

Cheerz, best of luck!