carbon fibre Archives - DaRtLeNe OrAnGiNa

Hood Pins Installed (on carbon fiber hood)

October 21, 2016 ericnyoder Leave a comment

Hood Pins Installed – A local car tech suggested to keep my new carbon fiber hood looking good for years to come, I should secure it with hood pins. This will keep it from cracking over time, and a safety net from the hood latch separating from the carbon and snapping up during extreme driving. Less than a week later, the clearcoat on the CF started to get a crack near the hood latch. I immediately ordered hood pins, including gaskets, so no metal would be touching the carb fiber. The hood needs to be re-clear coated in 1-2 years, so no biggie, but I wanted to ensure it stays this way.

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Carbon Fiber Hood

September 15, 2016 ericnyoder Leave a comment

Uh oh! I did it! MPX Carbon Fiber hood – build is now complete! Now to decide, what do you think? I completed the hash stripes over the hood lip, to tie it in. I feel like it blends it in a bit better, but what do you guys think about the middle stripes? Should I continue the center stripes over the hood, like I did the hash stripes, or do I leave it as is? If I did it, it would only be plasti dip, so the matte black would slightly contrast the hood, and be completely removable. I just can’t decide, and I want to finish it by next week at the Midwest Dart Meet in Chi-town!

Here’s a better look at the black over CF:

I (quickly) mocked it up in Photoshop, to give a better idea of what I mean:

All of these ideas were later abandoned, and the hood was left raw.

Tags: carbon fiber carbon fibre cf hood dodge dart mix modern performance orange vented hood

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Build Thread

LED Lighting, switches, interior controls, Carbon Fiber Wrap

March 23, 2016 ericnyoder Leave a comment

Wired in switches for all the LED lighting – 3 are used, one is a secret weapon that hasn’t been installed, yet. These switches are simple, on/off, and they are soldered on the back side, sharing a common ground. Several of them are wired to constant power, for use at car shows, etc.

LEDs were added to the glove box, cup holder, and backseat cup holders:

I also carbon fiber wrapped my steering wheel pieces, although the bottom piece is still not perfect, and may need to be redone.

I had to disassemble the HVAC controls, pull off the knobs, wrap the piece, and then assemble.

Used red gap trim for the controls:

Tags: carbon fiber carbon fibre cf CF wrap dodge dart electrical interior wrap led switch switched power vinyl wiring wrap

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Interior Trim & Carbon Fiber Wrap with LED Lighting

February 23, 2016 ericnyoder Leave a comment

Added some more carbon fiber trim in the cockpit.

I wired in some convenience LEDs in the trays, in the pockets, in the glovebox, and in the center console. In the pic, I drilled 3 holes above the cubby, then taped the leds to the inside of the plastic console piece. Then I added small holes in the pockets, and did the same with LEDs there and the glovebox.

This is how the wire is routed and attached to the pockets:

Tags: carbon fiber carbon fibre cf custom led dodge dart gap trim interior interior led led lighting pinstripes pinstriping vinyl wrap wrap

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Carbon Fiber Wrap

November 23, 2015 ericnyoder Leave a comment

Maybe not the first, but I installed carbon fiber (wrapped) side skirts, chin spoiler & door pillars.

This weekend, I got Dartlene ready to drive out to Ohio. Both mine and my wife’s families are from Ohio, so we’ve made this journey about 10,000 times. None of my Ohio buddies have seen the ride, yet, so I’d thought I’d do a few more mods:

Carbon fiber door pillars – I bought a large roll of carbon fiber, the thicker stuff (0.5mm instead of 0.2mm) and went wrap-crazy. I used paper to trace and cut templates of the door pillars. Once I had them right, I cut reverse them for the opposite side. I attempted to do the mirrors, but failed MISERABLY. I couldn’t figure out my problem, until I did more research and found out about the different thickness models. The thinner stuff will stretch further, and is good for interior trim & mirrors. The thicker stuff was perfect for these jobs.

Door pillars: