Just wondering if it's a good idea and if anybody has tried it at least on the dash. If you don't know what I'm talking about, type dashboard flocking in google images.

Back in the 80s, I had the whole system. I did a lot of custom cars door jams, under hood and decklids...and a lot of custom vans. My biggest job was a 69 Charger I did the whole outside for a customer in green flocking. Just take it to the car wash and hose it off...no more wax, fingerprints, etc. Didnt need very good body work either. I brushed or sprayed on the adhesive, then you connected like a jumper cable to the part. Then the wand had a big canister that held the fibers and you just shook it as it blew the fibers out. The electric static charge made the fibers stand up on end where the dried. I still see a lot of toy animals especially done with it.

It seems quite cheap in my area. I could get the whole interior flocked for less than 350$. So it is a lot cheaper than covering the dashboard with vinyl or whatever. Is the end effect a good quality one? How long should it last?

The old-school flocking was good for show cars and not much else. It would show wear marks after a few months of use. Perhaps the process has been improved, but I would be skeptical.

I think it holds up real good.

Except for the seats & carpeting, I did the whole interior on this car with it.





I also did the dash on the GT40 I just shipped......



And back in 1993, I did the complete interior on my DD with it. Drove that car daily for 3 years. Then when I sold it I took it out & powerwashed it & put it back in & it still looked great.

Archie

Yeah I love the alcantara/suede look but I can't afford it and I'm heavily thinking about flocking. How can you compare to that in terms of feel/roughness? I have never seen a flocked car before in real life.

It feels like short nap felt. You should be able to find something in the toy department at a store like Walmart covered with it. Like said its not good for high traffic areas like seats, door sills, etc. But for a dash or under decklid, or kick panels, headliner trim, it lasts as well as paint. I have run across cars that have it in places like gloveboxes from the factory.

Weren't people doing the entire car for awhile? The exterior. That's something I remember seeing as a kid but maybe it was a local thing.

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: I brushed or sprayed on the adhesive, then you connected like a jumper cable to the part. Then the wand had a big canister that held the fibers and you just shook it as it blew the fibers out. The electric static charge made the fibers stand up on end where the dried. I still see a lot of toy animals especially done with it.

quote Originally posted by Archie: I think it holds up real good. Except for the seats & carpeting, I did the whole interior on this car with it. Archie

Just curious, how does one do non metal objects?

Kevin

quote Originally posted by css9450: Weren't people doing the entire car for awhile? The exterior. That's something I remember seeing as a kid but maybe it was a local thing.

What the hell? Were those pimp cars?

Its glue and the fibers. Static electricity dont need metal. You can flock anything. Like I said Ive done whole cars and vans on the outside, on paint or chrome parts. Again they flock ceramic, plastic and rubber toys. Ive even flocked my hand before accidently and its a beeitch to get off. Its great in pickup beds too.

Back in 1993 when I had my 1st interior flocked, my shopwas in mishawaka, Indiana. That is right next door to What used to be called the R/V Capitol of thwe world Elkhart, Indiana. Flocking is used a LOT in the R/V industry. i had my fiberglass interior flocked by an R/V factory owned by a cistomer of mine. I drove that car everyday for 3 years rain or shine, snow or Sun. That interior was done in gray & I work black leather jackets in those days. The console & the armrests were flocked also. After 3 years there was no sign of wear. It was a bit discolored from the leather jacket. But when I powerwashed it the thing look like new.

I remember back in the day, when I was about 14 there was a storefront business near my house where they flocked complete cars, I remember watching thru the window while they flocked the rust buckets of the day. They even flocked one of the Bat Mobiles from the TV show there.

That's why a few years later in 1993 I looked for someone to flock my interior.

When I was building the Yellow LT1 Finale roadster, I looked for someone who did Flocking so I could do the interior. I couldn't find anyone in my area who could do it so i went & bought all the equipment to do Electro-static Flocking in house.

That's when I found out that the nylon flocking material is actually made right here in Rockford, IL.

check out this site http://www.donjer.com/

Notice that some of the pics on Her site are Fiero parts. LOL

Archie

quote Originally posted by Archie:

I love the shifter pattern for the visually impaired!

quote Originally posted by mrfiero: I love the shifter pattern for the visually impaired!

