Ok so I figured I would start a kind of log on this one. I am almost ready to give this a go, so I figured I would write it up to see if anyone had any suggestions on it. It is starting life as just a normal old Sti style scoop that is sitting on my silver car. So I thought it stuck out a bit on the vehicle and decided that I wanted to find some nice matching body color paint. I found that online at Automotivetouchup.com. But if I painted it all it would just be a normal looking scoop like any other, so I decided to customize it some. Sooooo I searched and searched and finally found a font that I liked. I can't seem to find any way to give a sample on here, but I'll get pictures when I am all finished. I am just going to print out WRX in large font on some removable labels that I bought then cut out the letters and stick them on the side of the scoop. I plan on then painting the entire scoop body color (silver) with an airbrush, peeling off the lables and then finishing everything up with clear coat. End result should be that the letters appear carbon while the majority of the scoop is silver body color. Anyone see any problems using this method? The only question I had was preperation of the carbon. Does anyone know if I need to prime it first or just lightly scuff and paint over the carbon?
the carbon fiber already probly has like close to 10 coats of clear on it. just rough up the clear a little and paint away.
The only reason I would clear over the portion that has the carbon is to keep the paint even. I figure if I leave it with no clear there will be a definative edge that might be prone to chipping.
Well it has been a learning experience. The paint itself was good, the clear coat was kind of crap. At least not good for this particular application...it does not like being sprayed. There are some irregularities in the paint, but the final coats of clear are going on now...I should have pictures in the next day or two.
It has some flaws, but this was my first time painting with an air brush. I have rattle canned some stuff before and had it turn out ok, but this was kind of a learning experience. Now I am attempting to fill in the rear part of the scoop so that the intake of air is smoother and air does not get trapped back there past the opening of the hood...I am not sure if anyone knows what I mean, but the scoop extends about 2 inches past the hole in the hood and it just seems like a real downer on airflow.
Looks killer. You mean the scoop itself isn't flush with the hood? My CF scoop sits flush and identical to the STi stocker I had. I dunno who made my scoop but it fits perfect. Friend of mine's scoop is doing the same thing yours is doing and it's a Seibon scoop.
It sits flush, it is just that the back of the scoop if you ae looking at it from the side, actualy hangs over about 2 inches past the opening of the hole in the hood. All this is open on the inside of the scoop, so air coming in the front naturally goes down the curve of the scoop to the back and gets trapped (I am guessing) in the part that hangs over past the hole in the hood itself. So I am fillingin the back portion in order to try to smooth out the air's travel down into the IC. I'll snap some pictures when I am done. Again, hard to explain.
So I got it all finished and installed a mesh cover over the front to keep rocks and such from killing the TMIC. I am not sure how much better it flows now, but it does make me feel better. I got a tad of bondo on the paint :/ tried to use a polishing wheel to take it off and the cheap touch up paint rolled off like it was rubber cement. Had to re-touch it up and it definitely looks uneven. I guess it is time to use a good quality automotive paint with hardner. Lesson learned. I thought it was supposed to be the same as automotive paint, but I was incorrect. It still looks good until you get up close and personal. Then you can see some of the inconsistencies in the paint. All in all I am not happy, but it is an easy fix, just time consuming.
Hey I tried. It was kind of an experiment. But now I know it will work, just need a better paint! Live and learn I guess.
Pics of not quite finished, but installed...it really is not as bad as it looks, some condensation on it from running it then parking: Underside where I smoothed out the part that was catching the air: