DIY Carbon Fibre Mirrors

[Alfa Male]

So those who’ve been following my modest build thread will know I’ve had some many issues with getting some carbon fibre mirror covers.

Firstly I started with the stick on carbon covers which looked great from afar but close up you could tell they were stuck on. Moreover the corner projected out and kept getting snagged on clothes as people brushed by pulling the covers off. So they had to go !

I looked everywhere for a replacement genuine carbon fibre mirror over set but no one made them well not for UK spec cars.
So out of desperation I tried hydro dipping them using a local company (Midland Hydrographics based near Hartlebury). Despite their impressive website the product was shockingly bad ! They were way too dark and nothing like real CF !

Next up I contacted Kuro Carbon who skin parts in real Carbon Fibre to see if they would commission a set of mustang mirrors. So after some positive message I sent off my set of mirror covers to be done and to cut a long story short 3 months later nothing happening, had an argument with them and got a set of new mirror caps back.

So feeling deflated but not giving up on this I stumbled across the Easy Composites website which supply DIY carbon fibre skinning kits and some simple looking tutorials. So I thought what the hell let’s have a go myself...

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[Alfa Male]

So this is the kit I received very promptly in the post. Best part of £50 all in.

Looks fairly comprehensive albeit I found out quickly there’s not enough brushes or cups !

So first job was to key the unprimered mirror cover and they advise deep heavy scoring on exposed edges to allow for extra grip which I did too.

Then a black epoxy base cost was applied.

When this gets to the tacky stage the carbon fibre mat was carefully laid over and stuck down. Now I’m not going to lie this is the trickiest part by some margin and that carbon fibre is a pig to deal with. It’s so delicate it can very easy distort or fray so really take your time and know in advance how you’re going to lay it as you get one shot at it !

Once the base had fully cured overnight next up was the initial coat of epoxy resin, just enough to wet the fibres through. Then left overnight again.

Following day I was thinking oh god, it’s looking a right mess underneath and on exposed edges where I wrapped it round. Trial fitment on car showed it was not even close to fitting as it was too thick. Then I had an ideal, out came the Dremel and I cut back the CF to the recess and it looks and fits great. Phew

So next up was to sand high spots, key all over and get rid of excess CF.

Wipe down with IPA then on to last stage three coats in quick ish succession of resin waiting circa 2 hours between the coats from the epoxy to go tacky before applying next layer.

So this is where I’ve got to now, it’s curing over night before tomorrow it gets wet sanding through the varying grades of sandpaper to remove orange peel and gain brilliant shine.

I’ve done a good job of trashing the kitchen whereby the wife is moaning a lot but hey ho this should save me best part of £300 !

So far so good...

 

[Kristian87]

Great write up and excellent work! Look forward to the finished results...look impressive so far

 

[Alfa Male]

Great write up and excellent work! Look forward to the finished results...look impressive so far

Thanks, I just admit I’m already plotting what else I can cover in carbon fibre now ! Thinking about doing the GT500 winglets at the front to continue the Carbon theme.

 

[s1ms]

Thanks, I just admit I’m already plotting what else I can cover in carbon fibre now ! Thinking about doing the GT500 winglets at the front to continue the Carbon theme.

I'm already planing to send you my mirrors.

 

[Alfa Male]

I'm already planing to send you my mirrors.

The wife won’t be supportive of that I’m sure ! Apparently I have a big enough garage to do this in there ! Can’t see what this issue is to be honest.

 

[Adam83]

The wife won’t be supportive of that I’m sure ! Apparently I have a big enough garage to do this in there ! Can’t see what this issue is to be honest.

Time to get that Alfa sold and the garage turned into a carbon fibre factory!

 

[Kristian87]

The wife won’t be supportive of that I’m sure ! Apparently I have a big enough garage to do this in there ! Can’t see what this issue is to be honest.

Ah. Well I guess that's a firm "no" to carbon fibre cutlery then? Shame

 

[s1ms]

The wife won’t be supportive of that I’m sure ! Apparently I have a big enough garage to do this in there ! Can’t see what this issue is to be honest.

I bet the wife has put a lot of her stuff in the garage already and hence you need the kitchen space to do all our mirrors.

 

[Alfa Male]

Time to get that Alfa sold and the garage turned into a carbon fibre factory!

Bloody hell you even sound like the wife now re selling the Alfa !

Not sure there’s much money in this taking into account Labour you’d need to churn out a lot to make the money.

 

[Manders Mustang]

Nice work!

Out of interest are you clear coating over the resin? As the resin isn't very good at being a UV protectant so generally it's advised to hit anything with a few coats of lacquer to protect the resin.

 

[Alfa Male]

So I got a bit premature with this as theres still one more stage to go which I learned after rewatching the video !

Tonight I’ve sanded it back to remove orange peel and defects with 120 grit then 240 grit paper.

Followed by one final very thin coat of resin.

It’s really starting to look good now and very pleased with myself and for my first attempt it’s almost good enough to sell !

Only bits that let it down are the underneath edge, I know it’s there albeit you’ll never see it. It’s just not quite perfect.

See here

Not the oem covers come with a notch at the bottom already it’s just not as precise as it could be see below for notch

Just in case this is the link to the kit I’m using

https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/#!/starter-kits/carbon-fibre-skinning-starter-kit.html

 

[Alfa Male]

Nice work!

Out of interest are you clear coating over the resin? As the resin isn't very good at being a UV protectant so generally it's advised to hit anything with a few coats of lacquer to protect the resin.

The guide says you don’t have to but yes I’m going to lacquer then to protect the finish. Was planning on one coat do you recommend doing two ?

 

[Alfa Male]

The kit comes with two cups and two brushes but I can’t see how you can do this with only two of each.

The resin goes off after a few hours and is rock solid and I mean super hard ! I’ve used 6 brushes and 6 cups for my first attempt. Even when doing the three consecutive coats after the two hour wait the cup and brush are set solid !

 

[Manders Mustang]

The guide says you don’t have to but yes I’m going to lacquer then to protect the finish. Was planning on one coat do you recommend doing two ?

When i looked into it (because i was going to get one of these kits for my splitter), it was a case of two or three 2k coats, that's following the "tack coat" it depends how "deep" you want the gloss to be. A lot of places recommend one coat (following the tack coat), but personally if it's on a piece that'll see a lot of sunlight like an exterior pannel, it's better to run more coats than less. And it's zero hassle whilst it's off the car.

From looking into it and speaking to the bodyshop i had they recommended going to about 700 grits for lacquer tack coat, then coat 1 straight over it whilst it's tacky, sand that to 2k, add another sand to 2k (or if final coat to 3.5k), then polish it up with a compound then some finishing polishes (Goes down to your preferences).

Again, I like the "high/deep gloss" effect, which i think really benefits with carbons resin under it. So totally your call but it's looking great already .


P.s if you want to get the brushes out of resin, heat the resin up, then sit it in olive oil to loosen the bristles then hit it with some acetone/turp/ipa (girlfriend does resin art, and the stuff they use in carbon/fibreglass is the same shit)

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