audi, carbon fiber09.24.2010

and I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out.

Now I just need to have someone local test fit them and I can start offering them.  I’m going to try to offer them for between $400 and $600, but with cores it is going to be kind of tricky.  I’m going to see about setting up a group buy for the first 10 sets or so to see if we can bring the costs of cores down.

There is a slight drop down between the fabric and the chrome ring.  We beveled the edge to make it look good.  We’re going to try and do a few more things to get it to appear flush, but I’m not certain we can do it.  I don’t want to shave down the original piece too much or it will be too thin and weak.

A note on this MMI piece: The carbon fiber has not been glued down to the housing.  There are several different screen sizes on the MMI unit, and I didn’t want to glue it into this one and then have it not be the same size as the person that will be test fitting.  If you see some major gaps, it is because of this.

audi, carbon fiber09.15.2010

Got these pieces clearcoated up today.  I’ll probably wetsand them down a bit and do another few layers of clearcoat because I really want these pieces to look good.

After sanding and before clearcoat.

After the first few coats.

Couple of detail shots on the vent piece.

Few closeups of the MMI piece.

Keep in mind the colors on these photos aren’t 100% accurate.  They have a bit of a pink tone to them because of the lighting in the shop (the fluorescent lights with the skylights are making the colors goofy).  After these firm up a bit I’ll take them out in the sun and get some pictures in natural lighting.

audi09.11.2010

More and more B8 customers have been asking me if they could get vent and MMI pieces made in carbon fiber that matched the OEM carbon atlas trim.  I had some extra cores laying around so I figured I’d give it a shot.

The fabric I’m using for this is an 8 harness satin weave (8HS).  From what I can tell, it is identical to the fabric used on the OEM pieces.  While I’m confident that the fabric will be a match (or a very close match) I’m still uncertain of how close of a match the overall pieces will be.  Audi tends to use resins that have a slight brown tint to them, where as mine are totally clear.  Audi’s pieces are popped out of a mold and unfinished, where as mine are clearcoated and polished.  The only way to find out how close of a match they are is to go ahead and start making them.

These aren’t the best photos, but since the pieces are still in production and have a while to go, it doesn’t matter much.  I’ll take some better pics after I trim off the excess fabric and sand them smooth.

Up first is the vent piece.  If you look close, you can see the outlines of the edges of the piece.

The MMI piece.

Few detail shots of the fabric.

audi09.10.2010

Almost done adding resin to these pieces.  After they cure I can start sanding them smooth.

audi09.10.2010

With a little bit of resin on the pieces you can start to see their true color (especially compared to the pieces with just raw fabric).  These pieces will be going in the oven for cure in the next few days and then sanded smooth.  After that, they’ll be ready for clearcoat.