Ok heres the problem. I have a spot on my CF hood that looks like the clearcoat is deteriorating. As time is going by the whole hood is starting to fade.
Now my question is how do you go about refinishing CF? I want to reclearcoat it. But im not real sure on sandpaper grit an method. Anyone who has worked with CF you feedback would be greatly appreciated. I dont want to mess up the hood....

 

Mine is going to hell too, I am just going to paint it the color of the car instead of reclearcoating it but thats me ,I am interested in the procedures also , maybe I could save some cash.....

 

I am in the Air Force and work with CF alot just so you know i am not pulling this out of my behind

320 or finer grit sandpaper would be plenty enough to sand the clearcoat... obviously the clearcoat when sanded is going to be white and powdery if you start to see black dust stop that means you've gotten down the CF. But working with CF as far as painting/clearcoating in your case it is just like anything else, just sand and respray

A layer of CF is about .010 thick so thats why you want to stop if you think you've gotten down to the carbon.


Also when sanding try to use a circular motion ( Orbital or DA Sander would work just fine to sand the clear)

Another way to tell if you gotten down to the carbon... it will be a flat black color again at this point you want to stop.

Make sure you use at least a dust mask and some kind of gloves ... CF dust is some pretty nasty stuff. If you want to go all out use at least a half face respirator with particle filters (usually colored black)

hope this helps

 

Hell yea optimus. Thank you very much. Im gunna relay this to my bodyman. I may PM you if any other questions arise.

 

Good post Optimus!!!!

 

One other thing ...
No wet sanding?

 

yes you can wetsand...

actually you can wetsand the clear with really fine sandpaper and that might do it and you wouldn't even have to worry about getting into the carbon

however you can wetsand carbon if there happens to be defects on the surface... but again being only .010 a layer thick you'll want to be careful..

wetsanding the carbon is also good if your in an area where you don't want dust all over the place.

Oh and for clean up and surface prep you'll want to wipe down the hood or any carbon piece for that matter with either acetone or isopropyl alcohol... turning the cloth to a clean side each wipe until you don't get any dirt/discoloration on the cloth.... otherwise you'll just be moving the dust around...

 

i'm not really sure if its true or not...but its working for me...my ex's dad is an insane car nut and he told me to take the heat thing of the stock hood and cut out the vents and put it on the cf one or it would start fogging the coat...so i know its not a fix but its a prevent and its worked so far for me lol

 

yea its just heat spots. mine has that too. just get it recleared at any bodyshop

 

How much it cost you?

 

Mine started that too....Took to Dealer and they replaced the entire wing with new from mits over $1800 painted and everything for free under warranty...If car has warranty go that route....the same time they replaced all my Brembo rotors for chipping under warranty over 5k for that for free.....

 

i havent got it recleared yet but my buddy said it should be no more than $100

 

not wanting to start anything hostile here but i would of thought you would want to use something less abbrassive than 360 wet and dry... personally i would be starting with 600 then work down to 800 then finally to a 1200 to remove almost all the swirls... and you will deffinately want to use water...

Acetone is possibly a little too strong as well it may melt the remaining clear coat try something a little milder like prepsol or a wax and grease remover then rinse off with water

sorry i too am speaking from experience and this is the process i have used...

 

This is what i was kinda thinking....

 

The reason for why the C/F is going yellow is that they most likely do not use a clear coat because you don't need one - the reason why new carbon fibre has that glossy look is because when they make the part they need to use a resin to absorb into the C.F (the same as how you make fiberglass ) now depending on what type of resin they used also plays a minor part in this there are two types of resin that can be used a polyester type( which has some flex in it ) and the same type that you use for making boats etc.. sorry gone a bit off topic here

The C.F has gone yellow due to Ultra Violet light there is nothing that you can really do about this but you can try some polishes that will protect against U.V I have not heard of any one brand that gives 100% coverage you will have to search for it... you can take the C.F part to get clearcoated it may help but it will still need to be very gently by hand sanded and don't use a course grade as it will gouge the resin coating and may damage the C.F

Have you tried using something similar to a "Mothers clay bar" on it I have heard from others that this has help reduce some of the discolouration try this first before sanding