DIY Carbon Fiber Hood and Spoiler

[jbadger]

Part 2 of my DIY Carbon Fiber series for the poor :wink:

Over the weekend I wrapped the hood and spoiler in 3M Carbon Fiber Vinyl, and I think it turned out really well. Got several compliments while it was parked at the Santana Row Tesla chargers. The door sills I had wrapped about a month ago seem to be holding up quite well, so i'm hoping this will do just as well or better since it won't have feet scraping against it constantly.

It cost about $80 to order the 4ft x 5ft roll on Amazon, and took about five to six hours in total.

 

[Slackjaw]

That's beautiful. Thanks for posting - I wouldn't have believed it was possible, especially at that price. I'm thinking of wrapping my rear diffuser (which is just cheap plastic on the 2.5) and my air intakes, which have always bothered me but cost something like $1500 to upgrade through Tesla Motors.

 

[Jackyche]

Is it hard to remove the hood? Seems like a fun project.

 

[jbadger]

Is it hard to remove the hood? Seems like a fun project.

It was a lot of fun, a little stressful at times :cursing:. The hood was very easy to remove, it's four nuts, but should be done with an additional person. I'll post a photo of the nuts later.

That's beautiful. Thanks for posting - I wouldn't have believed it was possible, especially at that price. I'm thinking of wrapping my rear diffuser (which is just cheap plastic on the 2.5) and my air intakes, which have always bothered me but cost something like $1500 to upgrade through Tesla Motors.

Thanks, I had no idea how it would turn out so I started with the spoiler as it is smaller and I thought it would be easier to wrap. Turns out the hood was easier as the bottom is not seen unless opened, not something I cared about. There was obviously more surface area though, so it took the majority of the time.

I'm not sure how to take off the air intakes, and you will need to ensure that air flow is not affected.

*Edit* I even made sure the pattern was going the same direction as the roll bar as I am very OCD about those things.

 

[augkuo]

Looks great! I had a large object hit my front hood and went through the paint protection so maybe I'll do this instead of replacing the plastic - thanks for showing us the pics!

Augie

 

[Doug_G]

Nicely done - and I did notice you lined up the spoiler with the roll bar. Great job!

 

[7racer]

I love wraps! My GT-R is all wrapped flat silver.

I wonder how hard it is to remove the black plastic around the tail lights. I have always wanted that carbon fibered to match.

 

[wiztecy]

Mark your hood against your front mounts anytime you remove it, its easier to re-align it when you adjust / remove it. I think I also traced the washers which showed the x and y axis better as well as where the hood crossed the mounting rails. Also the Roadsters typically rub the fender paint on various outside contact edge points against the fender. I've adjusted mine and others to gain some clearance. Also I've seen on almost all roadsters one side of the hood being too high by the window area, this can be adjusted and fixed by adjusting the latch that's on the fender side. Surprised that got by Elon, gets on my nerves since its such an easy fix and really breaks the line. Just make sure to watch your fenders and the rub with the hood when you adjust, its a balance.

The CF wrap looks good, you put some time into it I see. You should also wrap your rear diffuser and front lower spoiler! Let us know how it holds up against the UV. Also will the adhesive be an issue if you want to remove it?