I'm considering flocking the dash of a project car I'm building, anyone have personal experience? How is it long term, does it fade with UV light? Any tips, should I DIY or should I trek up to vermont sportscar or something? I'm happy to invest in tools to do it myself properly if that will be cost effective and provide professional results (may do several rigs if I like how one turns out). I'd love to see some pictures if people are up for posting some. Thanks.
There was a thread somewhere on here about DIY flocking. Can't remember who did it or when exactly, but the results were positive.
I think this my be the one:
How does it look today? Sounds from my research, like it's pretty durable and easy to clean.
I did this to the dash I made for my race car last spring.
Dash is all aluminum. Here it is being fitted before any paint/flock or instruments:
Here is the top part of the main dash right after flocking: (the small round grey spot on the first picis dust on the camera lens).
A closeup shot of the flock:
And this is the completed dash: (before everything like some wiring was completely in place)
the running dialog for this and a lot of other stuff I have been doing to the car is at hillclimb.org and the pages for the dash begin here:
http://www.hillclimb.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=15&start=170
I used an Eastwood powdercoat gun to apply the flock. The only problem I had was the adhesive set up too quickly for my taste although enough flock did stick to look good. It would have been worthwhile test spraying the adhesive and getting the application settings on the HVLP gun right so it applied a heavier coat on one pass thus giving more working time for the flock application step. As it was I needed to make 3-4 passes with a finer coat and the adhesive carrier evaporated too quickly on me. Applying the flock is a no brainer and the powdercoat gun causes the fibers to try to stand on end thus creating a thicker coating than if it were just "dusted" on. This probably doesnt work as well on nonmetal surfaces.
How well does it clean? I'm considering this for a rallycross car and lots and lots of dust is the norm.
mazdeuce wrote: How well does it clean? I'm considering this for a rallycross car and lots and lots of dust is the norm.
We have a couple hillclimbs where the "pits" are very dusty and this was something of a concern of mine as well. First I found it just does not show dust, even the silvery, silty river bottom dredge stuff found at this particular lot. Next I found the best way to "clean" it is to borrow the housekeeping technique of Bill Murray in Caddyshack - a leaf blower. After a season it still looks like new.
Awesome, thanks for the responses guys!
I thought I would like the aluminum dash I have but now after seeing how that turns out, I may re-consider.
Also I have a piece of carpet cut for the top part so the reflection doesn't cloud my view in the windshield.
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