Dry Carbon by Elite

The term Dry Carbon has been floating around lately and people think that it is a different material or process but in reality it is just the term for a flat clear coat. Elite will now be offering their parts with a gloss clear coat or a flat clear for those of you that like the non-glare look of the carbon fiber used on cars like the Murcielago SV. It is an extra cost option since there is an extra step involved but it is now available on all their parts like engine bay panels, center consoles, etc!

http://prostores.exotica-motorsports.com/stores/cart.php?target=category&category_id=95

 

Actually, 'dry carbon' is the term for pre-impregnated carbon fiber that doesnt requre resin to be added when making parts. 'Wet carbon' is wet layup style, where resin is applied to the cloth while in the mold.

 

That is what is commonly misconceived. I just attended a month long carbon school where they didn't know what I was talking about when I said dry carbon and when I called ACG, a carbon fiber manufacturer, they had no clue what I was asking and said they never heard of it. If dry carbon was the term for pre-preg why is the wet layup carbon dry or without resin and the pre-preg comes sticky with resin?

What I have gathered from looking at other manufacturers, they are saying dry carbon for flat cleared parts and then the regular carbon is for gloss clear coated parts. If that is incorrect then at least what I am advertising is a gloss clear and flat clear coated parts.

All Elite parts use pre-preg carbon.

 

People just tried to simplify things rather than using the correct terms, but whats new? Its called dry carbon because its a dry lay up. No mixing or applying resins. Wet lay up because resin is applied, and the fabric is wet.

The difference between gloss and matte is just a matter of polishing. You dont need to apply clear to get a glossy finish, just another misconception.

 

Yeah I figured it was just slang. We always require clear for the UV protection.

 

'Dry Carbon' is a slang term for pre-preg carbon and in no way has anything to do with the surface finish. It is actually a term that originated from Asian suppliers that made cheap hoods for Hondas and other boy racer cars. Most of their stuff was really bad looking wet lamination and from time to time they would use pre-preg fabrics for some parts and advertised them as 'dry carbon' like it was som miracle product. The use of this term seems to center around the forums where the uninitiated seem to think that dry carbon is some kind of wonder material. Truth is that it is the only choice of quality manufacturers who would not even consider using wet lamination for top end products.

As for the surface finish, once the part comes out of the mold it has a flat finish that is not hugely attractive. In order to make it nicer, it is clear coated and buffed to a high luster or it can be cleared with a different type of clear that yields a dull finish (in fact the dull finish requires one LESS step because final polishing is not necessary).

As for the confusion I am a little surprised that the folks at Elite were not on top of this information.

 

I am not surprised at all. Elite, ACG and a few other high end companies I deal with had no clue and why would they know slang coming from low quality manufacturers.

 

why does it cost more to have the matt appearance if there is less work/materials involved?

 

There is more work and materials involved. The parts are brought to the current level and then they are repainted with nongloss clear. This process adds another step.

 

This is the only paragraph in the entire thread that makes complete sense.

 

I bought some CF interior door pulls/handles for my 911 a few months ago and was offered either a matt or gloss finish. I went for the matt finish which I'm really happy with.

You could always get your parts wrapped in CF look vinyl!

 

May I ask do you produce the whole inner door panel like the SCUD or CS??

 

Curious. Aren't both parts brought to a specific level and then shot with either gloss or non gloss clear-coat? What additional process does the non gloss part require?

 

It has been looked into but the problem is obtaining the factory panels for molds.

 

I am not the manufacturer so I don't know. I was just told that there is an extra cost involved.

 

This is true, I have a ton of F355 carbon fiber parts and some are dry and some are wet. But most of the parts I have are wet carbon fiber, and they all come from Japan. I really don't care that much on the process unless it is the structure of the car like the tub of an enzo or mclaren f1. Other then that it looks fine to me.

 

having done a lot of carbon and fiberglass work for race cars, I would confirm the origin of the "dry carbon" term. And yes, most "real" carbon part manufactures don't know the term.

But to say it cost more to finish something with an eggshell clearcoat instead of a gloss finish is silly. I have no problem with them charging more because its "new", but I can't think of anything that would be more expensive about the finish.

If you have glossy parts that ou want to have the flat finish, just take some fine grit sandpaper to them and wet sand it. It will look just like the ones finished in the flat clear.