Skinning the Under Door Aluminum Panels with Carbon Fiber

[nucjd19]

Apparently I can't help but find projects. I have gone around and around on carpeting, painting with flat black and skinning the aluminum with carbon fiber. In my no sleep post call night haze I have decided to skin them with carbon fiber to match my dash and transmission tunnel.

The first thing I did was to paint them flat black so the bare aluminum would not show through. Then I drilled and installed them with clecos. Then.... I left them and left them and left them...in position to form to the body and the chassis. Because once I skin them with CF they will not flex. FYI, notice the Cobra Herb door liner.....FREAKING AWESOME!
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=172994&d=1663977873

And today I started the skinning process. First thing is to rough up the piece then add the first resin/hardener coat mixed with black pigment. Once tacky the CF is added to the part.Then the part needs to dry before adding the coats and sanding.Once the base coat is dried I will trim closer to the part and then add the resin/ hardener so I will have less excess to grind off.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=172983&d=1663977435
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=172984&d=1663977435

the next step will be laying down the coats. This takes a bit of timing over multiple hours and I have a 100 mile Road bike race tomorrow which is gonna jam up the day. Will move onto the next steps on Sunday and will update. The bike in the foreground is Italian and I always like to think that my bike is the Ferrari equivalent...... Sort of Ford vs Ferrari....but bike and roadster LOL!
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=172995&d=1663977937

[runamuk]

That looks good
When you did your dash, did you start with an aluminum piece?

[Tooth]

Looks great, but now I have another project. And, I'm just getting rolling on my build. :eek:

[GoDadGo]

Great Idea & I Know It Will Really Come Out Great Upon Completion!

[nucjd19]

That looks good
When you did your dash, did you start with an aluminum piece? No I bought the finished dash from factory five.

[nucjd19]

Thanks for the compliments fellas. I got the resin hardener coats done on sunday and it is curing. Will snap some pictures before and after trimming and denubbing the parts. Then will wet sand them and finally shoot 2k matte clear on them and call them done and ready for install.

[Avalanche325]

Nice bike!!

The door sills aren't too bad either.

[nucjd19]

Thanks Avalanche! I have a bit of an obsession with Road bikes. I started racing them in the mid 90s after a bad crash racing mountain bikes and I have kept with it all of these years. It is a great way to stay healthy and believe it or not but the cycling community in Alabama is very large and friendly. My Dogma is my go to for any race that is around 100 miles if I am time trialing I go to Canyon Aeroroad CF-SLX. It is a Carbon Fiber Aero bike made by a company in Germany. If I am doing a training ride I will grab my Lynskey Titanium Road bike made in Chattanooga TN. here is a pic of my Pinarello after my race last weekend. She is dirty after 100 miles but fast.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=173286&d=1664747485
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=173285&d=1664747485

As for the skinning I am done. It was a lot of work for low pay out. It is hidden down deep in the shadows and in hindsight I would probably not do again. I will install a black ¼ angle piece to finish the corner and paint the rivet heads matte black to finish off.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=173263&d=1664746927
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=173264&d=1664746927

[Avalanche325]

I used to MTB and then migrated over to road. I still have my old but trusty Litespeed Firenze. I never really raced, but used to do 5-6 centuries a year. I was really into it when I lived in SoCal. Was more into MTB when I lived in New Zealand. I need to get back into it. Just doing trainer work for fitness these days.

Bringing home some hardware! Nice.

The sills look good. But sort of like my polished AL panels. A lot of work for something you don't really see.

[JohnK]

Nice work on the carbon fiber skins on the door sills. They may not be very prominent, but it's still a nice touch.

Love the bike! I'm a Cervelo guy myself but Pinarellos are just so sexy. I don't race much, but when I do it's in triathlons so my race bike is a P5 disk, and my training road bike is a C5.

[nucjd19]

Love me some Cervelos! Much respect for Triatheletes! I HATE running but tolerate swimming laps. Appreciate the compliments on teh door sills :)