Hey all,

I am looking into carbon fiber wraping my chrome front grill. However I have never done anything like this before so I am looking for a little advice.

So my questions:

- What carbon wrap whould I use? (I have seen on some threads that some users recomend 3M, however on other threads users say not to use it as it is poor quality!?)

- How much wrap do I need to buy to do the job comfortably?

- And finally has anyone wraped wing mirrors in carbon before? As this could be another job for the future, If someone has done this would they be kind enough to answer the questions above.

Thank you for any help

Ilmor

I had mine done a couple of months ago it cost me £50. heres a pic,

the vinyl is 3M and i have had no issues

3M seems to be the favourite vinyl on here.

Save your cash and buy a Briskoda.net calendar instead

It looks awful IMO.

The stuff most commonly used is called Di Noc by 3M.

I had some on my grille for a while as I couldn't really afford

to have it sprayed to match back then.

Mortgage, bills and all that

Di-Noc is great stuff, very durable and should be applied dry with a heat gun or hair dryer.

Wrapping the grill is a bit of a pig TBH... I done mine with normal £3.50 matt black vinyl off Ebay and I noticed a huge difference in how the two react.

The Di-Noc is much less prone to bubbling as the back is hatched to allow the air to escape where normal vinyl isnt.

It's worth the extra outlay as its the only vinyl that looks remotely like real [albeit dry weave] Carbon fibre.

I didnt like it though, so thats why I done mine matt black .

Thanks for all the advice guys! Mk132102 how much did you need/buy to do it? I have no idea how much to buy... The original plan was to re-spray it but I would probably like to return it to standard when I decide to sell, so the wrapping is the best option.

Has anyone done wing mirrors before? Or a LCR front splitter? (not that i have the aplitter yet but its on the plans!)

Thanks again

Ilmor

Wing mirrors are possible but difficult to DIY.

Better off getting something like that done by a pro

who sticks vinyl on things all day every day.

It does go round curves but the vinyl is too pricey to

have a try and see how it goes...

Korban has done his splitter, (In 3 pieces if I recall)

check his posts as he has used a fair bit of Di Noc on his LE,

insisde and out. It's also being used more and more to cover

over knackered spoilers lately.

Thanks for all the advice guys! Mk132102 how much did you need/buy to do it? I have no idea how much to buy... The original plan was to re-spray it but I would probably like to return it to standard when I decide to sell, so the wrapping is the best option.

Has anyone done wing mirrors before? Or a LCR front splitter? (not that i have the aplitter yet but its on the plans!)

Thanks again

Ilmor

I Got mine done by a professional who did my roof and spoiler as well the whole lot cost me £150, and they quoted me £30 - £50 to get it done. all they did was cut a 1 big piece of vinyl to cover all the chrome, and just cut a hole in the middle with a knife. I think 1.5m by 1.5m piece of vinyl but measure to be safe.

Hope this Helps

I have just purchased the Briskoda calendar

Edited 16 November, 201114 yr by ilmor

Thanks for all the advice guys! Mk132102 how much did you need/buy to do it? I have no idea how much to buy... The original plan was to re-spray it but I would probably like to return it to standard when I decide to sell, so the wrapping is the best option.

Has anyone done wing mirrors before? Or a LCR front splitter? (not that i have the aplitter yet but its on the plans!)

Thanks again

Ilmor

I dont get that logic. Why keep a car in accordance to possible preference for the next buyer? Enjoy the car for yourself!

Seen mirrors done on a polo. You can literally apply it to anything, get a hair dryer on it and you can mould it to anything.

But as previously mentioned, I dont think it looks great on the grill, colour coding FTW

Edited 16 November, 201114 yr by Tim_GTi

It looks awful IMO.

Agreed.

Carbon is cool because it's found (in abundance) on race cars. Why? Because it's strong and it's light. Wrapping something in carbon-fibre-look sticky back plastic for decorative purposes.... well, it defeats the point somewhat, in my opinion.

i prefer painted grilles! and it cost me £30 rather than 50!

So the general consensus is that the carbon would look silly on the front grill, this is making me think maybe I should just wrap it in a gloss black vinyl instead and wrap the mirrors, front splitter and a few other small bits in carbon.

Is there a particular type of vinyl that I need to look out for or avoid?

Do I need to lacquer the vinyl once I have applied it?

So the general consensus is that the carbon would look silly on the front grill, this is making me think maybe I should just wrap it in a gloss black vinyl instead and wrap the mirrors, front splitter and a few other small bits in carbon.

Is there a particular type of vinyl that I need to look out for or avoid?

Do I need to lacquer the vinyl once I have applied it?

<Yoda> There is no concensus... </yoda>

Carbon or just blue, green, black or whatever. With wrapping, you can possibly return the part to normal afterwards. That's a big deal if it's the roof. But how much does a grille surround or a rear spoiler cost from a scrappy?

J.

So the general consensus is that the carbon would look silly on the front grill, this is making me think maybe I should just wrap it in a gloss black vinyl instead and wrap the mirrors, front splitter and a few other small bits in carbon.

Is there a particular type of vinyl that I need to look out for or avoid?

Do I need to lacquer the vinyl once I have applied it?

I had the carbon vinyl on my car for a bit.

I thought it looked okay but my car is black

I'm not sure it really suits all colours though.

I'm now rocking a colour coded milotec badgeless job.

All in that cost me over £130 quid including the spraying etc.

So the vinyl is definitely cheaper and in a year and a half on

the car the vinyl is still undamaged (Despite half a mile stuck

behind a gritter last winter) My OE grille is still wrapped and out

in the shed.