Escort130 Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 Since my cars still sitting in the garage, awaiting an inspection due to a snapped cam belt; I got quite bored of not being able to take it for a spin. So after finding some car parts and materials from pervious projects lying around the house; I decided to see what I could come up with. And within 1 hour I ended up with this carbon fibre effect gear surround. Materials & tools needed: · Escort gear surround · Carbon fibre effect film (can be purchased from ebay, Demon Tweeks etc). · Craft/ Stanley knife · Long nose pliers · Hairdryer · A lighter Method: 1. Simply unscrew and remove gear knob 2. Gently pull up on the gear gaiter; this will remove the whole gear surround from where it's seated in the car. 3. Now that the surround is removed from the car; either using a craft knife or the long nose pliers remove the staples that hold the gear gaiter to the surround 4. Now that you have the plastic surround on its own give it a good clean to make sure no dust or dirt on the outer surface. 5. Place the carbon fibre film on a flat surface, remove the protective backing and lay the plastic surround onto the sticky side. 6. Mould the film over the plastic surround (it doesn't matter if you get creases in the film at this point, as they will be removed later). 7. Now for the hard part (this took me the best part of 40 minutes). Turn the hair dryer on and warm up the film to make it more pliable. Using your fingers massage the film to remove any air bubbles or creases. (The best way I found to remove the creases was to always keep the area working on warm.) 8. Now that the film is in place and looking good; using a craft knife cut the hole for the gear gaiter (and for the electric windows switch if applicable) and around the lower side of the surround. Remember to leave at least 5mm minimum of excess film around each hole. 9. Using the lighter quickly melt the excess 5mm of film around the sides; and using your hands tuck it under the underside of the surround. This will tidy all the sides up to make the surround look neat and tidy. (Please be careful as lighters are hot and you might burn yourself). 10. Fitment is the complete opposite to removal. Good Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mexico_16v Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 Could make yourself, a few bob on E bay do that mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escort130 Posted August 12, 2007 Author Share Posted August 12, 2007 Could make yourself, a few bob on E bay do that mate! I was actually thinking about doing that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluliz Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 Good guide. You can see the indents from the coin holders, but those can easily be fillered up. Shame you can tell from 20feet its not real carbon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escort130 Posted August 12, 2007 Author Share Posted August 12, 2007 Good guide. You can see the indents from the coin holders, but those can easily be fillered up. Shame you can tell from 20feet its not real carbon When I first started on it, I was going to cut the film for the holes in the coin holder; but decided against it as it's too tricky. I agree real carbon sheet would look alot better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_van_man Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 that looks the business mate would love one of those and the main dash panel the same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escort130 Posted August 12, 2007 Author Share Posted August 12, 2007 that looks the business mate would love one of those and the main dash panel the same Cheers WVM. The main dash surround will be my next project, I can see it being a bit of a challenge though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_van_man Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 cool keep us posted mate, do love c/fibre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escort130 Posted August 12, 2007 Author Share Posted August 12, 2007 cool keep us posted mate, do love c/fibre Will do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meekstaaa Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 Hey that looks good, don't think i'd have it on mine but i can see that working nicely, if you want i have a spare one that you can have for £6 posted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JC Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 I actually quite like the look of that! Loads better than the "colour coded" ones you see!Be interested to see some pics of it fitted, see how it looks next to half leather seats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escort130 Posted August 12, 2007 Author Share Posted August 12, 2007 I actually quite like the look of that! Loads better than the "colour coded" ones you see!Be interested to see some pics of it fitted, see how it looks next to half leather seats Cheers mate. Once I get the car back from the garage, I'll post some pics of the surround fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordsatan Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 looks good mate well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caled Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 how much you reckon they would go for on ebay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madxrcabby Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 how much you reckon they would go for on ebay? 15 with the coin things filled id say Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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