Dash Carbon Fiber Veneer

[lewma]

Guys

I'm thinking about placing a carbon fiber veneer on my bare aluminum dash using these products:

https://dragonplate.com/carbon-fiber-veneer-sheets

I received a couple of small samples and placed them on a test dash to see how they looked.

Has anyone else used these products and if so, how did you handle wrapping the veneer to the lip on the underside of the dash ?

thanks!
mark

[cgundermann]

I’ve done several dashs and use carbon fiber (CF) from Protech Composites (http://www.protechcomposites.com). I bond it with a a 3M adhesive and the CF from Protech comes in various thicknesses and finishes. I generally use .5 mm thickness, because it better hides any surface imperfections. Their standard thin carbon veneer is .020” (1/50”) thick and has some flexibility -- with a weight similar to heavy card stock and it will wrap around a 4” pipe. I generally finish/paint the 90 degree lower edge, but the .020 thick CF will wrap around it. I sometimes will rivet a non visible edge (underneath - if I wrap the edge) for added insurance if the adhesive fails. There is a couple of tricks to cutting/finishing the edges I discovered through trial & error and you can always PM me. When you order the stock, the dimensions needed are 64 1/2” by 9 1/4”. This is a dash (in high gloss CF) I recently did for a Forum Member:

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Chris

[lewma]

Thanks Chris

Do you let the lower edge on the CF hang lower than the lip on the dash? Do you have any pics on what you did on the lower edge?

Mark

[cgundermann]

Mark ~

If you zoom in on the first (above) attached photo - I ran the bottom edge of the CF just slightly above the rounded 90 degree turn-in of the bottom corner. The edge in the pic, I had previously painted a matte black, before I laminated the carbon fiber. On my personal dash, I used Herculiner for the turned in edge. You could also use painted ‘L’ channel at the transition or even rubberized molding (which is what I did at the ends of the bottom dash after the 90 degree edges for a finished look). I also use some rubber ‘C’ channel from McMaster-Carr along the top of the CF dash to protect it when the body is on.

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Chris

[MVRight]

I used DragonPlate veneer on my dash. Probably can find the thickness, but think it was one up from the thinnest one. Wrapped fine on the wings, but I didn't get a big piece to wrap all the way around the dash because of the expense. It was close and I have about a 3 inch extra piece on each end. Didn't wrap it underneath on the sharp bend. Just painted it black. Been stuck on for about 2 years now through hot and cold garage as I'm still building.

98637

[davekp]

You might consider a hydro dipped finish. I had some parts done relatively cheaply with great results.

[jetheft]

I did eBay auto wrap on mine. Took about 10 minutes to apply with the heat gun.


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[lewma]

Thanks all for the pictures and suggestions