Carbon Fiber headlights- Matte or gloss?

[rxrep]

Here is a pick-a-ture of one projector lens trims. Last coat of resin applied; it has ripples and high spots in the resin since it's an overlay and not vaccuum bagged. I'll be sanding level today and then coating with UV resistant clear. I can do matte/satin or gloss.
Considering that I'm doing my grilles the same way, what is the AZ opinion on final finish... matte, or gloss?
There is a razor R8 done in matte CF and I friggen love it. I don't want a bling factor so I'm really leaning matte. Especially since I'm doing whole front grilles and headlight interiors. Plus, matte would cut down on ghost glare from the LED's once they are installed.
Anyone?

[AudiA4Turbo22]

gloss

[eg6siR]

lee, you are my hero, when this is done, i want to meet up so i can see the final product in person

[Smiley]

matte

[rxrep]

Here is the Razor for comparison. With less surface area covered, my stuff will be more consistent without the shadows. Like the satin black cars, I just think matte has the look without the bling.

[illaudiill]

Looks tempting

[AudiA4Turbo22]

^^i personally don't like that matte finish on the car, but it also looks dirty do whatever u want though.

[rxrep]

Maybe even a semi-gloss? Not trying to sway you, Kirk. I'm just trying to lean away from any gloss. But I don't know why. Matte is tough because everything has to be perfect or it will pull out the imperfections. Which means I'll probably stay gloss, lol. I'm sure that razor is perfect to the touch. You could run your hands along it and not feel anything. But yes, to look at it, it appears as though there are high and low spots that gloss would've covered up.
I'm sure on that car, though, they used no clear covering in order to save weight. They probably sanded smooth and left it.

My other issue is that all of my engine bay CF is gloss, so I'd probably have to sand and recoat them to match, also.

But I think gloss CF is kinda played out and looks aftermarket too much. I don't know. Just trying to make the car look a little more aggressive and sinister.

[F16HTON]

Matte for sure

[AudiA4Turbo22]

^^dude it's all kool i have just never seen a matte black CF finish except for that pic, i think it'll look like actual carbon fiber if it's matte and actually kinda cool now that i think about it because gloss makes it look fake.

[rxrep]

because gloss makes it look fake.

That's the cliff's notes version of what my brain is telling me.

On a side note, I've figured out a relay and resistor setup that dims (but doesn't shut off) the LED's when the headlights come on. It's pretty slick. I'm just testing to make sure the resistor doesn get too hot.

[vinny.dtw]

matte

[Smiley]

but i dont see how running gloss would be any good with the Led's.

Matte would help alot , and the LED's would stand out alot more

[Maverick]

matte.

make a poll, and I bet $100 that most will vote for Matte

[Molotov]

I'll take that bet and make a bunch of fake profiles so I can vote for gloss.

[F16HTON]

^^dude it's all kool i have just never seen a matte black CF finish except for that pic, i think it'll look like actual carbon fiber if it's matte and actually kinda cool now that i think about it because gloss makes it look fake.

Really? Everything I have made I can do in Matte (dry carbon) too.

[mike-2ptzero]

Maybe even a semi-gloss? Not trying to sway you, Kirk. I'm just trying to lean away from any gloss. But I don't know why. Matte is tough because everything has to be perfect or it will pull out the imperfections. Which means I'll probably stay gloss, lol. I'm sure that razor is perfect to the touch. You could run your hands along it and not feel anything. But yes, to look at it, it appears as though there are high and low spots that gloss would've covered up.
I'm sure on that car, though, they used no clear covering in order to save weight. They probably sanded smooth and left it.

My other issue is that all of my engine bay CF is gloss, so I'd probably have to sand and recoat them to match, also.

But I think gloss CF is kinda played out and looks aftermarket too much. I don't know. Just trying to make the car look a little more aggressive and sinister.

They used gel on the top and then just sanded it down, they just didn't polish it up afterwards. Dry carbon uses no gel coating on the top of the CF, which is why it has the "Dry" in its name.

