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      03-11-2012, 03:50 PM   #749
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Haven't had time today to get around to wrapping the dash trim, only have the door blade pieces and center console done. Here's a quick snap to show what those look like installed:

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      03-11-2012, 10:27 PM   #750
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Dash trim's out, made an awful noise on the way and a little metal piece came off one of the levers that opens the vents when I was removing them from the trim. Doesn't seem to do much, though...

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      03-12-2012, 07:04 AM   #751
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Thanks man. Carbon fiber trim coming soon
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      03-12-2012, 04:58 PM   #752
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Looking forward to the pics!

Finished the front half of the car today, here's the pics:








Gonna be swapping the floormats out for black ones real soon for another black accent.
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      03-12-2012, 07:30 PM   #753
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Looking good, nice work!
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      03-12-2012, 08:47 PM   #754
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      03-12-2012, 11:35 PM   #755
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The floormats will be a nice touch.
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      03-17-2012, 02:45 PM   #756
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Finally.... Bruins win one.
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      03-18-2012, 02:41 PM   #757
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Thanks for the feedback, guys. I love how it turned out, but it was worth doing just for the experience.

So I'm selling my summer wheels and buying new ones, and as soon as those go on, I'm gonna be in the market for a chip. I really like the idea of the COBB AP being an actual flash and super easy to uninstall when I take the car in for service, but it's twice as expensive as a used JB4 or Procede.

Suggestions?


EDIT: Oh, and I carbon fibered my key for the hell of it:

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Last edited by dwells; 03-18-2012 at 03:24 PM..
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      03-19-2012, 07:13 AM   #758
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Dwells I like your posts and that actually looks good, but that's not carbon fiber :P

I'm a carbon addict lol. I've noticed the BMW crowd has no problem calling carbon stickers carbon fiber which kinda irks me. Other car forums I've been on would be appalled lol.


Good wrapping though and it does look nice!
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      03-19-2012, 02:21 PM   #759
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Yeah, it's vinyl, 3M 1080 in particular. I'm usually the same as you in that I don't like the terms being used interchangeably. I'm also not a fan of the vinyl being used on exterior parts (roofs, hoods, lips, etc.) as it looks like "dry" carbon fiber without the resin coating, which is never used on the exterior of a vehicle.

Instead of ordering black floor mats to complement my trim, I'm going to pick up some carpet cleaning supplies and some dye and try dying my existing ones. I need another DIY project, and it'll safe me a few bucks that I can put toward another project. If anyone's interested, I'll keep a work log and photos of the process.
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      03-20-2012, 02:12 PM   #760
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Just started the prep work for dying my floor mats. I was too lazy to go find somewhere that had carpet shampoo and scrubbers, so I just vacuumed them and they're in the washing machine. I've got one of those fancy front-loading steam washers with every imaginable setting (none of which I really know how to use), so it's set to the delicate "hand-wash only" setting.

This is either going to work well and save me a lot of effort, or it'll completely ruin them. Should be interesting.

EDIT: Looks like they survived the wash okay. However, I'm too impatient to let them sundry, so it's time to see if they survive the dryer.

EDIT 2: So, for future reference, the floor mats are in fact machine washable if you've got the right washer and dryer. Did a fantastic job, too. Unfortunately it took four 35 minute cycles in the dryer on the lightest setting and then a bit of air drying to get them dry, so the dying will wait until tomorrow.
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Last edited by dwells; 03-20-2012 at 07:46 PM..
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      03-21-2012, 06:51 PM   #761
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Many hours of labor and $35 of dye later, and my mats are purple. I'm gonna try getting more dye and doing them each individually with little water and a ton of dye mix.
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      03-23-2012, 04:27 PM   #762
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Still struggling with the mats, might have gotten the front two to a decent shade, but who knows if they'll hold it after I wash them.

In the meantime, I've wrapped another key, this time in brushed aluminum:

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      04-01-2012, 05:15 PM   #763
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was there a small meet or gathering at f1 boston today? I saw a couple e9x m3's when I was there
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      04-01-2012, 06:37 PM   #764
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dwells View Post
Yeah, it's vinyl, 3M 1080 in particular. I'm usually the same as you in that I don't like the terms being used interchangeably. I'm also not a fan of the vinyl being used on exterior parts (roofs, hoods, lips, etc.) as it looks like "dry" carbon fiber without the resin coating, which is never used on the exterior of a vehicle.

