SL/R230: oCarbon.com - looking for a few members to help us develop carbon fiber interior trim
06-04-2013, 01:21 AM
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oCarbon.com - looking for a few members to help us develop carbon fiber interior trim
Hey guys,
My name is Matt and I'm the owner of oCarbon. We've been hand making real carbon fiber interior trim sets for high end European vehicles for the last 9 years (mostly Audis and BMWs) and are now looking to offer our services to Mercedes owners.
We need to find a few R230 owners who'd like to have some carbon fiber interior trim made for their vehicles. We'd be able to offer a pretty significant discount to anyone willing to send us their trim for a few weeks while we manufacture a set for them.
These sets would be made using actual carbon fiber, epoxy, and clearcoat (no fake vinyl or stickers or anything else of that nature) wrapped over an OEM set of trim for a perfect OEM fit. Different fabric weaves and colors are available for a more custom look.
Our standard pricing on these sets will be very competitive, and those that take advantage of this introductory offer will get heavily discounted sets.
Interested? Shoot an email to matt@ocarbon.com with your full vehicle info (model, year, chasis code, auto/manual, what type of trim is currently in the vehicle) along with what you'd be interested in. If you've got good photography skills and are willing to help us with installed pictures and/or an install guide, this would be appreciated as well.
Check out some of the vehicles we've done in our gallery: ocarbon.com/gallery
See some of the more custom pieces we've done in our blog: http://ocarbon.com/blog
Few pictures of recent sets:
Frequently asked questions
Q: Can you give me a little more info about the process?
A: Sure. You'd remove your current trim and ship it to us. We would take the original trim, remove excess material, wrap it with real carbon fiber, coat it with epoxy, sand it smooth, spray it with clearcoat, and buff it to a shine. The whole process takes about 3-4 weeks, and we'd then return the set back to you.
Q: So you won't be making molded pieces?
A: Nope. We've found that molded interior trim pieces never really fit right and they don't look as good as overlaid parts. Using an original OEM piece as a base means all the OEM tabs for a perfect fit.
Q: What about the added carbon? Won't that make the pieces bigger?
A: No. We sand down wood cores and we remove the aluminum from aluminum cores to make room for the extra carbon fiber and epoxy. We rarely have any fit issues with pieces, and we guarantee fitment, so if for some reason something doesn't fit quite right, we'll fix it until it does.
Q: Where are these pieces made? I'm worried about quality from overseas companies.
A: Everything is made in house in our facility in Glendale, AZ. We control the process from start to finish. It costs more, but the end quality is much, much higher.
Q: Speaking of quality, can you give me more info about the materials you use?
A: Most companies use a cheap 5.7oz 2x2 twill fabric for their parts. This fabric has gaps in the weave and can be susceptible to weave distortion around complex corners. We only use name brand (mostly Japanese based Toray) 11oz 2x2 twill, that has a much thicker and tighter weave. Again, it costs more, but it makes a huge difference in how the end product works. We also use only the highest end epoxies that have UV inhibitors to prohibit fading and yellowing. We finish the pieces in high-solids polyurethane clearcoat for a deep, glossy shine.
Q: Since I'm helping you out with development, shouldn't these sets be super cheap or free for me?
A: We're a small company, just myself and a few employees. We'd love to be able to just give the first few sets away, but we don't have a ton of capital to be able to develop a bunch of new products, so we're asking a few of you to share the cost of development with us. You'll get a fantastic set of real carbon fiber trim for your vehicle, at 20-40% of the cost of some of our competitors. It's a win-win for both of us.
Q: What about a warranty?
A: We offer a full, one year warranty on every product we sell, even these development products.
Q: Can you make other interior parts? Exterior parts?
A: Probably. We're focusing on interior trim parts for now, and might be open to simple overlaid exterior parts. Email us if you'd like a quote.
Q: You didn't answer a question I had.
A: Shoot an email to matt@ocarbon.com and I'll do my best to help you.
My name is Matt and I'm the owner of oCarbon. We've been hand making real carbon fiber interior trim sets for high end European vehicles for the last 9 years (mostly Audis and BMWs) and are now looking to offer our services to Mercedes owners.
We need to find a few R230 owners who'd like to have some carbon fiber interior trim made for their vehicles. We'd be able to offer a pretty significant discount to anyone willing to send us their trim for a few weeks while we manufacture a set for them.
These sets would be made using actual carbon fiber, epoxy, and clearcoat (no fake vinyl or stickers or anything else of that nature) wrapped over an OEM set of trim for a perfect OEM fit. Different fabric weaves and colors are available for a more custom look.
