When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Good guy. Just ask him to see picture of the actual one he will ship you before he ships it and make sure none of the clips or tabs on the cores he used are missing/broken.
Good guy. Just ask him to see picture of the actual one he will ship you before he ships it and make sure none of the clips or tabs on the cores he used are missing/broken.
It looks like they make those parts for a fraction of the price.
Comparing apples to oranges.
Apsis parts are real carbon fiber, which will always be expensive.
According to their website, A D West uses hydrographic printing, which is just high tech paint. It can never reproduce the 3D look of real carbon fiber.
If you can’t afford the real deal, but want something that looks similar, then go with hydrographic printing. If you want real carbon fiber with that amazing 3D look, be prepared to pay, because nobody sells the real deal cheap.
Had a long talk about this with the owner of Apsis at the NCRS show in Florida this week. And no, he didn’t convince me of anything I didn’t already understand. We did talk about how the 3D effect cannot show up in pictures posted on the net. This makes the hydrographic stuff look almost the same as the real deal on websites. But in person, the difference is obvious.
Apsis parts are real carbon fiber, which will always be expensive.
According to their website, A D West uses hydrographic printing, which is just high tech paint. It can never reproduce the 3D look of real carbon fiber.
If you can’t afford the real deal, but want something that looks similar, then go with hydrographic printing. If you want real carbon fiber with that amazing 3D look, be prepared to pay, because nobody sells the real deal cheap.
Had a long talk about this with the owner of Apsis at the NCRS show in Florida this week. And no, he didn’t convince me of anything I didn’t already understand. We did talk about how the 3D effect cannot show up in pictures posted on the net. This makes the hydrographic stuff look almost the same as the real deal on websites. But in person, the difference is obvious.
I can afford it, I'm just not paying it.
Hydrocarbon looks just fine to me, especially on those parts.
Hydrocarbon looks just fine to me, especially on those parts.
OK, I’ll rephrase that then...
If the real deal doesn’t fit your budget or seem worth it to you...
Personally, I think the hydro stuff looks like crap, but that’s just my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions.
Do whatever makes you happy.
I was just pointing out the difference to help educate people, as the difference is not obvious in photos. I didn’t want someone to order hydro expecting to get something that looks the same as real carbon fiber.
If you don't want to go with real carbon laminate, maybe consider 3M Di-Noc carbon vinyl wrapping. It's at least got a little bit of depth and texture to it, unlike the hydro stuff.
St. Jude Donor '13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-'20-'21-'22
Originally Posted by Jeff V.
If you don't want to go with real carbon laminate, maybe consider 3M Di-Noc carbon vinyl wrapping. It's at least got a little bit of depth and texture to it, unlike the hydro stuff.
With all due respect, no to the vinyl Di-Noc.
IMO, that **** was make for ricers on a very limited budget, and it also scratches easy.
Let me set everyone straight here. There is a LOT of mis-information in this thread.
Apsis USA and Auto Dynamics West both use real Carbon Fiber, but it is overlaid on OEM pieces. It is then sealed with either a matte or glossy finish. We have many Vendors who do a great job with real Carbon Fiber pieces that look excellent. But yes, they are expensive. Trust me-if anyone used true Carbon Fiber pieces that were NOT overlaid on OEM pieces, you would be paying a lot more.
Hydro Carbon Fiber is completely different. Again, an OEM piece is taken and dipped with a Carbon Fiber looking overlay. If you look at a Vendor like RPI Designs, you will see that they sell both Hydro Carbon Fiber and real Carbon Fiber pieces.
Thanks Steven for setting the record straight. I have pieces from both, neither co. uses hydro. Both make great pieces with near-perfect twill match. 0 regrets for me, and I'm extremely picky. I didn't want to chime in earlier, I don't know vendor vs non vendor rules, but I would encourage people to do some homework before posting misleading info. Just last week I installed a piece from Greg (ADW). I can assure everyone here there's nothing hydrodipped from him, great quality overlay.
