totally refinishing a Seibon hood questions
Jul 16, 2011, 07:29 PM
#1
Evolving Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (14)
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Hartford, CT
Posts: 107
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
totally refinishing a Seibon hood questions
Hello,
I recently bought a seibon cf hood for a good price that had quite a bit of cracking in the clear coat and some discoloration. I bought the hood knowing it would take a lot of work to get it back into good shape and figured id try to lear a lot along the way.
Here are a couple pics of what i started with.
I spent my entire day sanding by hand. I was able to get all of the cracks in the clearcoat out. Problem is that the bottom layer of clear carries the yellowish color. To get rid of the cracks if had to sand down to the bare CF. i spent almost 9 hours sanding by hand today and only got the "louvered" sections done.
The problem im having is that once the cracks are gone ive sanded down to a natural colored section of CF while the rest of the hood has the yellowish tint. There is no way i have the time, energy or the funds for enough sandpaper to hand sand the rest of the hood down to CF. Is there any type of chemical stripper i could try? The "good" areas of the hood were having oxidation problems also so i still have a lot of sanding to go.
Any recomendations on what i could use to finish this project? ive sprayed auto panels before so im confident i could do a good job on the final clear, the surface is a long way from being ready though. I broke out my air powered DA with a few different discs and it didnt do much but gunk up the disc. wet sanding works good but takes SO long.
Anyone have any tips or ideas they wouldnt mind sharing with me? Im trying to do all of the work myself but am starting to feel like i may be better of painting the hood black and running it bumble bee style!
Thanks fo any help you may have!
-Matt
I recently bought a seibon cf hood for a good price that had quite a bit of cracking in the clear coat and some discoloration. I bought the hood knowing it would take a lot of work to get it back into good shape and figured id try to lear a lot along the way.
Here are a couple pics of what i started with.
I spent my entire day sanding by hand. I was able to get all of the cracks in the clearcoat out. Problem is that the bottom layer of clear carries the yellowish color. To get rid of the cracks if had to sand down to the bare CF. i spent almost 9 hours sanding by hand today and only got the "louvered" sections done.
The problem im having is that once the cracks are gone ive sanded down to a natural colored section of CF while the rest of the hood has the yellowish tint. There is no way i have the time, energy or the funds for enough sandpaper to hand sand the rest of the hood down to CF. Is there any type of chemical stripper i could try? The "good" areas of the hood were having oxidation problems also so i still have a lot of sanding to go.
Any recomendations on what i could use to finish this project? ive sprayed auto panels before so im confident i could do a good job on the final clear, the surface is a long way from being ready though. I broke out my air powered DA with a few different discs and it didnt do much but gunk up the disc. wet sanding works good but takes SO long.
Anyone have any tips or ideas they wouldnt mind sharing with me? Im trying to do all of the work myself but am starting to feel like i may be better of painting the hood black and running it bumble bee style!
Thanks fo any help you may have!
-Matt
Jul 16, 2011, 07:42 PM
#3
Evolving Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (14)
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Hartford, CT
Posts: 107
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
im not afraid of hard work, just trying to make sure im not working stupidly. If the best option i have is to keep sanding the hood down inch by inch by hand ill do so.
Im not a body guy and wanted to just make sure there wasnt a "magical" step to save me hours and hours of work
Im not a body guy and wanted to just make sure there wasnt a "magical" step to save me hours and hours of work
Jul 16, 2011, 08:46 PM
#5
Evolving Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: baltimore,md
Posts: 118
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
yea, it might make sense to get some of the top layer off with an electric sander...and then do the bottom layer by hand to make sure the CF doesn't get damage
and by no way I am an expert or anything....it just seems to make the most logical sense
and by no way I am an expert or anything....it just seems to make the most logical sense
Jul 17, 2011, 06:40 PM
#7
DA will work okay, but make sure you keep it as flat as possible and make long passes or you're clearcoat will look wavy. I repaired a few carbon parts, and I can tell you it takes a long time. Good luck and be patient. If you rush, you'll be doing it over.
Trending Topics
Jul 19, 2011, 07:54 PM
#9
Evolving Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (14)
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Hartford, CT
Posts: 107
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ive been working on the hood for a bit the last couple nights after work. Unfortunately there isnt too much light left once i get out of work. I will take some pics tomorrow of my progress. Its going a lot slower than i originally thought. A LOT slower.
On the flat areas of the hood that were in good shape to begin with im getting better at getting down through the yellow layer JUST before hitting the actual CF. My plan is to have the main areas all rough sanded down by friday night so i can spend saturday doing some final wetsanding by hand. Id like to be able to spray it this weekend but im not going to rush into that and do it untill im satisfied the hood is as good as im going to get it.
FYI, ive been having good success using an air powered 6" DA with 80 grit and being very carefull. Ive been using 400 & 800 grit by hand for the smaller areas were i have to be more careful about ripping into the CF. Ill switch over to 1200 than 1800 for the final sandings
If i end up jacking up the hood too bad im planning on buying a couple yards of CF cloth and relaying the entire hood. Im hoping it doesnt get to that point though!!
