outbackfarmer

The ZR1 I bought has a lot of added carbon fiber under the hood, and I think the supercharger cover (plastic piece) would look great in carbon fiber. I have checked and they are available in real carbon fiber, but they are EXPENSIVE, over a grand. So, I was checking carbon fiber items out on ebay, and came across 3M carbon fiber vinyl material. They have some pics of it applied to various things and the pics look great.
Has anyone here used it? If so how does it match up to the factory exterior carbon twill pattern? How hard is it to apply? I can get enough of it to do the cover for less than $50 bucks. So if it is good quality (most 3M stuff is) and not to hard to apply, it seams worth giving it a try.

petermj

So you bought a pretty expensive car and now want to rig it with vinyl wrap?

Steve Snake Driver

Yes, it does look good



There is a company that makes some c/f like wrap material that looks better than the 3m stuff. I'm at work so don't have the address handy and will look it up tonight.

outbackfarmer

Wow! That is the look on the cover I am going for. Is that a wrap or is that a real cf?

Steve Snake Driver

Real c/f from APSIS

outbackfarmer

Just because I can afford to throw it away, doesnt mean I should. The way I got to where I could afford all my toys is by making smart purchases. Trust me if it looks like crap I would not leave it on...I will just spent the $1200 to get the real deal. In fact, I asked this question here so my corvette brothers could save me $50 bucks if their experiances show it is not worth doing. But so far one reply and it is positive.

outbackfarmer

That is who made all the other carbon fiber additions. And for the most part they look great. The A piller cf replacements have some defects in them and the mirrors, but you have to look close to see them. But the original owner put all the extra cf pieces on and I with the deal I got on the car all the extras were free. Just looking for a low cost alternative to doing the real thing. For $1200, I think I would rather update the crappy GM nav system.
Plus with this under the hood and the hood shut 95% of the time it would not have to be perfect. In fact I dont expect the $50 wrap to look as good as the $1200 replacement. But if it is 80% is as good, I might do it.

DallasZ06*

People always ask me how I get my toys

articwhitec6

The 3m di noc is amazing, that is all I can say.

Kiser64

BillY2KFRC

The 3M DiNoc vinyl stuff is cool for certain uses, but will never be mistaken for the real thing. Especially if you already have real CF on the car from Apsis to begin with, it will not blend well and will stick out like a sore thumb.

Thompyt

I would not use a vinyl wrap under the hood. I have read on this forum that heat will make the edges peel up. Another CF member used the wraop on his center console. Looked perfect until it got overly hot when sitting in the sun.

Steve Snake Driver

Understand. The stuff is like crack for me

Thompyt

You could use hydrocarbon with an automotive grade clearcoat.

lowriderflow

I recently wapped my halo and roof with 3m CF vinyl... on days that its into the 80's and in the sun all day (which is rare in PA) - there have been one or two SMALL bubbles in the wrap. I rememdied this situation by taking a razor blade and make a super small cut to let the air out.
*Now, having said that... I also did the rear spoiler and a few other little bits... these all bubbled and wrinkled instantly in just sunny 80degree weather. No way in hell they would hold up in an engine bay. The roof and halo were basically big and flat... where you can lay a solid sheet with excellent contact throughout.... the other parts all had alot of curves and edges... so as it expands it wrinkles on these edges.

So basically... save your time and efforts.. I dont see any way that it would hold up at 200+ degrees of an engine bay

lowriderflow

*on a side note... the 3m stuff really is easy to apply. I am mechanically inclined, but never did wrapping or tinting before, but it was really easy and just used my hands to apply it. The parts I removed it from... it left no residue or anything behind, so it seems like it will be removable without issue.
3m 1080 is what you want... they also make the "di-noc", but it's for commercial applications and really stiff and hard to use.

petermj

My son uses this stuff on his bike, looks fake to me since it lacks any depth and he likes to lay it right next to real CF parts. Your car has real CF on it, you should keep this in mind. Each to their own though.

Steve Snake Driver

It might be worthwhile to wrap a small piece of plastic ant position it in the engine bay to see what happens.

outbackfarmer

Now, That is a good ideal.

Steve Snake Driver: Is your supercharger cover real cf or is it wrapped?

Steve Snake Driver

Real c/f. APSIS told me they tried a stock cover overlayed with c/f but it delaminated.