carbon fiber door handles
 

Just wanted to post pictures of my latest project. They are stock handles covered in real carbon fiber. the pictures don't do it justice.

http://www.markkoch.net/images/carbo.../installed.jpg



http://www.markkoch.net/images/carbo...installed1.jpg

http://www.markkoch.net/images/carbo...installed2.jpg

Nice job dude..... I cant wait till I get around to doing mine. Im still smoothing the interior pieces. Ill have to show you when its done.

Very nice job!!! I've been thinking about doing mine. wanna give me a few pointers?;)

First take a good look at them before you take the handles apart. I though it looked easy, but when it came time to put them back together I was wishing I took a picture of them first.

Second I would recommend using some sort of vacuum bagging system. The handles have a decent amount of curves and the sides have very sharp angles. Behind the lever and where the lever hinges go through the front plate have very tight clearances.

If you have never messed with real carbon fiber I would not recommend starting with this project. Try a couple of flat panels first.

So how much you charging, hint, hint?

Chris

I can do them for 150 a set. You have to send me your handles. Turn around time is about a week plus shipping time. If you get 5 or more people I'll do them for 125 a set. Check out www.carbonfiberparts.net to see other projects of mine.

I would definitely want you to do mine too.

Count me in, I'd be interested in having you fix mine up.

Dude your car looks like a hotwheel :D

Any one that is interested in having their handles done, drop me a line at mark.koch@ssa.gov if you have questions or need my shipping address.

Details:
-You have to send me your handles, turn around time is about 1 week plus shipping both directions.

-Cost is 150 a set plus shipping (125 +shipping if I get 5 people or more) You can send a money order with your handles or use paypal after the handles are done.

-Somebody asked about the triangles on the door directly across from the handles. I can do those to although I would first fill in the pattern on them so they are flat. I don't believe I could get the carbon to show the pattern regardless of how much vacuum pressure I put on it. Cost is 25.00 dollars

-if you have anything else you want made or covered in carbon drop me a line or check out www.carbonfiberparts.net

mkoch1, nice job. The car looks great too.
Did you do any additional sanding and buffing or is that finish straight from the final resin application? Mike (RedFD), my son, seems to be having trouble getting a nice smooth and clean final finish. The pieces look good but not as good as wants (perfect). Any suggestions?

Yeah me too. I like those handles a lot.

Do you think that you can do it for FC's too? :confused:

QUOTE]mkoch1, nice job. The car looks great too.
Did you do any additional sanding and buffing or is that finish straight from the final resin application? Mike (RedFD), my son, seems to be having trouble getting a nice smooth and clean final finish. The pieces look good but not as good as wants (perfect). Any suggestions?[[/QUOTE]

Has a final coat I have been spraying the parts with an HVLP paint gun and dimount clear coat. Here is a down and dirty step by step

Step 1: Typically I vacuum bag the part, this gets a relatively smooth finish, you will still have diagonal high stops because the cross threads are higher than the others, but the vacuum pressure distributes the resign evenly and compresses the fibers some.

Step 2: I then wait minimum of 24 hours and put another coat of resign on. You need to give the solvents time to work and allow air bubbles to come to the surface.

Step 3: 24 hours and another coat of resign

Step 4: 24 hours and then sand pretty smooth with 320 grit. Apply another coat of resign

Step 5: 24 hours sand smooth with 320 grit, then smooth with 600 (wet) you should get it to the point that while it's wet it looks very 3D. When it's dry it will look very white and you will hardly be able to see the fibers.

Step 6: spray the part with automotive clear coat. I have tried the stuff in the can (cut in clear) but it doesn't compare to the shine and depth the high quality stuff gives. At this point if you prepped it well you’re done, other wise you can buff the clear coat, just like they do on painted surfaces.

Biggest problem with carbon is sanding it enough without hitting the fibers. If you hit the fibers it gets a fuzzy look to it and the only way to fix it is to start all over. Its a pain in the ass makes working with fiberglass look so much easier.

dan floXXXX at maes******@yahoo.com you sent me an email but when I replied it came back saying

(reason: 554 delivery error: dd Sorry, your message to maes*****3@yahoo.com cannot be delivered. This account has been disabled or discontinued. - mta549.mail.yahoo.com)

Please send me a PM so we can talk.

mkoch1, I sent you an email and pm, get back asap

Thanks for the tips, we'll post some pics soon.

any plan on interior CF panels?

yep,

I have a gental man who is sending me the following parts to have covered.

1) Door handles
2) exterior triangles
3) interior triangles directly behind door handle
4) interior triangles close to window
5) A/c Panel
6) shifter panel
7) gauge panel (front part with the gauges)
8) gauge panel top (part you can see from the front of the car)
9) drivers side door parts
10) passenger side door parts

I'll post pictures when I am finished. Almost anything can be covered in cf, drop me a line if you got something in mind.

mark.koch@ssa.gov or visit the web site at www.carbonfiberparts.net

Look at his email address. He's gov people. They are after us :D

Actually i want all those except 1&2. I got the FEED handle and will get mazdaspeed mirror later.

Can you you give us a list of what is will cost, just write the numbers 1-10 again but write prices instead of description and we can match it up

You guys know, that the Mazdaspeed mirror is not a mirror right? Its just a cover, still looks good though.
You know, there is a still here that is streches and you use like a hair dryer to make it stick, its really easy to work with, and looks like the real thing. CHEAP TOO>
PM for costs

I'm not talking about the real view mirror inside. I'm talking about the Side mirrors. Mazdaspeed one is not a cover anyway. It's just paint like CF like the FEED one. Get your homework done first, my friend. You should know that since you are in Japan. How much you charge on shipping anyway?

Can I get that price list I asked for????

I think the CF covered interior panels would be REALLY nice. Certaily a LOT better than all the POS carbon fiber overlay panels out there. It would ACTUALLY make it seem as if the panels ARE made from CF.

Hmm....to paint my panels gunmetal or get them CF covered...... :D