Bought a 95, has these carbon fibre dash things...

[Preacher]

I bought a 95 Vert and it has these red, carbon fibre dash aplique things... not sure if I will be able to deal with them, whether they will grow on me or if they should go.

Anyone else have these? Anyone have some and get rid of them? How hard was it?

Here are a couple of the outside, just for the heck of it.....

 

[Ken]

Nice ride!

My '87 had the fake Burlwood stuff (Who knows, maybe it was real?) and I took it off almost immediately. I just don't happen to care for the stuff; a luxo-mobile maybe, but not a Vette. Just my humble opinion.

_ken

 

[Preacher]

How hard were they to get off? They leave a residue behind? What's the best thing to use to get that residue off without damaging the leather/vinyl?

 

[Ken]

How hard were they to get off? They leave a residue behind? What's the best thing to use to get that residue off without damaging the leather/vinyl?

All I can tell you is to be very careful if you want to save and resell (or give away as I did) the wood panels. Use a wide, flat and clean putty knife or something similar to evenly spread the lifting you'll be doing. Use something like 3Ms adhesive removal stuff, and a heat gun would most likely come in handy.

Good luck whatever you decide.

_ken

 

[MoeJr]

I can see what ya mean preacher. Those things would be gone in 2 seconds if that were my Vette. You can also use non scented nail polish remover to get the adhesive off. Heat the appliques up then take em off then use the remover to take the residue off.

 

[Preacher]

Thanks for the tips, gents.

I can't figure out what made the previous owner put these on but I think they are going to have to go, sooner or later.

 

[vette-dude]

Suggest you use a plastic putty knife instead of the metal ones. If you use a metal one be sure to dull the tip first!!

Randy:cool

 

[Ken]

Suggest you use a plastic putty knife instead of the metal ones. If you use a metal one be sure to dull the tip first!!

Randy:cool

Good tip!

I scratched the hell out of my ash tray lid when I removed mine. :eyerole

_ken

 

[WhalePirot]

Very pretty car, outside!

If you do some damage in the removal, as I did, new panels are quite easy to re-apply.

Personally, i think the stock interior is too plain and I love the woody inside. On the dash; on the dash!

Mike

 

[Vettelt193]

Keep in mind your vette has a rubberized coating on the dash, unlike the earlier (pre 1992) C4's. The coating scratches pretty easily on a normal use basis, so you may find yourself having a very difficult time getting the carbon fiber stuff off without stratching or lifting the coating. Just be carful to make a long story short

 

[Eagle85C4]

Most finger nail polish remover contains acetone which will eat up the plastic. There are things we use in the telephone industry that will work much better and not touch the plastic. One such product is called "UN-DO" which organicly loosens all types of adhesive. I have seen it in many stores lately www.un-do.com
Another great product that removes adhesive and almost any kind of marker, grease pencil and sharpie is Lemon-8 by Arrow-Magnolia out of Dallas, Phone 212-247-7111 We use it to remove ink, adhesive,glue, magic marker, crayon, wax, lipstick and tar from phones. It works great and fast, plus it has a pleasent smell and does not leave any residue. They also have a plastic polish called Glayzit that will polish any type plastic and remove most surface scratches. It is so good I use it to resurface scratched cd's.

 

[LOUVETTE]

DASH

I THINK IT LOOKS GOOD.......I WOULDNT EVEN ATTEMPT TO TAKE IT OFF UNLESS IT LOOKED REALLY UGLY LIKE INSTALLED CROOKED ECT....WHAT A CHANCE YOU WOULD BE TAKING TEARING UP THE UNDERSIDE OF EVRYTHING.....JUST NOT WORTH IT.....IT LOOKS GREAT AND IS AN EXPENSIVE ADDITION TO YOUR CAR.........JUST MY OPINION BUT THATS WHAT U WANTED I THINK.......

 

[Preacher]

Yep, opinions are what I wanted... but you didn't have to shout it out... Heh...

Thanks for the replies folks... after looking at these things for a couple of days, I have to say they kind of grow on you... I am going tohold off a while before I decide.

 

[Gorgon]

Preacher,
I must say, an excellent looking ride you have there. But, then I'm a little biased if you check my avatar.

Yours is the second torch red C4 vert I've seen with the polished C5 rims and I have to say I really like the look. I may have to break down and add a set to my car.

Good luck with the interior decision. If it were my car I would look at removing them. I like the stock look on the interior and would probably end up paying to replace some interior pieces as they would probably be damages as Vettelt193 warned. The soft rubber coating is very easy to scuff and mark,

Leon

 

[resto75]

Nice looking vette. You will love the droptop, I have mine down all the time. It's just not the same with it up.

As for your wood trim I have seen it on cars and it looks good but looking at your photo yours looks reddish. That might just be the photo but if its really a reddish color I would get it off.

If you take it off keep in mind the coating on the console and dash. As stated above if is a special paint which is rubber like and really isn't sold over the counter. The price of a new console is quite high so go easy on the one you have.

 

[Slo Vette]

If you don't like the "wood" look get some of those carbon fiber dash peices. You wouldn't have to be as careful taking the wood crap off and they look pretty cool IMHO:cool

 

[jimmyd]

Really pretty car ! DON'T use finger nail polish, Most contain acetone, whitch will melt the s*** out of the dash. Use lockweld adhesive cleaner, cig. lighter fluid, or somethin simular. test on a piece of plastic first, make sure the cleaner doesn't melt it.
use a hair dryer to help soften, if you use heat gun be careful, don't overheat one spot. like others have said, putty knife,(carefully) make sure knife doesn't have bur on it and is smoth, round edges of knife with file so it won't scratch. SLOW & CAREFULL. let the solvent do the work.
good luck.......

 

[Corvette Craig]

Preacher.....

Been there, Done that.

When I first got my Vette, I put in burlwood, which offset the Cinnabar colored interior quite well. Since then I have completely changed the interior color to black, and replaced the inserts with stainless steel in my C-3 (see members gallery)

Trying to remove inserts that have been there for a while, IS NOT as easy as it might seem (trust me) Once your involved, there's no turning back, and it DID hack up the console quite a bit.
When it did come off, it came off in tiny little pieces.

As I see it, you have three choices.
1. Leave it as is 2. Paint it 3. Remove it

If you absolutly hate the red, I would try to paint it first, possibly a dark grey, or even a silver or chrome color, after all your not out anything but time and paint.

If you do decide to remove it, I'd contact a manufacturer (not a supplier) of these kits. They should be able to steer you in the right direction for the removal, without destroying your dash.

Good Luck, oh by the way....NICE CAR!!!!

 

[oldace84]

Why not just leave them on.....they don't look so bad.....
tony