Our standard pricing on these sets will be very competitive, and those that take advantage of this introductory offer will get heavily discounted sets.
Interested? Shoot an email to matt@ocarbon.com with your full vehicle info (model, year, chasis code, auto/manual, what type of trim is currently in the vehicle) along with what you'd be interested in. If you've got good photography skills and are willing to help us with installed pictures and/or an install guide, this would be appreciated as well.
Check out some of the vehicles we've done in our gallery: ocarbon.com/gallery
See some of the more custom pieces we've done in our blog: http://ocarbon.com/blog
Few pictures of recent sets:
Frequently asked questions
Q: Can you give me a little more info about the process?
A: Sure. You'd remove your current trim and ship it to us. We would take the original trim, remove excess material, wrap it with real carbon fiber, coat it with epoxy, sand it smooth, spray it with clearcoat, and buff it to a shine. The whole process takes about 3-4 weeks, and we'd then return the set back to you.
Q: So you won't be making molded pieces?
A: Nope. We've found that molded interior trim pieces never really fit right and they don't look as good as overlaid parts. Using an original OEM piece as a base means all the OEM tabs for a perfect fit.
Q: What about the added carbon? Won't that make the pieces bigger?
A: No. We sand down wood cores and we remove the aluminum from aluminum cores to make room for the extra carbon fiber and epoxy. We rarely have any fit issues with pieces, and we guarantee fitment, so if for some reason something doesn't fit quite right, we'll fix it until it does.
Q: Where are these pieces made? I'm worried about quality from overseas companies.
A: Everything is made in house in our facility in Glendale, AZ. We control the process from start to finish. It costs more, but the end quality is much, much higher.
Q: Speaking of quality, can you give me more info about the materials you use?
A: Most companies use a cheap 5.7oz 2x2 twill fabric for their parts. This fabric has gaps in the weave and can be susceptible to weave distortion around complex corners. We only use name brand (mostly Japanese based Toray) 11oz 2x2 twill, that has a much thicker and tighter weave. Again, it costs more, but it makes a huge difference in how the end product works. We also use only the highest end epoxies that have UV inhibitors to prohibit fading and yellowing. We finish the pieces in high-solids polyurethane clearcoat for a deep, glossy shine.
Q: Since I'm helping you out with development, shouldn't these sets be super cheap or free for me?
A: We're a small company, just myself and a few employees. We'd love to be able to just give the first few sets away, but we don't have a ton of capital to be able to develop a bunch of new products, so we're asking a few of you to share the cost of development with us. You'll get a fantastic set of real carbon fiber trim for your vehicle, at 20-40% of the cost of some of our competitors. It's a win-win for both of us.
Q: What about a warranty?
A: We offer a full, one year warranty on every product we sell, even these development products.
Q: Can you make other interior parts? Exterior parts?
A: Probably. We're focusing on interior trim parts for now, and might be open to simple overlaid exterior parts. Email us if you'd like a quote.
Q: You didn't answer a question I had.
A: Shoot an email to matt@ocarbon.com and I'll do my best to help you.
Last edited by oCarbon; 06-04-2013 at 07:24 PM.
06-11-2013, 12:17 PM
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Lots of interest, but no one has pulled the trigger yet. I might be willing to lower the price a little bit for those who want to be daring and get a custom fabric (silver, red, blue, or one of the custom black weaves).
Shoot me an email at matt@ocarbon.com if you'd like to set something up.
Shoot me an email at matt@ocarbon.com if you'd like to set something up.
06-23-2013, 02:11 AM
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First set of core trim arrived yesterday. We'll get started on tearing it down today. I'll post pictures as we make progress.
Starting to make the molds:
Sanding them down:
All done, fabric will go down on these next week:
Starting to make the molds:
Sanding them down:
All done, fabric will go down on these next week:
06-25-2013, 01:28 PM
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Bunch of progress yesterday. Cutting the silver carbon (aluminum coated fiberglass):
Putting the fabric on the pieces and getting them ready for the vacuum bag:
Inside the bag:
Turn the pump on and all the air is removed from the bag and hugs the fabric to the piece:
After the parts are pulled from the bag, the excess fabric is trimmed and the part is cleaned up:
Same process repeated for the shifter:
Putting the fabric on the pieces and getting them ready for the vacuum bag:
Inside the bag:
Turn the pump on and all the air is removed from the bag and hugs the fabric to the piece:
After the parts are pulled from the bag, the excess fabric is trimmed and the part is cleaned up:
Same process repeated for the shifter:
