Having waited almost 1/2 of the summer to take the xfire of its cosy winter storage habitat, then having it spend some time on the lift installing the wavetrac. I finaly started to look around to get some "low usage" insurance so i can atleast put a few miles on her and enjoy the car. After talking with hagerty and giving me a decent rate, then them telling me they will not beable to insure me because im not 26 yet means the car will not get driven this year So i decieded to take the plunge and start on a mild interior upgrade.

Many of the folks have experenced the headliner fabric comming apart on them, and it seems to be a common issue with the car. Although my car has super low milage 8000k, the headliner has started to slightly come loose in the corners, i was looking for a good looking matierial to wrap the liner and the pillar pods i made. I looked at Alcanatra to match the seats but the stuff is SUPER expensive for what it is, and nearly impossible to get. After seeing a few do the carbon fiber wrap on their headlines, i really loved the look, and really shows off that cool moulded rib that runs down the center of the headliner. Really reminds me of the cf interior of the pagani zonda.

So the hunt began, and then ended quickly. Trying to get the stuff in large rolls north of the border is very difficult/nearly impossible. And ordering from the US basicaly doubles the price just because of shipping. So that kinda put the project on hold.

About 2 months ago at work, some samples of a real carbon fiber black/red weave came across my desk for a retail store project we were working on. We didnt end up using it for the project, but if i could find a similar blue/black weave that would look killer in the car

Sure enough 2 weeks ago i came across a place localy that sells specialty boating supplies (epoxies, resins, fiberglass, cedar strip canoe kits), and low and behold they had a beautiful blue/black cf/kevlar weave. So after blowing the budget for this small project out of the water. I have all the supplies to epoxy & finish all the biege panles and headliner in the car. I think i might just wrap the original panels instead of making a mold and recreating the panels. But i havent decieded on that yet.

The flash went off in the pic so it doesnt show the true color of the carbon fiber but i would say its not as "bright" in person. It should match the SSB good, but would match the Aero Blue perfect!. i cant be too picky

I also got some regular black cf weave just incase, im going to lay out some small panels to see what it looks like once the epoxy had coated it and the metalic fibers do their eye candy thing

Should be fun. lol

 

good luck and please post lotsa pic's

 

I have a neighbor who makes and repairs canoes and laying down cloth onto resin is tricky, especially on compound curves, it is not very forgiving at all and runs are tough to avoid. Spraying is required for a good finish, brushes lose bristles and it is hard to get even coverage. If you are expecting a finish like mad meds CF hoods I think you will be disappointed.

I'm not trying to be a party pooper here, just warning you of the pitfalls. I'm sure you would not want to look at the bad finish that could be the result here, especially knowing you had to buy new parts to go back to the OEM look.

Before you start on the parts, practice, practice, practice on other items. Good luck.

 

Oh yes, laying up CF is definetly not a simple task, ive seen a few projects where the weave pattern gets pinched around compound curves and such and really takes away from the look, ive done a few projects with fiberglass and the key i found to emiminating runs is to do thin coats and let them set up before going on to the next, CF and epoxy is just a bit more pickier then fiberglass and resin. I will most definetly be spraying this project, a nice gloss finish is the key

At work we have a full size spray booth so i will be using that for this project.

For epoxies i decieded to use the West System 105 epoxy, and 207 hardener. The 207 hardiner is made specifically for gloss clear finishing, it also has low drip properites.

 

Did this Die?

I'd love to hear how this turned out...

 

Nope, project hasnt died at all. Ive already layed down the CF and have buit up the layers of epoxy. I have about 4 so far, but want to get more so i have some buffer room when i begin to sand and prep for a clear coat finish.

Let me see if i can take a good pic.

Its been sitting on the back burner for a few weeks, i will get back on it when the cold weather rolls in. Pics dont do it justice at all (parts are a bit dusty too), but you can get the ideal. Luckily i was able to get the weave perfect across the entire headliner, it was a bit picky when laying down, but it ended up working out.

All thats left is to do a few more coats of epoxy to even out the high spots, and i need to build up the vertical surfaces a bit more, then it should be good to go. Off to the pillar covers next.

 

Won't this process stiffen the headliner thus taking away from the flexibility required for re-installing it into the car?

 

My thoughts too Steve, when I did my headliner, it needed to flex a bit to fit in through the passenger door opening. Removing the seats and the steering wheel will allow for more clearance.

 

Its funny that you guys mentioned that; that was one of the things i kept on my mind when i removed it. It was a very close fit taking it out, but i didnt have to bend the original one at all to get it out, i did have to tinker with the seat adjustment; i had to bring them all the way foward, and fully reclined, that gave me a bit of room to bring the headliner back and down out the passenger door.

It stiffen it up a bit, but not as much as you would think. Remember it just one layer of CF, and the epoxy does have a tad bit of "flex-ness"

 

I guess this is only for looks and not weight reduction, right? Looks very good! Job well done bud!

 

Looks GREAT... I just recovered my Headliner a few weeks ago.. (conventional material) I went with Black, but I was thinking CF would look sick... I was right... Looks great!!!

 

Thanks!

Its purely cosmetic, it actualy adds a bit a weight compaired to the old fabric but its still pretty light.
If you wanted to go to the extreme, a mold could be simply made from the interior parts and 100% cf interior panels could be made, but thats alot of work for minimal weight savings. The plastic parts arnt very heavy to begin with, but work great for wraping cf on.

 

Looks sweet! Have any pics of it installed?

 

I did the same to mine with fabric and absolutely love it. Hardest part was finding the SLK32 black visors to match everything

Looks good.