Let me set everyone straight here. There is a LOT of mis-information in this thread.
Apsis USA and Auto Dynamics West both use real Carbon Fiber, but it is overlaid on OEM pieces. It is then sealed with either a matte or glossy finish. We have many Vendors who do a great job with real Carbon Fiber pieces that look excellent. But yes, they are expensive. Trust me-if anyone used true Carbon Fiber pieces that were NOT overlaid on OEM pieces, you would be paying a lot more.
Hydro Carbon Fiber is completely different. Again, an OEM piece is taken and dipped with a Carbon Fiber looking overlay. If you look at a Vendor like RPI Designs, you will see that they sell both Hydro Carbon Fiber and real Carbon Fiber pieces.
Yup, there certainly is a whole load of confusion. Much of it caused by poor website design and unclear definitions of what exactly real carbon fiber is. FYI: I have unquestionably seen C7 carbon fiber parts that are made in custom molds and not simply laid over factory parts. While uncommon, such parts do exist and are not necessarily excessively expensive.
With all due respect, the real truth is rather obfuscated. AD West website’s main pages says nothing about real carbon fiber, clearly states they use hydro, and even links to a video about applying hydro. I’m not making this up. See for yourself:
On the other hand, their list of parts for the C7 then does say real carbon fiber, which is reasonably odd, considering their main page says nothing about it. Any vendor selling real carbon fiber parts will normally not be shy about telling you about it. Then they frequently say that their C7 carbon fiber parts are available in colors. Colored real carbon fiber is no simple matter. Again, see for yourself:
So, one of the lowest cost vendors of C7 carbon fiber parts offers cutting edge colors for less than most other vendors selling genuine black carbon fiber? Something seems somewhat odd to me. I would need to see an AD West CF part in person to draw a meaningful conclusion. Pictures don’t do the trick. Even parts that you could swear in person are carbon fiber, may not be, all though you could then argue what difference does it make, other than you should get what you are told you are getting.
To see what I mean about pictures have a look at this:
Looks quite real in the pictures, but it obviously isn’t, because they say it’s vinyl.
To be clear, I’m neither intentionally picking on any vendor, nor am I promoting any as being better or worse than any other. I just report what I see and let people decide for themselves. I’m as interested as anyone in finding a vendor who delivers the real deal, in high quality, at the best price.
I do know that I can state unequivocally, that all carbon fiber is not created equally. If you are lucky, you usually just get what you pay for. As always, caveat emptor, and buy whatever makes you happy.
Last edited by Resonator; 01-15-2018 at 09:04 AM.
Reason: Fixed links
While I would admit it can be confusing ...the proof is in the pudding. I have purchased a bunch of ADW product with the understanding it is "REAL". This was for my C6, I have gone a different direction on my C7's. Every bit of what I purchased ...was real. I know the difference , I have also purchases a crap load of product from Pat @ American Hydro Carbon. As for C7 Carbon, I have always understood there process to be CF over Fiber Glass.... not positive just remember reading a post about it, this explains why they can be less expensive as those that do CF. I have had massive fitment issues with these guys so am not a fan.
In most cases Hydro has gotten so good your passengers would not be able to tell the difference. Call your vendor and get it from the horses mouth if you have concerns
Let me set everyone straight here. There is a LOT of mis-information in this thread.
Apsis USA and Auto Dynamics West both use real Carbon Fiber, but it is overlaid on OEM pieces. It is then sealed with either a matte or glossy finish. We have many Vendors who do a great job with real Carbon Fiber pieces that look excellent. But yes, they are expensive. Trust me-if anyone used true Carbon Fiber pieces that were NOT overlaid on OEM pieces, you would be paying a lot more.
Hydro Carbon Fiber is completely different. Again, an OEM piece is taken and dipped with a Carbon Fiber looking overlay. If you look at a Vendor like RPI Designs, you will see that they sell both Hydro Carbon Fiber and real Carbon Fiber pieces.