Dry carbon


Only way you could do dry carbon look while doing an overlay would be to use a true dry carbon product which already has the gel soaked into the CF, then it is heated to release the gel and then becomes hard once it is cooled.

[B6Lovin]

They used gel on the top and then just sanded it down, they just didn't polish it up afterwards. Dry carbon uses no gel coating on the top of the CF, which is why it has the "Dry" in its name.

Dry carbon


Only way you could do dry carbon look while doing an overlay would be to use a true dry carbon product which already has the gel soaked into the CF, then it is heated to release the gel and then becomes hard once it is cooled.

i love that look. it's kinda like hte underside of my friend's hood on his civic... (yeah i know that sounds gay, but that hood is AMAZINGLY strong. it's a fiber images, and we literally walked on it without it cracking, bending, or anything)

[rxrep]

Mike, I've seen it done as overlay in the manner of that R8. It's very easy and is as you'd described however I want a cleaner finish.
You have to sand down high spots anyhow on an overlay, which you don't have to really do on vaccum bagged stuff since it pulls in all the resin to even levels.
So, if I've got to sand out high spots anyhow, there are two ways to bring back shine. One is to gradually increase grit and then move to compounds, the other is to prep and coat with clear coat. Which is the much easier option, also.
Good UV resistant clear comes in many finishes from matte to super gloss.
All I'd have to do is spray matte and the appearance would be the same.
I've seen bike frames and motorcycle fairings and tanks done this way and they turn out sick.

[sandspeed]

I want a set of these. I have a spare set of US xenons. How much to CF the interior of them? It would have to be different from yours of course, so I don't step on your toes.

[dfwhockey17]

matte

[Charlescrs6]

glosss

[[email protected]]

That's the cliff's notes version of what my brain is telling me.

On a side note, I've figured out a relay and resistor setup that dims (but doesn't shut off) the LED's when the headlights come on. It's pretty slick. I'm just testing to make sure the resistor doesn get too hot.

I'm not sure if you already considered this or not but make sure you use a resin that doesn't turn yellow/orange when exposed to high temperatures for long periods of time.

The Carbonio intake color change is a good example.

And my vote is matte.

[Charlescrs6]

I'm not sure if you already considered this or not but make sure you use a resin that doesn't turn yellow/orange when exposed to high temperatures for long periods of time.

The Carbonio intake color change is a good example.

And my vote is matte.

I know they had a problem with the carrera GT's interior turning yellow, and then not covering the replacement with the warranties.

[mike-2ptzero]

I'm not sure if you already considered this or not but make sure you use a resin that doesn't turn yellow/orange when exposed to high temperatures for long periods of time.

The Carbonio intake color change is a good example.

And my vote is matte.

The stock RS4 covers in the engine bay do/did the same thing and very quickly.

[rxrep]

I'm not sure if you already considered this or not but make sure you use a resin that doesn't turn yellow/orange when exposed to high temperatures for long periods of time.

The Carbonio intake color change is a good example.

And my vote is matte.

Yeah Winston, I don't know if I bought "snake oil" but I paid decent money for UV resistant super clear resin. We'll see.
So far, my DTH and both of my Carboinio covers look as new. I did go through 3 Carbonio airbox covers, though. They turned yellow within days. Guessing from the heat. But they've replaced them, no questions asked, and this latest one is over a year now with no problems.

Plus, I'm using UV blocking clear cloat. And finally, as I'm made fun of it all the time anyhow, I'll mention that the car doesn't get driven much, and sits in a garage all the time. Cross my fingers.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

Really? Everything I have made I can do in Matte (dry carbon) too.

NO NO i know ur work it's top notch i'm talking about how some companies make some CF overlay products that they just put globs of clear on and it looks like a paint pattern more than CF, ur work is freakin awesome!

And Lee i'm glad u figured it out please tell me what u did as i'd like to know myself and enlighten myself on LED knowledge.