-Matt
On the flat areas of the hood that were in good shape to begin with im getting better at getting down through the yellow layer JUST before hitting the actual CF. My plan is to have the main areas all rough sanded down by friday night so i can spend saturday doing some final wetsanding by hand. Id like to be able to spray it this weekend but im not going to rush into that and do it untill im satisfied the hood is as good as im going to get it.
FYI, ive been having good success using an air powered 6" DA with 80 grit and being very carefull. Ive been using 400 & 800 grit by hand for the smaller areas were i have to be more careful about ripping into the CF. Ill switch over to 1200 than 1800 for the final sandings
If i end up jacking up the hood too bad im planning on buying a couple yards of CF cloth and relaying the entire hood. Im hoping it doesnt get to that point though!!
-Matt
Jul 19, 2011, 09:52 PM
#10
Newbie
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: massachusetts
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have a same CFH on my Evo 8 and same problem. So I just took it to the shop to get get the reclear coating. I was quoted $200 to get the reclear coat. Also I asked them how much is painting to be black? They told me around $500. So I just ordered reclear coating for my hood. It might be to black maybe next time if it is gonna be bad again. I just want it to keep shine as like new. But it's not easy to takecare of the CFH in Boston. Cause of the rain and snow. Good luck
Jul 20, 2011, 09:06 AM
#11
Ive been working on the hood for a bit the last couple nights after work. Unfortunately there isnt too much light left once i get out of work. I will take some pics tomorrow of my progress. Its going a lot slower than i originally thought. A LOT slower.
On the flat areas of the hood that were in good shape to begin with im getting better at getting down through the yellow layer JUST before hitting the actual CF. My plan is to have the main areas all rough sanded down by friday night so i can spend saturday doing some final wetsanding by hand. Id like to be able to spray it this weekend but im not going to rush into that and do it untill im satisfied the hood is as good as im going to get it.
FYI, ive been having good success using an air powered 6" DA with 80 grit and being very carefull. Ive been using 400 & 800 grit by hand for the smaller areas were i have to be more careful about ripping into the CF. Ill switch over to 1200 than 1800 for the final sandings
If i end up jacking up the hood too bad im planning on buying a couple yards of CF cloth and relaying the entire hood. Im hoping it doesnt get to that point though!!
-Matt
On the flat areas of the hood that were in good shape to begin with im getting better at getting down through the yellow layer JUST before hitting the actual CF. My plan is to have the main areas all rough sanded down by friday night so i can spend saturday doing some final wetsanding by hand. Id like to be able to spray it this weekend but im not going to rush into that and do it untill im satisfied the hood is as good as im going to get it.
FYI, ive been having good success using an air powered 6" DA with 80 grit and being very carefull. Ive been using 400 & 800 grit by hand for the smaller areas were i have to be more careful about ripping into the CF. Ill switch over to 1200 than 1800 for the final sandings
If i end up jacking up the hood too bad im planning on buying a couple yards of CF cloth and relaying the entire hood. Im hoping it doesnt get to that point though!!
-Matt
Jul 20, 2011, 06:36 PM
#13
Evolving Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (14)
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Hartford, CT
Posts: 107
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I wasnt able to spend much time on the hood tonight but snapped a couple pics. Of course im no where close to being done but progress is coming slowly.
This pic is the same area as the first pics i posted. I had to sand all the way to the CF to get rid of the cracks. I still have a bit more work to do to get rid of the last of the discoloration.
This pic is of the flat surface of the hood i was working on tonight. Its hard to see in the pic but on the left side is the yellow untouched part, the center is where ive gone through the top coats and through the tinted layer and stopped right before the CF. The spot in the upper right is where i went a tiny bit too far and started to hit the CF a bit. Its a very fine line between pulling up the yellow and hitting the cf.
Still got a lot of work to go.
Thanks James. I think im going to keep this project totally ghetto and rig up a bootleg booth in my garage lol. If it doesnt come out ok ill be sanding it down again and ill definetely be hitting you up.
This pic is the same area as the first pics i posted. I had to sand all the way to the CF to get rid of the cracks. I still have a bit more work to do to get rid of the last of the discoloration.
This pic is of the flat surface of the hood i was working on tonight. Its hard to see in the pic but on the left side is the yellow untouched part, the center is where ive gone through the top coats and through the tinted layer and stopped right before the CF. The spot in the upper right is where i went a tiny bit too far and started to hit the CF a bit. Its a very fine line between pulling up the yellow and hitting the cf.
Still got a lot of work to go.
Thanks James. I think im going to keep this project totally ghetto and rig up a bootleg booth in my garage lol. If it doesnt come out ok ill be sanding it down again and ill definetely be hitting you up.
Last edited by evonewb29; Jul 20, 2011 at 06:41 PM.
Jul 21, 2011, 11:33 AM
#15
Evolving Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (14)
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Hartford, CT
Posts: 107
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Im planning on using a Transtar clear with a UV protectant. I havent decided yet if on the areas that ive gotten into the CF if i should put a small amount of resin back over it. If anyone has any advice on wether or not I have to or should do that please let me know.