A Pillars - Flocked!

gckless
5,000+ posts

CarAudio.com Veteran
Finally got my A pillars done. Got quite a few photos here, I'll explain each.

First, I cut the PVC to where they would sit semi-flush, and aim at the opposite headrests. This was done with a dremel. I had originally planned on using a flush-mount baffle, but it was recommended against, due to the lip on the flush-mount.

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Then, took them down to the car and aimed them. Tacked them with superglue.

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Added some Bondo. Decided not to use fiberglass because of the relatively small amount I needed here.

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This was after a little filling and sanding work, maybe like 4 sessions with Bondo. There were a few pits in it, and I was pretty fed up with Bondo at that point lol, so I just used wood glue to dab on and fill those pits, then sanded it smooth.

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After some coats of paint/primer and some sanding, I had this.

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Not horrible, but still some imperfections. But, if I was just going to keep it a spray paint, I could have worked those out.

But I decided to try flocking them. Flock is finely ground material, can be a bunch of things like ribbon, fabric, PVC, feather, a lot of things. Not a whole lot of prep work needs to be done besides getting the surface fairly smooth. You also need to paint it the color of the flock, the end goal color, if you want it a solid color. I used clear glue, so that shows through. You may also get colored glue, or paint the surface a separate color for an effect.

Anyway, here are the products I used. Found them at Michael's, it's called "embossing powder". They looked at me like I was speaking Thai when I said "flock".

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So here I tried a test patch on the back of the pillars. The process is simple: you brush on the glue, then sprinkle on the powder. They sell a kind of shooter for the powder, and I also think you can spray it on with an airbrush, which would probably yield better results. But I just sprinkled it on.

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Then just tapped it off the next day.

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Now I knew it was go time. Took the whole pillar, spread the glue all over it. You want to use a good amount, want to make sure every part you want flock on covered. And then when you're applying, you want to turn the piece so that it's horizontal, so gravity does work for you. If you just let it fall off the side, it doesn't stick as good. Here's where the airbrush or shooter would come in handy. You also want to put paper or something underneath, because you can reclaim the excess flock when you're done. When I was applying, I used about 3.5 of those little jars. After I reclaimed, it turned out that only less than 1 actually stuck on there.

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You have to make sure not to touch it AT ALL after you apply. If you happen to accidentally touch it, throw some flock on the exposed glue. You can then gently dab out the mark as best you can. I know because I did this //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

You also need to make sure to let the glue fully dry. Best to let it sit a full day before you even think about touching it. Didn't seem to try until day 2 for me.

After it's dry, just hold it up, and tap off the excess. You can brush it off the surface at this point, most of it should be stuck on by now. Here's what the finished product looks like.

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I think it turned out pretty good. It's something different, and wasn't too much work. I have a couple little spots I can dab glue and touch up with some flock, but all in all I'm happy with it. The texture is somewhere in the middle of suede and sandpaper.

 
Looks great! But I am curious if it is durable. Will the powder flake off latter down the road? How will it hold up being in the sun? Let us know. Definitely a nice looking alternative.

 
Looks great! But I am curious if it is durable. Will the powder flake off latter down the road? How will it hold up being in the sun? Let us know. Definitely a nice looking alternative.
That's what I'm nervous about as well. Just brushing with my finger does not take the flock off, but it seems fairly delicate. The flock isn't going to flake off if the glue holds up, but I question the glue holding up during hot Texas summer days. It will hold up to some light brushes, but it seems like it will mar easy. I would not put it somewhere that would possibly get bumped daily, like on a door panel.

 
Put my A pillars in a few minutes ago. Was going to wait, but I want to see how they will hold up in the heat. It was 98 yesterday and supposed to get there today too, so I'll see pretty quick how they do. Still not connected to anything //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

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Put my A pillars in a few minutes ago. Was going to wait, but I want to see how they will hold up in the heat. It was 98 yesterday and supposed to get there today too, so I'll see pretty quick how they do. Still not connected to anything //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif
0D0AEF5C-9772-4BAF-B103-275B2AEECE8E-3000-0000029439AAF806_zps760439b6.jpg
Looks sick bro

 
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