Hi all, new to the site and I must say it looks very good....

I've recently been modifying my xk8 with a full carbon interior, all made by myself in my garage lol..

heres some pictures of the bits I've done so far, your thoughts would be very welcome..









the latest addition is the ashtray top, which has just gone in...



and I'm now in the middle of doing the armrest, I've stripped off all the padding and am going to attempt (how successfully I dont know) to reshape an armrest in fibreglass before covering it in carbon...

hope this isnt too much info for a first post

Tony

p.s. seems to be a problem with pics, sorry, will try and sort out later

 

I'm not a huge fan of the carbon fiber interior trim, but it looks like you are doing some nice work Tony! You must be proud!

To help out on the pics...(I think it is <img src="image link"> instead of the [IMG] tag. Just hit the envelope icon above, than paste the link into the popup box. Once you do it one time, its easy.

 

Looks nice Tony. How are you doing this? I've never heard of anyone doing it themselves at home...am I missing something?

 

cheers H20Boy, really appreciated...

yes Spurlee,I do quite a few bits at home, for different cars, just cover the original items in carbon fibre fabric (in this case 2x2 twill weave), several coats of a top quality resin baked in a home made hotbox, flatted down between coats then (hopefully) the final coat is flawless, if not a quick flat down and repolish does the trick...

to be fair the above bits (except the ashtray cover) were some of my first attempts, and as such arent as good as i can produce now...

its taken me a year to just about perfect it, and the car is now pretty much a one off...

all the best, and thanks for the comments and pic help

Tony

ps. testing pic

 

And you are now an expert at pic-posting too! sharp car...are those factory rims tony?

 

lol. I am thanks to your help mate...

funnily enough I believe they ARE indeed factory rims.. I THINK they are called "winter" wheels or something like that, as I have seen them in an XK8 options catalogue..

I got them as I thought they complimented the roof colour perfectly and were a little different... once my armrest is carboned the next job is the seat backs, they should be fun but I think they'll really set the interior off when the roofs down..

then once they're done I'll do some more in the engine bay, although I may go down the chrome route rather then the carbon one...

heres the engine bay at present...

 

[sm=welcomesign.gif].... to the forum and Congrats on your unique Jag! I am a big fan of carbon fiber and think it looks great............ still in awe that you did it yourself [sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

thanks MJA, I'm more then happy to help others also if anyone wants details on materials I use or anything... Its not easy but with practice and patience its doable by anyone I think...

theres a guy who comes on the xk forum i use (www.xkec.co.uk) from the states who has asked me to cover his ashtray for him, I said I would do it free so he could see the quality and let others over here maybe see it too...

can you not buy after market carbon add ons over here, or at least at a reasonable price?? I know carbon is an option on many jags, so would have thought you would be able to get addition bits of trim, especially over here..

all the best

Tony

 

Tony -

I've been looking at carbon fiber bits for a long time and never once thought you cold do it at home. yes I'm interested in learning what materials you use - where you ge tthe cloth, what types there are, what type of resin you use and how your hot box is consturcted.

Here carbon fiber parts are typcially expensive...you have a cool sloution.

I have a boat that oculd use anupgrade as well...

 

as I said scott I'm more then happy to help...

if you have msn add me

tonyt1965 AT hotmail DOT com

it'll be a bit easier to discuss things on there...

you wont get it perfect over night, but if you stick at it then I'm sure you could do bits for your car that would look stunning..

all the best

Tony

 

Great job on the carbon it looks as good if not better than my 06 Victory's
carbon dash looked and it came from the factory.
Did you move the power button for the top or do they all come
that way over there?


[IMG]local://upfiles/2758/AF5E7B2F58484E0EAE421C484FCBF1D3.jpg[/IMG]

 

cheers steve, yes i moved the 'hood' button to beside the 'sport' button as I wanted a cleaner looking gear surround and didnt like the coin holder, so decided to bin it at the stage before the carbon went on...

was going to change the buttons for stainless ones but decided against it as the wiring was a bit beyond my skills to sort out lol..

should have the rest of the interior done soon so will post more pics then..

Tony

 

just a quick update, I've spoken tothe guys whosupply my materialsthis morning and they are going to get back to me with a US contact who will hopefully be able to help if anyone wants to try this at home...

I am also trying to get an EXACT match for the factory carbon weave pattern so I can maybe make a few "add ons" to the stock carbon interior..

all the best

Tony

 

Tony,

That looks fantastic, very unique. The craftsmanship looks great, that must give you great satisfaction to be able to do these kinds of modifications. Great job!

 

Very sweet work I would love to have the skills and patience to do that kind of work.

 

cheers paul/armyjag... I just enjoy doing it really, I'm NOT mechanically mindedso dont do any of my own maintenance, but over the last year I have sort of grown to enjoy doing the carbon...

I'm hoping to do another full set soon, but this time on the stripped panels rather then on top of the veneer like mine are, as i think this will make fitting the panels a lot easier...

the next job is the seat backs, which will almost finish the interior then.. large areas to cover but should look awesome with the roof down, if we ever get a summer that is lol..

all the best

Tony

 

Kudos to you , you did some brilliant job .

 

just another quick update, i've just had it confirmed that a match has been found for the original weave pattern of the carbon used at the factory, so I am going to order some and make a few "add on" bits tocompliment the factory carbon trim...

obviously this may also be of interest to others who may not have the factory carbon trim but just want a bit of "bling"...

I'll get some more pics up when I've done more bits

Tony

 

Hey Tony, excellent work. I'm very impressed with the quality of your work. Keep posting pics and info. Thank you. Paul

 

cheers for the comments Paul, I should be taking delivery of the new carbon weave any day now and will get a couple of bits done in it over the holidays as I think they'll look great as add ons to anyone who already has a carbon trim in their car...

all the best, and a Merry Christmas to you all..

Tony