DIY: Carbon Fiber Wrap(lots of pics)
 

I've been reading on here for a few months now but seldom post so I guess you could say that I'm pretty new to the community. I bought my '06 IS350 about a month ago and one of the first things I wanted to get rid of was the wood trim. The carbon fiber wrap seemed like the best solution so I thought I'd give it a try. I know there is a DIY for the AC vents but I thought I'd share my experience with the Center console and the doors.

Things to buy:
Neffy Carbon Fiber Wrap
3M Super 77 Adhesive
Exacto knife, I would recommend buying extra blades, mine was pretty dull towards the end.

First, I took off the center console using this guide.

Getting the door trim off is fairly easy, I just stuck a card under the wood near the backside of it and pulled up with my fingers. Once you get under there it is pretty easy to pull up.

Once I got all of the pieces out of the car I unscrewed all of the electronics from the wood pieces.
Before:
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0167.jpg

After:
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0168.jpg

Before:
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0170.jpg

After:
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0172.jpg

Getting the chrome piece off the shift gate is pretty crucial and to do so you have to break off the seals that connect it to the wood. This isn't a problem later because the CF wrap holds the chrome piece in pretty tight. To break them off I just used a flat head screw drives to pry them off.

Before: You will notice the red holes, those are the pieces that need to be broken off.
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0174.jpg

After:
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0178.jpg

Now you have your center console all ready to go:
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0180.jpg

I then laid out all of the pieces on the back side of the carbon fiber, that way the lines would all face the same direction.
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0183.jpg

Next, I sprayed one piece at a time. I would recommend that you spray each piece twice to make sure there is enough glue. I then laid the piece on the back side of the carbon fiber and smoothed it out.
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0186.jpg

Next was the door that covers the ash tray. It pops of pretty easily from the 2 clips on the back side. There are 2 screws at the bottom that need to be taken out to remove the chrome piece on top.
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0188.jpg

The lid for the cup holder takes a little prying but there are 3 clips on the fron side and back side that hold it in. Here is the finished product.
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0214.jpg

After wrapping all of the pieces let them sit for an hour or two. The longer the better.
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0192.jpg

Once dry, you will want to cut out the appropriate holes. You will notice that I just cut an X wherever there was a hole and also cut lines where the wood bend. The hardest part, by far, is cutting around the shift gate and unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of that part.
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0195.jpg

You will the need to spray the backside of the wood so that you can wrap the CF around it. (this is the ugly side)
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0197.jpg

Then you have the almost finished product.
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0196.jpg

After putting all the pieces back together you have to finished product.
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0198.jpg

And the installed pics:
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0212.jpg
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0209.jpg
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0210.jpg
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC_0211.jpg

Like I said, the hardest part was around the shift gate. You may or may not be able to tell by the pictures but I didn't do a flawless job. I wish I knew the trick to doing it perfectly but it probably more about trial and error.

Overall this is pretty easy to do, just take your time and you'll be fine. I am very happy with the results and think the inside of the car looks 100 times better now.

If you have any questions I'd be happy to help out.

I just noticed the pictures I put up are a little small so I am posting some larger ones of the finished product. If anyone wants the other ones bigger let me know and I'll try and put them up.

http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...DSC_0212-1.jpg
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...DSC_0209-1.jpg
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...DSC_0210-1.jpg
http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/t...DSC_0211-1.jpg

Repost! :D:D GJ nonetheless

great write up! Thx for the detail DIY

Good job :thumbup:

Good job! Looks great!!

great job~!
it's way better than wood trim :)
I wish it was the shiny CF tho :p

VERY VERY NICE!! props to you giving such a detailed work!

good job bro..and thx for the detailed pics...:thumbup:

I am planning to do the same thing, i am still deciding to take off the chrome and dont put it back, or sand the chrome to match with the console and warp the whole thing.

I dont mind losing the chrome frame to get a smooth finishing around that area

I don't know that either one of those would work that well. There are too many edges on the shift gate that the chrome piece makes it so that those edges look much cleaner with it on.

Where did you get yours from? I just used an exacto knife to cut mine and it was pretty easy to cut with no frayed edges.

Great work! Good DIY especially b/c many people are doing the CF wrap. :)

You need that chrome piece on there to make it look good. It is damn near impossible to tuck the edges around the shifter gate, too much change in geometry.

If you end up with frizzies where the CF was cut, use a lighter and quickly run it across the fraying. It will sear the ends so they don't look frayed or continue to fray.

Be careful with the lighter, you can over do it for sure. Just make several quick passes until all the ends are seared.... worked for.

very nice write up! thanks for the pics..