[fortythirtyfive]

Been wanting to do the kick panels and obd port trim in carbon for a while.

Finally managed to get a spare week to knock the job out!





The driverside was a little annoying as the plain weave carbon cloth won't stretch properly into the recess for the swinging hood release catch. In the end I had to do a release cut into the cloth so it would sit flush, I took the opportunity to hide the cut areas with an alcantara insert.. but then I realised you would see the flat edge and my ocd couldn't live with that



I decided to cut some channels into the trim where the alcantara could tuck away, very similar to what you would do when you have a seam in upholstery.




FTR I did the passenger lateral panel too, I just totally forgot to take photos.

I also removed the final bits of gloss carbon I had done on my interior to spray them satin at the same time..





Final thing to do is the lower centre console, this will be in satin plain weave carbon too.

[Oksamit78]

Love the craftsmanship!

[toxik]

i wish these forums had more people like you! amazing work

[Skyhigh]

Can't say I'm a fan of the dry (matte/satin) carbon, but 10 points for the craftsmanship and motivation!

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by Skyhigh

Can't say I'm a fan of the dry (matte/satin) carbon, but 10 points for the craftsmanship and motivation!

Yeah it's a bit marmite for a lot of people, the main thing that made me switch though was gloss carbon doesn't contrast with alcantara all that much, it works better with smooth leather instead.

I always finished my carbon with a gloss clear coat originally but couldn't put my finger on what was clashing. Ironically the conversation came up when discussing something with my leather and alcantara supplier. They described how a lot of interior designers had shifted to satin carbon near soft fabrics which brought me to where I am now.





FYI I know our cars aren't a speck on an Aston or McLaren

I'm quite lucky that DMB Collection are quite literally opposite my house with a massive array of carbon interior cars, I asked Dean if I could go over to grab some photos before I took the plunge, I didn't want to commit only to find I wasn't a fan of it.

[mmm-five]

Even in the examples below, it looks great with the McLaren interior...but awful on the Aston's.

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by mmm-five

Even in the examples below, it looks great with the McLaren interior...but awful on the Aston's.

Yeah they've paired it with a natural worn looking leather which is doing the opposite to gloss near soft fabrics ha.

I remember when the Squadra Corse came out with a full alcantara interior and gloss carbon trims, they always felt a bit "stuck on" and totally out of place for me. Not sure if you follow the DDE guys but I believe they stripped their SC's interior to paint it satin too. I admit it takes away the depth and some reflections of the carbon weave but the surface finish compliments alcantara a lot more imo.

Here's a classic example of it in a Porsche too, this really spins my ocd



Perhaps this is what I should have shared from Aston:



If the car wasn't as old and had the mileage that it does I would be very tempted to delete the red dakota leather in favour for some smooth grains like nappa, at which point I would 100% stick with a gloss carbon interior.


Something I'm really not keen on though is automotive brands using the silicon infused carbon textile stuff, they sew accents of it into seats and dashboards. Whilst it is technically a form of composite weave it feels a bit tacky to me.

[Skyhigh]

The problem with dry/satin carbon (I have) is that it looks very plasticy or wrap-alike... Last time I rented a car, I got a cheap Hyundai (or was it a Kia?)... which had a satin carbon imitation dash, despite not even having a climatronic.... this just kills it for me in general and gives it an "Ali-Express" look - no matter real or fake. Yes - I would not doubt it in an Aston Martin or McLaren.... - just the brand gives is a completely different image. But in a BMW - the question popping up in my head is - wrap or AliExpress?

Gloss carbon on the other hand just looks deeper, more sophisticated and "real"... to me! Wrap is than automatically excluded as you don't get that look with a wrap. Could still be fake, but at least a good one.
Not trying to push my view in any way. Just explaining where I am coming from.

But if you are willing to do some CF work on request (of course for a price) - please PM me In gloss then

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by Skyhigh

The problem with dry/satin carbon (I have) is that it looks very plasticy or wrap-alike... Last time I rented a car, I got a cheap Hyundai (or was it a Kia?)... which had a satin carbon imitation dash, despite not even having a climatronic.... this just kills it for me in general and gives it an "Ali-Express" look - no matter real or fake. Yes - I would not doubt it in an Aston Martin or McLaren.... - just the brand gives is a completely different image. But in a BMW - the question popping up in my head is - wrap or AliExpress?

Gloss carbon on the other hand just looks deeper, more sophisticated and "real"... to me! Wrap is than automatically excluded as you don't get that look with a wrap. Could still be fake, but at least a good one.
Not trying to push my view in any way. Just explaining where I am coming from.

But if you are willing to do some CF work on request (of course for a price) - please PM me In gloss then

Oh I totally agree with you, the main thing that made me hesitant about doing it originally was because I thought it would look either like a wrap or the fake plastic stuff you see on some interiors. Please don't think I take any offence to it, it's refreshing to hear a discussion on it as a lot of my friends think I'm far too picky and they settle for whatever they're given.

Once I was able to see it on the cars over the road I was convinced enough to do it, you loose some depth but the metallic reflections from each strand still stays (unless you go completely matte) which is the main giveaway for me when trying to decide if something is fake or real. The imitation stuff and wraps can't refract light the same way real carbon cloth does so it's pretty noticeable.

What's super odd is when I saw a mix of both satin and gloss not to long ago, I was lucky enough to get my hands on an SF90 for an hour, Ferrari mixed both finishes inside of that car.



The thing that's triggering my ocd about carbon skinning right now is the finish of hand laying vs something from a compression mould. If I was to do gloss on my car again I would want to make it from a mould, you force every strand to sit flat and unified giving it a more solid and brighter look, where as hand laid carbon still has some lift between the strands causing a grain look (you'll notice the individual strands) the only way to eliminate that is by having something press down on the fabric whilst wet with resin.

Hand laid:

Compression mould:


.. but making a mould is like 5x the cost at some point you have to call it a day ha. The Maxton diffuser I'm working on right now has seen £280 in fabric, £60 in resin and god knows how many paint brushes and sanding discs, this is going on the outside of the car which has oem carbon so I need it to match the quality.