Overlay/skinning car interior and engine parts

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#1

Hi all,

I have few quick question for the more experienced ones. I am skinning some interior parts in twill CF and I would like to know :

1.How to you deal with the edges? I skinned some cf before but I just want to make sure i am doing the right thing here. I went with the CF over the edge and used some masking tape to hold it in place than apply few layers of resin. I trimmed the edges with either a dremmel or a knife. than sand it and polish it!

  1. Clear coat? What type of clear coat should I apply so i dont have the part turning yellow in couple of months (a lot of heat and sun here in Australia). Is anyone recommending a specific brand I could use? I am guessing that it needs to be UV stabilised but I am not sure.

  2. For engine parts, what type of clear coat should I use and what ype of resin/epoxy?

Any help would be grately appreciated,
Mercer

#2

  1. I think it all depends on the part. Ideally you’ll want to wrap around the edges but sometimes you just can’t. So when you sand or cut the edges just seal it up with a thin layer of epoxy.

  2. I use automotive clear coat. Some have more UV resistance than others, some I’m sure can be flexible, and some others can withstand heat more.

  3. You’ll need some type of epoxy that can withstand those temps. You figure a car interior can reach an internal temperature of around 160 with parts hitting upwards to 180 maybe if they sit in direct sunlight you’ll need to find an epoxy that has a TG of at least that. I was advised to check out adtech 820 which I was about to order, until I went to a site called Ill street composites and they have a laminating epoxy that sells for basically half the adtech and has a pretty high TG.

#3

Thanks for that. I have few other problems now:

  1. Air bubbles - i have just purchased a new blow torch and how is that going to work out. i tried heat gun but with only 60% success. Only few were really popping, others were just in there. I end up sanding after every damn coat of epoxy resin. Is it the resin, or the way I mix them?

  2. Resin issue - is it better to use Epoxy or Polyester resin? Which one is better? A guy did the same thing I did but he used polyester and the finish is just fantastic. Yes, it smells but hey…i care abut the finish. So for overlaying CF over car interior parts which is the one that gives you a better finish?

Any advice would be grately appreciated.

#4

  1. Air bubbles are annoying. I know there’s probably an easier way than what I’m doing but this is what I do. Do yourself a favor and invest in a cheap vacuum pump and build some kind of degassing chamber. Trust me it works wonders… The blow torch method works but I use a dewalt heat gun… You just want to be careful not to heat it to much or the epoxy becomes brittle when dried. You also have to be careful on the way you mix… I usually just mix in a plastic red cup, and swirl it around for a good minute, then take a mixing stick and just push back and forth, I hit the edges at the end. You don’t want to mix air into it… If you get air bubbles and end up sanding every coat just poke them out with a needle/blow the dust out/wash out.

  2. I can’t comment on this. I know I was messaging someone about poly vs epoxy. I think epoxy is best from what I’ve read.

#5

About dealing with the edges, as much as possible, I rather to cut them with a sharp blade after first clear resin get tacky on the cf. Then the cf peels similar to when a fruit is peeled off.

Antonio