[rxrep]

And Lee i'm glad u figured it out please tell me what u did as i'd like to know myself and enlighten myself on LED knowledge.

I'm just trying to make it so it doesn't look like CF stick-on tape or something.
As for the LED's, they're wired parallel, which means that they all get +/- from the leads that were the DRL on E-Codes. The other option, which wouldn't work in this instance (because there are too many LED in each housing and the first in the series would be brighter than the last) is in "series". Which means each LED's "+" gets connected to the next LED's "-" . In parallel, I'm using a small fuse-block type thing so each LED get's it's own 12v supply from the DRL wires instead of trying to splice 13 LED "+" wires in to one "+" wire for the DRL.
Each LED in my case has it's own resistor. The LED flexible "strips" have a resistor every three LED's. So on those cheap "strips", you can only cut the strip after every third LED and if one burns out, the other two won't work, either. On mine, each LED is replacable and don't affect each other when one burns.
As for the relay it's a single-pole, double-throw standard coil relay with a quashing diode built in to keep any voltage spikes from occuring when switching. $5 each on eBay and small enough to fit inside of headlight housing.
The main +/- for the coil relay are coming from the headlights. The only function of them, however, is to switch the coil between normally open and normally closed. They do not supply power to the LED. The other "in" + terminal comes from the + of the DRL.
There are two + "outs" (double throw), and each gets it's power from the + in of the DRL. The coil switches between the two depending on whether the headlights are on or off. When the headlights are off, it runs straight through the single + in from the DRL and right out to the LED's, which makes them be on at full bright. When the headlight turns on, it switches the coil and then runs the second + out, which in turn runs through one single resistor (.99 cents at Radio Shack) before heading to the the same + on the small fuse block. The single resistor cuts voltage as a whole to all of the LED's, which in turn dims them.
My only concern is heat from this single resistor when the headlights are on. So far, it has only gotten warm. I may set it up on the outside of the housing so it will stay cooler. We'll see.
Here is a very crude diagram showing how the relay and resistor are set up for LED dimming.



*I forgot to draw in the "ground" wire to the LED's on the bottom of the pic on the right. And also, remember this single resistor is only for dimming purposes. Each LED has it's own resistor down the line to keep 12v from burning them out, as an LED only uses like 3.5v to work.

I'm trying to take as many pictures as I can. It's hard though to think of taking a pic when I'm doing twenty project at the same time, from designing, wiring, CF overlaying, and, oh yeah, pulling my block for the build.
I hope to have a DIY at some point, but trust me, this ain't no project that anyone should expect to have done in a few weekends.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

^^ingenius idea can't wait. u have an ETA?

[ScaryGary]

i vote matte

[AudiA4Turbo22]

i vote matte or whatever is needed to keep it looking exactly how it looks now it looks amazing

[rxrep]

u have an ETA?

Since I don't plan on driving the car until maybe April or May, I'd say sometime before then, lol.
I'm actually shooting for right after the New Year for the headlights to be done and grilles/splitter to be CF overlayed and LED's done. It's coming out a lot better by just taking my time and thinking it out instead of rushing to get it done and then saying afterward "Oh szhit, I should've done this". I want to get these done before I really start in to the engine build.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

take ur time time=perfection

[kevlarcupid]

Matte FTW. It looks super hot. Good luck, and can't wait to see the finished product.

[illaudiill]

That carbon Fiber is HOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTAaaa

[A4ringedONE8T]

Dry carbon FTW! And damn Lee, you're full of ideas!!!

[jon102034050]

matte

[rxrep]

Matte it is.
One bulb housing is done (the CF part; not the LED's yet). It is sick. Will post pics in the next few days.

[a4wd]

matte FTMFW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lookaught]

Nice drawing Picasso! Somehow when I look at this I see two stick figures drawings of Johnny 5 doing a disco finger-point lol.

I vote semi-matte. Not a sanded look, not high gloss. in between. Hows that for indecision.