Good run down Sean, might use it
. I've been doing some research into carbon fibre stuff as well, and I found some good info on here ->
http://www.fiberglassforums.com/
Feel free to use it, if you need any other info like resin to mat/cloth ratios or whatever just ask.
Working with carbon fibre is way better than working with fibreglass IMO. It is actually easyer to work with (despite being a bit fiddly). Just make sure you mask where you want to cut it to stop the strands pulling.
With carbon fibre you basically follow the same process, except rather than using gelcoat, you just put down a coat of resin first, then put your first layer of carbon on, wet it out, roll and so on. Subsequent layers of carbon should be at 45 or 90deg.
With carbon, always use epoxy resin rather than the cheaper polyester resin!
You can use a clear gelcoat with carbon, but IMO the raw epoxy finish is better, the clear gelcoat ends up looking cloudy and is normally just used to mask the use of poly resins, which also have a cloudy finish.
Epoxy resins also have better UV resistance, but you can clearcoat your peices (automotive clearcoat) for a great looking finish that is fully UV resistant.
Also, if you just want the CF look, you can do your first layer in carbon fibre, wait 12hours or so, then do subsequent layers in fibreglass (mixing a bit of black oxide into the resin) and as long as you only see one side of it (eg dash, door trim, gauge panel), no one will ever know! This is how 90% of automotive CF are made anyway! Its much cheaper this way.