I'll start by saying that my interior was really scratched up from normal wear and tear. My driver's side door switch and the flip up lid on the center console had it the worst. Instead of painting I took a shot with wrapping and I'm really happy with the outcome.

I bought a 48"x48" (16 sq/ft) sheet from carbonfiberfilm.com for $120.80 shipped. This might not have been the cheapest, but I received the vinyl in about 3 days and it arrived in great shape (not folds or creases). With the 16 sq/ft I was able to cover: both door switches, both A-pillars, the shifter cover, and the upper center console (twice because I wasn't happy with the first attempt and started over). As long as you're smart with how big and where you cut the pieces out, you should have no problem covering these pieces. I even have a decent bit left over.

The whole process took me a few weekends, just because I spread it out. I definitely recommend taking breaks because it can get frustrating at times. I tried to start with the easiest pieces first, so I could learn on the go. I went door switches, A-pillars, upper center console, then lower center console. I took everything apart before starting, i.e. AC controls, Hazard Switch, Window Controls, Center Console Gauges, Cubby, and Cubby lid. I had zero experience with any of this before, but feel pretty comfortable now with taking it all apart and putting everything back together.

Before starting to a wrap a piece, I would wipe it down with rubbing alcohol and then spread Primer 94 over the whole piece. The vinyl really is pretty cool, when you get to a curve, just heat the vinyl until it starts to fold over on itself, then stretch it over the curve. The hardest part was getting a nice tight fit without any air bubbles and without having it come up when working your way down the piece. If you just take your time and heat and stretch, and heat and stretch, you can get a very nice wrap.

Be careful if you decide to take out the gauges, I scratched mine when removing them. So instead of wrapping them, I decided to have a little fun and do something different. Enjoy

 

like youre pillars..

 

good stuff

I am actually going to do the same exact thing....well almost.

 

Great work there! I'm considering doing the same, at least for the door switch area. BTW, how did you work by the switches? Did you cut your vinyl in several places to fit it or did you stretch it? Also, do you have a closer picture of this area (door switches)?

 

looks good!

 

Thanks for the write-up! Its just what I needed.

 

They were kind of tricky. I tried just stretching it, but it doesn't cover the whole switch. I ended up cutting out smaller pieces and tried to match the pattern direction. I'll post up some close ups for you later tonight

 

I did this 2 years ago, really held up, very east to do. just use a heat gun or blow dryer and patience. I also just gave it away and traded for a stock interior and from what i know, it is still doing great and the guy parks outside all day. I always garaged my z at home and work, but it very much is worth the hassle to do.

 

wtw, how did you do the guages, mine have a chip on it and that would be a cool to fix it.

 

I had them done using hydrographics. There are tons of patterns to choose from. I used georgiahydrograpics.com.

Thanks for the compliments everyone!

 

nice!...looks real good.

 

yep, when done correctly and in even, deliberate moderation, and with primer 94, looks great.. good job not making it look like a honda.
Well done sir.

I just did my ati steering wheel column gauge pod, but it clashes w all the real carbon, so its back to square one w that. Yanked back off. I did small accents to my MOMO Evo wheel w it w great results.. again, good job on your clean work.

ppl reading this, please note that its not like other wrap material.. it zips back to its orig shape when reheated and will lift right back up if you dont use primer 94... its not like cv3 or wrap material and its much thicker too.

 

I think this is the only portion that concerned me, unless there were other tricky areas for the door switch area? Thanks for sharing the info.

 

You should clear coat them with valspar high gloss clear coat. I did this a month ago and it made a world of difference.It won't let me upload the pics but you can see them here http://img812.imageshack.us/i/carbon...omparison.jpg/ and http://img827.imageshack.us/i/carbon...terconsol.jpg/

 

Wow, thanks for the kind words! The vinyl really is amazing in how you can crunch it up, then just heat it up and get it back to its original shape!

That's a really nice job. I think if I get bored of the "dry" look then I definitely go this route.

That's the only tricky part for the door switch. I cut and folded in what there was from the original vinyl I put on, then cut out smaller pieces to try to fit and match that pattern direction. Here are a couple close ups. I can get better ones tomorrow in the day light if you want some more.

 

alright this is my next project jumping over the roof spoiler.

 

Very nice results, is there a way to makes this stuff shiney? You know, like real carbon fiber? If so then I'm definitely digging this mod

 

yeah you can clear coat this stuff. it works.

 

Ya, i used Valspar high gloss clear coat from Lowes and it worked great. It takes two coats in order to look good. Check out this link, i did a comparison between the two. http://img812.imageshack.us/i/carbon...omparison.jpg/

 

No no. They make a shiny version now. Just do that.