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Vendor Aftermarket CF goodies for the Roadster - Feeler - Lets make it happen

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So after some great networking I came across a possible hookup to have some Carbon Fiber (CF) goodies made for us :) With that, group buys (like the glass hard top) will help lower our cost and also make it more attractive for the seller and us the buyer. A win win situation that everyone is looking for.

As a feeler... I found a person who will make the Tesla CF vent pieces at a fraction of the cost Tesla offers them. Also, they'll most likely be better quality. I've seen drips on the Tesla ones and for $1500. Drippy resin drops should not be there at all. Period for $1500 and I'm sure the ones that will come out of this test won't have an unfinished drip not sanded off them at all. If we have a good demand for these for the group buy we can start looking at having other fun CF parts made as well, so there's lots of possibilities here if things go well.

Just feeling it out the cost for a true CF vent pair will be under $750. It may be cheaper but I want to make sure I heard correctly... Once the first one is made, we can better gauge whats involved and also see if we're happy with the finished product. Again this will be real CF and will match the CF pattern of the Roadster.

Feel free to reply to this thread or PM/Email me if you're interested. Email is best since the PM fills fast.

Thanks!
 
The problem w/ the vents is the labor to install them. IIRC they have to drop the battery or do some other invasive stuff to get to the vents from underneath and install them. Remember that the $1,500 on the website is the installed price, not the price of the vents. So they many end up not being cheaper installed.
 
The problem w/ the vents is the labor to install them. IIRC they have to drop the battery or do some other invasive stuff to get to the vents from underneath and install them. Remember that the $1,500 on the website is the installed price, not the price of the vents. So they many end up not being cheaper installed.

Good point, thanks Strider. Curious if there's an easier way to remove/install them? Appears they're just double-sided taped in... and possibly with the right custom tool a battery drop may not be necessary. Curious if anyone saw Tesla install these.
 
I've made a lot of CF stuff, but not for my Roadster. CF parts are not that hard to make once you get setup with vacuum bagging and learn how to do it. In less than 2 weeks and $2,000 somebody could be setup to make most if not all of the CF accents for the Roadster. I've been planning on making molds for the hood pieces since I bought my car but already have too many irons in the fire. The hood pieces are the only difficult pieces to make because they are two-sided. The side air vents are almost trivial to make by comparison. Tesla had all the CF parts painted with a UV resistant clear coat and that's the drips you occasionally see on the vents. Those drips are not epoxy.

I would take on this project but I would have to quit my regular job. Hard to do that with 1 (almost 2) kids in college. I'm gonna do the hood pieces and tail light surround eventually... Don't hold your breath.
 
Cf surround for the tail lights?
Put me on that list........ I have always wanted that ....... And the rear diffuser for the 2.5 but I think that's a little difficult.

The side vents are hard to install on the passengers side but battery drop is not necessary...... Just need a long screwdriver and small hands... Or so the tech in Bethesda told me when he put them on my car. I'm not sure how he put them back in though... The CF version of the side vents are longer and angled differently at the end to direct air flow toward the middle of the car more. He did mention tape along with the long screw driver, so ......they seem stable and have not moved for about six months.
 
Thanks everyone. I'll start tallying up the requests and pass it on. Will begin discussing and update you guys with the details. Just keep in mind this isn't an over night thing so we have to be patient :) Keep posting requests so we can see/gauge growing interests and the CF part. Again I believe its going to start out with the simple to make / high demand CF part and then working out from there. I'm seeing the Tail-lights and Vents being the 1st possibility.
 
** Let me know if anyone has extra parts the can send out to make molds **

I have a Roadster Enthusiast who has an extra front hood louver to make the CF of that piece.

Each front louver is different. And the clear CF versions are also very slightly different from the painted version, but you probably wouldn't notice. The louvers are going to be expensive because they are quite labor intensive. They are a 2 piece design. They have to be trimmed to exactly the right thickness before being glued together. Then a labor intensive process of trimming/shaping them again after it is glued. Then a couple coats of clear coat to help with UV resistance. In many cases they also had Paint Armor put on it. I've never seen one that wasn't perfect and flawless. The louvers are a lot of work but I will start making them eventually along with the top hood piece (closest to windshield). Just don't count on it next month.
 
I just spoke to Rob who has a person who does the CF work... passed on the interests and we believe starting with the side air-vent ducts and the inside door handles (the little cover things) will be the best way to start things out. They're simple and would be a good test on the look and feel. Also Rob had an idea that possibly we could strip down the paint off the original part, such as the deck wing and front hood louver and have that refinished to show the CF weave. The question is we don't know how good of work that weave is underneath. So if anyone has some crashed CF parts they'd like to donate we can try that route. That would be the cheapest route by far.

@NigelM - if you have those extra set of vents we'd be interested in them to do the mold for the CF ones. Let me know what we need to do. You can PM/email me if you wish. Thanks!