stick on carbon fiber

[bates]

Ok, I was in crappy tire today, and i was in the "performance" isle when i saw this carbon fiber stick on stuff, near the window tint. I think somebody here put it on the rear posts instead of painting them. well i would like to put it on the front of my mirrors where they look like **** due to weather.
my question is has anyone else used this stuff? is it flexible enough, it said to use a hairdryer, to bend around it without wrinkles?
thanks in advance

bates

 

[RealXP8]

Check with expo5.0 , i think he's the one that did the rear posts with it.
But sounds to me like to much bending to do the mirrors.

 

[bates]

ok thanks i will

ya i thought so too but theres a picture of oe done on the package with it and it has a lot more curve to it than an x's does.

thank again

 

[Hartman]

Yeah Drew did it, he'll chime in here soon. I tried to do it, and honestly I couldn't get it to look right. I guess I'm not good with vinyl or something. I ended up painting mine.

And I think the mirrors would be very difficult to do.

 

[bates]

is there a way to get the front part of the mirror off? that would definatly make it easier, maybe even feasable.

 

[Hartman]

You have to take the whole mirror off.

 

[XplorerKid]

hey bates if you ever do get around to doing this with your mirrors i would be intrested in some pics

i think itll be kool
i might be doing the back corners and between the doors ..........


PEACE

 

[bates]

o for sure if i do try it there will be lots of pics...

hartman: you said you tried it but it didnt look right and you painted instead? does this mean you can take the stuff off if it looks bad?

 

[huskyfan23]

Was this pretty hard to use? I found a 30" x 30" sheet on eBay for $25, $30 w/ shipping, what's the price at crappy tires?

 

[bates]

i havent tried it yet

uhhh i think it ws 37-40$ can for a roll about that size

 

[huskyfan23]

I don't suggest buying this stuff if you're looking for something easy. I bought some and just couldn't get the bubbles out. I used it on my posts. And to top if off, when I took it off, on the right post it took off half the paint!

 

[expo5.0]

well there is a thread with a write-up of how i did it. it IS VERY HARD but i'm not some kind of decal expert or anything and i just persisted until it looked good enough for me. the stuff has held up real well since i did it, and i love the way it looks (its not gaudy because you mostly just don't notice it, but it looks great when you do notice). you can find the thread by searching for carbon fiber vinyl. also you should be able to get 5 year automotive grade vinyl for pretty cheap if you go to a local vinyl place. otherwise call beaver stripes and moldings in phoenix and they should be able to ship it to you even for cheaper than what you guys are finding it for.

just let me repeat though, that it is very hard-- but very doable if you want to put the time in. i'd like to see somebody else get it done.

 

[huskyfan23]

Hey, yours looks a lot better than mine. I didn't use any spray though, what's the name of it? If you're not sure what type of spray would it be? I might try again since it's pretty cheap to do this. Mine looked great until about halfway through the first post, i had it all smooth but at the turn it started really creasing and bubbling up.

 

[expo5.0]

if you don't use any kind of application spray this will be impossible.

if you don't use a hair dryer or other heat source it will be impossible.

if you expect it to be perfect you will end up killing yourself. the key is to get it close and then the breathing of the vinyl get rid of the small bubbles that are left. after like two weeks if you still have any bad ones then use a pin to fix them.

 

[huskyfan23]

I guess I learned that the hard way =\ , what would be a good spray to use? When's the time to use the hairdryer? I tried one after I was done sticking the stuff on the posts and did manage to get some bubbles out.

 

[expo5.0]

here's the link to all the stuff i wrote before Dead Link Removed that process worked for me so it should work for you if your patient

 

[huskyfan23]

So where'd you get the spray? At the same shop? And what about a vinyl squeege, I've got a mini squeege, dunno if that'll work...

 

[expo5.0]

i got the spray at the same shop, but checker or whatever you have around usually has kits for applying window tint that has application fluid concentrate in it and a good squeegee. i think you can pick those kits up for under five dollars then just mix the fluid in your own spray bottle with water and your set to go.

 

[bates]

ok thanks for ur help, im really skeptical right now as to whether i will do it cause it sounds really hard now, especially on the mirrors.

that folia tec stuff looks real nice tho, too bad its in germany.