LOL, that's what you have to do when you're shipping a car to the MiddleEast, The shipping agent is from India. And you're not sure how many people who will be handling it actually can speak English or if they even know how to drive a stick shift.

'Ya gotta try to cover all the bases.

Archie

This is from the DonJer website.

Looks messy like powdercoating.
but no heating involved.

Flock and your done?

Interesting, IMO it makes a dash look european.

http://www.flocking.biz/dashboard_flocking.html

"Flock is applied as a surface finish to reduce glare, condensation, noise and vibration. Repaired and damaged dashboards, door cards, consoles can look new again. It gives a warm soft feel to otherwise hard and cold surfaces. Cheap and poor quality materials become luxurious."

"How to Flock a Dashboard
1.Arrange your workplace to ensure that you can apply your adhesive away from the area where the flock is to be applied.

2.Ensure that your flocking area is clean so that you can re-use any of the excess flock and overspray that will accumulate when you are flocking.

3.Clean the surface of the item to be flocked. It must be grease and wax free to enable the adhesive to stick properly. Silicon oils and waxes are difficult to remove so the surface should be lightly scrubbed with scotch bright and a liberal coating of solvent. While the solvent is still wet, wipe the surface clean with a dry cloth, so that you ‘float’ the contaminants off the surface and catch them in the cloth.

4.Usually it is easiest if you can hang your work pieces from a rail in the gluing booth and then from a metal rail in the flocking area and then from a rail in the drying/curing area. Suspend the item to be flocked by wire hooks. These hooks can then be used to hold the item as it is transferred from glue to flock to drying. When applying the adhesive, ensure that there is a continuous coating of adhesive on the surface to be flocked and that the adhesive extends to touch the wire hook. Connect the earth lead of the flock application equipment to the metal rail in the flocking area. This will then ensure that the surface to be flocked is earthed through the wire hook to the rail to the flocking equipment.

5.Put on your dust mask and eye protection.

6.Now prepare your adhesive. It is good practice to add pigment to the adhesive that is the same colour as the flock to be applied. This provides an undercoat that hides surface colour variations and helps to mask any areas where the flock coating may not be as dense as it should be. It is also a good idea to ensure that the adhesive is a different colour than the surface being flocked to ensure that you can see when you have a good coverage of adhesive. If the adhesive is the same colour as the surface, it is sometimes hard to tell where you have applied the adhesive. If the adhesive is to be sprayed it may need to be thinned down first.

7.Now apply the adhesive ensuring that you get a good even coverage about 0.2mm thick. A good sign that you have applied enough adhesive is that the whole surface is wet and glistening once you have finished. REMEMBER you must flock into wet adhesive !!! If the adhesive starts to go tacky before you have finished flocking the flock will rub off easily.

8.Hang the glued item in the flocking area ensuring that the surface is earthed.

9.Always start flocking at the bottom from side to side and work your way up the item. This ensures that any excess uncharged flock falling away from the surface does not land and lay flat on fresh glue.

10.Once you think you have finished, tap the back of the item to remove most of the excess flock and then apply another coat of flock to increase the density of the coating.

11.Now hang the item up to dry and do not touch the flocked surface until the adhesive has set.

12.Once the adhesive has set you can remove the excess flock by blowing the surface with an airline or vacuuming the surface with the brush end of a hoover."

[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 01-16-2013).]

....so that's what happened to my back??

I think I've seen it before at car shows, but I never even knew that this technique existed. Cool stuff!

quote Originally posted by Archie: ... so i went & bought all the equipment to do Electro-static Flocking in house. Archie

I had an 88 Supra, took all the interior pieces out, had them done in light gray and re-installed them. Never had a problem with them and they looked good years later. Flocking doesn't seem to wear or fade like upholstery. I'm surprised you don't get requests for interior work or to flock customer-supplied pieces. That black dash looks terrific.

Do you flock customer supplied pieces (fiero plastic stuff) ?

[This message has been edited by PaulJK (edited 01-17-2013).]

quote Originally posted by hercimer01: This is from the DonJer website.

Wow! That looks flocking awesome!

Yeah I thought somebody maybe had the whole stock interior flocked so I could see some photos. Guess I'm gonna be the first one? I'm thinking dash, all the plastics, the center tunnel and the headliner. Seats will go probably alcantara/suede and I still don't know what to do with the carpets and what to do with the doors.

flocking cool! now i need to have that done to my cracked up dash