Instead of ordering black floor mats to complement my trim, I'm going to pick up some carpet cleaning supplies and some dye and try dying my existing ones. I need another DIY project, and it'll safe me a few bucks that I can put toward another project. If anyone's interested, I'll keep a work log and photos of the process.

I used dry carbon fiber on the exterior of my motor swapped race moped , but I agree haha. Glossy carbon is amazing to look at. Even if there was no weight savings I'd still use it on everything.

If you are looking into DIY projects and love carbon as much as me, you should look into overlaying stuff with REAL carbon. I'd probably give you enough business to make it worth it there alone

Let me know how the carpet dying goes. This could be interesting!
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      04-02-2012, 05:03 AM   #765
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Quote:
Originally Posted by darkrom View Post
If you are looking into DIY projects and love carbon as much as me, you should look into overlaying stuff with REAL carbon. I'd probably give you enough business to make it worth it there alone

Let me know how the carpet dying goes. This could be interesting!
I love DIY hands-on stuff, I've just never been particularly good at it. I'm looking into changing that, though, and part of that includes learning how to create moulds and fabricate parts. One of the first things I'd do is make a mold of the interior trim and do a set in real CF. That's a matter of a good deal of time and money, so it might be a while before I get around to it.


As for the carpet dying, it took me a few days, but I finally got it down, I think. I finished the front mats and they've been in the car for a few days. I need to double check, but I don't think they've bled any color.

The rear mats need to be washed and scrubbed to get rid of excess dye, and then redyed to darken them to black(ish) instead of dark purple. Then they'll need to dry, be hand-washed for about a half hour, machine washed and dried, hand-washed again, and then a more intense final machine wash and dry.

Honestly, the whole process is a massive pain. The rear mats have been sitting in my garage for about a week now because I don't feel like doing it. Just the dying means filling up a huge tupperware container with about 10 gallons of piping hot water, mixing in a bunch of salt, hauling the thing outside, adding the mats, stirring constantly for about 25 minutes, then letting them soak for another 30. Disposing the dye means hauling it all to the backyard behind my fence and dumping it.

Then of course is the hand-washing and scrubbing process which involves blasting it with a hose for a while, scrubbing with detergent and cloth, repeating, and so on. Doing it this intensely and this long is the only way to guarantee it doesn't wind up coming off on shoes/bleeding into the carpet, and even after an hour of washing and scrubbing, the water will still run off it with a hint of gray indicating the dye is still coming out.

It's a long, annoying, sweaty process that ruins the clothes you have on and leaves you with dye on your arms and usually in your fingernails (it always gets in my gloves), so factor in a half hour of scrubbing yourself down with bleach as well.

/rant Just a little warning to those who are interested in attempting this I suppose - know what you're in for. At any rate, I'm hoping to finish the rear mats tomorrow if the weather is as pleasant as its supposed to be. Pics of everything installed will follow.
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      04-02-2012, 09:09 PM   #766
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daym, i got tired/scared from reading your post above
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      04-02-2012, 09:41 PM   #767
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I would have bought mats halfway through the first one.
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      04-03-2012, 01:45 AM   #768
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AWD Addict View Post
I would have bought mats halfway through the first one.
Can't say I blame you. I'm extremely stubborn, though, so it's more about getting the job done and not admitting defeat than it is the end result or the money. Hell, I spent $40 on dye, I probably could've got mats for that much.

Oh well. In the future I'll know that dying is massive pain unless you've got the equipment for it. If I ever need to do it again, I'll get a cheap washer off Craigslist and actually dye it in the washer, using the washer as a source of constant hot water and mixing.


Anyway, with this project coming to a close, I'm starting a new one, this time not related to my car. I just bought a racing wheel for my Xbox for Forza 4, and tomorrow afternoon I'm going out and picking up a mint condition E30 vinyl manual seat. I'm buying some PVC as well and I'm going to try to rig up a racing cockpit out of the E30 seat and wheel/pedals. Also going to attempt to reupholster the center of the seat in white microsuede (knock-off Alcantara) if I can teach myself to operate a sewing machine.
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      04-03-2012, 07:19 AM   #769
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I definitely want to see how that seat comes out. I've got a set of OEM E90 non-sport seats. If I can't sell them locally maybe I'll do that as well
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      04-03-2012, 07:24 AM   #770
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I wish I had a clue why my new Fishcake depot LED signal on the drivers side was cutting out like it is. Works then it doesn't work, works then it doesn't work. The turn signal is pretty important
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