I'll go even further to say that it's a FACT that even the OEM CF dash ( FAY) is manufactured in the same first method Steven mentioned. Having swapped the dash on these cars I can tell you BOTH are made from the same plastic, the only difference is one is then painted while the other has the CF overlay.
I'll go even further to say that it's a FACT that even the OEM CF dash ( FAY) is manufactured in the same first method Steven mentioned.
I'll back this up. I just bought an OEM carbon dash panel that needs a lot of rehab. The glue that holds the carbon layer to the plastic dash panel had almost completely separated, so I took it all the way apart to clean it up and re-glue it. I think the plastic panel is slightly smaller than the one for the plain gray dash, but that's simply to account for the thickness of the carbon layer.
It is unquestionably a molded overlay. If anyone wants to see how such parts are made, check this out: http://blog.ocarbon.com/
I have to laugh when someone calls vinyl or hydrocarbon something 'for ricers' and then acts superior because they paid an arm and a leg for a layer of carbon laminate that is 100% cosmetic.
If you insist on "the real thing" then that's fine. It's your car. But don't act all high and mighty because in the end, what you bought adds just as much structural or performance value to the car as the vinyl does. IE none.
I'll try to remember to weigh the stock dash and "carbon" dash when I get around to swapping them out. I'll wager that the carbon dash is just slightly heavier due to the extra material.
Given how popular and expensive the "racing" parts are (stage 2/3 aero, ceramic brakes, competiton seats, etc) on cars that'll never see a race track, I'd think some carbon-look overlays would be among the lesser sins.
Here's my delaminated OEM carbon dash for anyone who's curious. Both the left and right sections of carbon were peeling at the corners, and it took virtually no effort to remove them all the way. I knew it had issues before I bought it, and I paid less than a good condition gray dash bezel goes for. So I figured it was worth seeing if I could fix up. I'm going to sand off the old glue and see if I can reattach it with some high end 3M composite adhesive.
NOTE: The above is NOT real Carbon Fiber. It is a film overlay. In no way, shape or form is it to be confused with real Carbon Fiber. It simply looks close to the real stuff-but not a perfect match. That's why you MUST be careful and make a choice about what you want.
My entire engine bay is Hydro Carbon Fiber. All other pieces are overlaid Carbon Fiber on all black (Carbon Flash) exterior pieces and many, many interior pieces.
I recently installed a ZO6 grill on my Stingray. I added real Carbon Fiber pieces on the air inlets. These pieces are real Carbon Fiber-not an overlay. If you look on the back side of any piece that is quoted as "real Carbon Fiber", if you can't see the weave of the Carbon Fiber on the back side, you'll know it's an overlay. These pieces I bought are VERY lightweight, which is another property of real Carbon Fiber. So looking at the back side of any piece that is Carbon Fiber will be a tell-tale sign along with the weight.
I have also purchased items from Greg at Auto Dynamics West. Because Greg is not a Vendor here on CorvetteForum, I cannot make further comments. If you would like to discuss this more, please feel free to send me a PM.
So there is real Carbon Fiber. There is real Carbon Fiber that is overlaid on an OEM piece. And then there is Hydro Carbon Fiber.
I'm happy to answer any questions you might have via PM-I've purchased all 3 types from many different Vendors and non-Vendors!
Last edited by Steve Garrett; 01-15-2018 at 09:52 PM.
So why don't you provide links to these parts if they actually do exist? I've seen forum vendors who make this claim, however when you go to their website it's very obvious they are mistaken. I would be pleasantly surprised if you could back up this claim. I think Steven explained everything very well.
Originally Posted by Resonator
FYI: I have unquestionably seen C7 carbon fiber parts that are made in custom molds and not simply laid over factory parts. While uncommon, such parts do exist and are not necessarily excessively expensive.
01-13-2018, 05:57 PM
Does anyone else make these CF pieces?
