How To Repair CARBON FIBER (Porsche 996 Interior repair)

This week, the guys hang out in the garage and review how to repair the carbon fiber interior of a Porsche 996 Turbo. The 911 Turbo is well known to have a problem prone interior overlay on its optional interior trim packages. Time, and sunshine damage carbon, as well as the other OEM Porsche optional interior trim such as the wood trim.
While we are primarily focused on repairing the interior of the Porsche 911, Andy is off to the side jumping into the action to repair his carbon wing on the turbo Miata. This is proof that the technique we use will work on any sort of carbon fiber resin based surface, which should be all carbon fiber items.
Our technique of repairing the carbon fiber interior is not adding new wrap. We are truely repairing the surface of the carbon fiber resin. If you follow our guide you can think of this as a carbon fiber repair kit to perform DIY (do it yourself) repair without expensive replacement of interior panels.
00:00 - Intro to repairing carbon fiber and why we are doing it
01:19 - Disassembling the Porsche Interior begins
01:46 - Sanding Carbon Fiber epoxy resin parts
02:13 - 996 Turbo interior is mostly disassembled
02:40 - Andy rinsing dust off of his carbon wing with water to see where he is with sanding
03:13 - Porsche sanding and overview of how to sand for carbon fiber repair
04:46 - Sanding progress update, Bryan rinsing off Porsche interior part to show where he is
05:43 - Final prep with Acetone before applying epoxy resin
06:39 - Placement considerations during epoxy resin application
07:20 - Mixing the epoxy resin, mix ratios, and what does this stuff do
08:26 - Applying epoxy resin to the parts
10:00 - Removing air bubbles from wet epoxy resin (neat trick!)
10:32 - Wet 996 Interior pieces, this is what wet epoxy resign looks like
11:02 - Wet sanding a dried piece to get a final finish
11:23 - Polishing after wet sanding with a DA polisher
12:20 - Porsche interior progress update and showing off how GREEN the gauge hood was (OMG!)
12:57 - Defroster vent carbon repair on a Porsche 996 Turbo
13:43 - Final thoughts and retrospective (the finished product!)

[@justgonnasendit7376]

This is the best video I've ever seen in my life

[@CarGuyFridays]

We appreciate the vote of confidence!

[@walirifai]

3:07 that IS300 👀

[@CarGuyFridays]

Hah yes. That is one of our project cars. Check out the channel for the intro video we did on it!

[@blairbean9539]

Nice video. Sanding carbon sucks. I highly recommend wearing a quality respirator or at the very least sanding outside because the tiny carbon and epoxy particles are worse than asbestos. If you don't want to itch for a week, gloves help too. Also, if you have the means, you can use UV shielding urethane clear instead of re-epoxying. This will slow down any future yellowing process.

[@CarGuyFridays]

Thanks for the tip! We'll look into the urethane clear next time, epoxy resin is kind of a mess

[@robertdeleofitness7197]

Satisfying video. My 996 interior has carbon fiber vinyl attached and the actual thing looks much better. I’m interested in the carbon fiber vent defroster

[@CarGuyFridays]

Glad you liked it! The carbon vent trim I linked to in another comment I believe at one point

[@steverush8362]

Good stuff you two...what will clean old glue and what new glue for peeled dash strip..if you know? And tks Steve

[@CarGuyFridays]

Hi Steve, the piece we purchased for the dash strip came with it's own glue. So admittedly unsure. Cleaning old glue comes down to tolerance of the surface. In this case the glue was already gone. I've used goo gone in the past with good results on other surfaces.

[@pteodoro79]

Great video! Can you share the vendor that sold the dash defroster trim you bought?

[@CarGuyFridays]

Thanks! Sure can, its directcartrim.com/products/1999-2004-porsche-996-real-carbon-fiber-2pc-upper-defroster-trim-set Fitment is ok, admittedly it isnt 100% perfect but I dont think anyone has noticed the small things I have and it looks a million times better than before

[@JEB160479]

Amazing work! My 2000 911 (Millennium Edition 996) has wood veneer with the epoxy finish. Would you recommend the same process? Thank you for your input.

[@CarGuyFridays]

I'd be shocked if it wouldn't work to be honest. If your finish is all green and gross like mine was I would say grab a single piece, give it a try and see how it works out? I certainly would.

[@JEB160479]

Thank you, will give it a try. Any chance you have a write up of the materials you used? Grades of sandpaper, type of epoxy? Anything that would aid in the process? Thank you in advance.

[@CarGuyFridays]

Best I've got is the video unfortunately. Any UV resistant high quality epoxy should work. There are epoxies that sre easier or harder to use I read. I choose one marketed as UV resistant and for beginners. Seems to work well for me. The sandpaper, I bought a variety setup. I used low grit at first because the oem stuff is thick. As I got closer to the carbon I switched to higher grit to slow down the process.

[@vittoriozerbato8251]

Hi! Interesting work! I am I interested in the defrost panel trim, what issues did you have ? Thanks !

[@CarGuyFridays]

Mostly around sanding. It was all too easy to go through carbon in a few spots. That being said, even where I didnt do great it's way better than gross green foggy looks

[@vittoriozerbato8251]

Oh, I was talking about the hockey stick shape trim on top of the dashboard that you bought, was the quality and fitment ok?

[@CarGuyFridays]

Oooo! Yea it fit pretty well. I'm happy with it. It had maybe a slight adjustment they could make where I had to decide which end of the trim it would fit better on. That being said, it's nothing I've ever noticed of thought about since installing it. It's been a while now and it's still looking good up there. Its Certainly far better than what it was before. I'd do it again!

[@akakong88]

Who did you purchase the dash top strip from?

[@CarGuyFridays]

Got it from these guys directcartrim.com/products/1999-2004-porsche-996-real-carbon-fiber-2pc-upper-defroster-trim-set

[@cartoonking1063]

Why wet sand? Also when you started to use the sander and not do manually , why didn’t andy do the large part he first started with using the sander tol

[@CarGuyFridays]

Wet sanding is less dust and tends to not clog the sand paper as easily. That's really it. Andy is andy...

[@Devil_Dog_Ultra]

Can I hire you ?

[@CarGuyFridays]

For refinishing it? Nah too much work :)