Vinyl wrapped dash?

[Jacob McCrea]

John, would a thicker type of vinyl change your opinion? I saw on ebay some apparently thicker products, and I'm curious if you think that a different product would change your views on using vinyl. Thanks for your comments above, and any further thoughts you have.

[phileas_fogg]

John, would a thicker type of vinyl change your opinion? I saw on ebay some apparently thicker products, and I'm curious if you think that a different product would change your views on using vinyl. Thanks for your comments above, and any further thoughts you have.

Some stream of consciousness thoughts:

I can't speak to the thicker products because I haven't tried them. But if you're even a little bit interested, I encourage you to try. Now that you know you might have to baby the material, you're almost guaranteed to get a result with which you're happy. And if you find something that works - or doesn't - then we're all a little bit smarter.

The fragility aspect you can get around by being extra careful and maybe putting a layer of cotton between the vinyl & wrench for the heater-, wiper-, or headlight-switch. The scuff aspect is unknown - to include the 1080. One thing I will say, though; the 1080 looks really really really nice.

If you decide you want the real deal, I would call http://www.protechcomposites.com/ and ask them for a quote on a 12"x60" piece of their 0.5mm carbon fiber. They used to offer it on their website for ~$120. If their price is still in this ball park, I recommend going with the real thing.

Cheers,


John

P.S. Keep in mind that whatever you choose the F5 cutouts will likely be either too big or too small - which means you're either going to start with a blank dash and make your own custom cutouts, or you're going to have to figure out a way to make the too small cutouts just large enough. I found that the F5 classic gauges (made by Speedhut) fit really well in 3.9" & 2" holes. Also, you may have to get innovative figuring out how to cut holes in the carbon. Finally, I don't think you'll find carbon with a bending radius that will wrap around the bend at the bottom of the dash - which means you'll need to figure out how to finish the bottom edge.