Quick Tutorial - Dash carbon fiber wrap (3M DI-NOC)
 

DI-NOC is a great material to work with and will give your dashboard a more finished look if you like carbon fiber texture. Has anyone noticed whenever they get a passenger inside, they comment and seem to touch the dashboard? This will make it even better as the texture is pretty nice to the touch ;)

I highly recommend you practice wrapping something else with extra material, knowing how to work the vinyl properly is pretty much the key to get a good result!

What you will need:
- Alcohol
- Scissors
- A knife / X-Acto
- A heat gun (a hair dryer won't work)
- Patience
- Painter's tape
- A few hours of work

Start by cutting your vinyl into shape, put your dash peices over the vinyl and give yourself a good 1.5" all around of extra material, as you will want something to grab unto to pull it around the corners.

Make sure you cut both pieces on the same length of the material so the pattern matches on both sides.

Start with your first piece, use a paper-towel / microfiber cloth damped with iso-propyl alcohol to clean the front and inside back of the pieces, then use some tape to attach it to your working area.

The DI-NOC has a checkered adhesive backing, this will make it quite easy to push any bubbles out.

http://i.minus.com/jbdhmPlyXdWTeJ.jpg


Remove the di-noc piece from the silicon paper and center it on your peice, make sure it is aligned horizontally and press a bit on the center, then take your heat gun and heat the whole piece evenly so it kind of "melt" on the piece. Don't leave your heat gun at the same place for too long! Make quick back and forth motion.

After the initial heat, start pushing the material from inside out and try to cover the whole piece without any bubbles / kink. If you have a trouble spot, pull back on the material, heat and slightly stretch the vinyl over the area. You can use a squeegee / credit card but this is a small project, your hands will suffice.

http://i.minus.com/j57jKwULwaET0.jpg


The highly convex areas are the hardest to do, you will want to heat the di-noc until it feels "soft" and wrap it around with a bit of tension so it will cover the parts without any kinks in it. It takes patience and some practice to achieve so don't give up! When it's time to wrap it around the piece, you can cut small slits to make it easier to work on. Remember heat is your friend here. You can use a credit card to tuck the vinyl in the back.


http://i.minus.com/jr4XOangbeG5e.jpg

Continue doing the same all around. When it's time to do the other peice, try to align the pattern so it looks good when all done!

Enjoy your new dash!


http://i.minus.com/jDfjWii2HLY2F.jpg

http://i.minus.com/jbtWhoVBh3BiJ0.jpg
http://minus.com/i/bdhmPlyXdWTeJ

Make the fiber pattern line up across both pieces.

https://fbcdn-photos-g-a.akamaihd.ne...447_n.jpg?dl=1

https://fbcdn-photos-e-a.akamaihd.ne...535_n.jpg?dl=1

It's not as striking in real life than in picture, however it lined up on the table but not perfectly once installed.

Nice write up! I would HIGHLY suggest using 3M Primer 94 Adhesive Promoter to help the vinyl stick and not peel/bubble.

Attachment 63201


I did this almost a year ago...

Attachment 63198
Attachment 63199

:cheers:

Awesome! I was thinking of doing something like this, but for some reason the images aren't loading for me? Anyone else experiencing this issue?

Images loaded fine on my end...

Quantity needed
 

three tubes enough to how much? If I wanted to wrap doors and rear side panels how many of the promoter would you suggest I purchase? :thanks:

The 3M promoters dry up REALLY fast; If you have three panels ready and already cleaned with alcohol, I would say you might get away with one tube for three panels. I ended up buying 20 of them in bulk on eBay. I honestly forget how much it was but I highly recommend getting a good amount. :)