How to refresh carbon fiber?

[justinlansdale]

My carbon fiber hood is sun faded really really bad. Whats the best way to bring back the new look on my hood? I need tips!

[Renegade_]

wet sand w/ 800 then 2000 It will get the shine back in anything...

[frosti108]

you just sell it to cheaper people and buy yourself a new one

[92sileighty]

you just sell it to cheaper people and buy yourself a new one

lol there's always that

[Eclipse GSX 61]

I hear mostly people sand the clear off and have it recleared.

[Got Insulin?]

wet sand w/ 800 then 2000 It will get the shine back in anything...

Agreed. Just take it slow and then lay, like, three or four layers of clear.

[justinlansdale]

i'll probably end up wet sanding and reclearing, i'm just nervous about wet sanding the hood cause i hear it's easy to **** up ;-/

yet, i don't know if i can make the hood look worse than it does now haha.

[TurboTagTeam]

I took my BRAND NEW Seibon carbon fiber hood straight out of the box and put it in the prep room at our paint shop. Stripped all the stock clear coat off it and layed down 8 coats of new clear and 2 coats of pearl. It turned out very well.

The secret is to use a DA when your sanding the original clear off. A DA is a Dual Action sander specificly made for bodywork. It works really fast and really well.

I took all the original clear off with 320grit. DO NOT go down untill you hit the actual carbon. You ruin the weave and it'll look like crap. You should be able to actually feel the weave when u get close. But, Be VERY carefull.

The end results....

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c37/turbotagteam/CIMG3253.jpg

[OutToWinPAHC]

I vote exotic style.... sand, prime and paint to match.

[sherwood]

hit the refresh button.

[atenzany62]

I vote exotic style.... sand, prime and paint to match.
agreed

[kcnizm0]

I wet sanded and buffed my old vis hood. It looked brand new but the next day it had cracks in the clear coat. It started to fade again about a week later. Same thing happend to my buddys cf trunk after buffing. Im pretty sure cf hoods come with a gel coat. I had it recleared at a body shop and it never faded again. if you do try and wet sand and buff it, buff on a low rpm.

[SvicksTc]

what brand did you get? Did you take care of your hood (wash, wax, etc)? Ive had CF hoods on both my cars and never had a problem, although i didnt cheap out on the brand i still took care of it like you have to with any CF

[Eclipse GSX 61]

**** that pearl looks amazing^!

[DC2.2GSR]

My carbon fiber hood is sun faded really really bad. Whats the best way to bring back the new look on my hood? I need tips!

give it to me and i'll take care of it ...my fee is reasonable :cool:

turbotagteam is dead on. the only real way to fix carbon is to DA sand it down and re-clear it. wetsanding/buffing/waxing... they're all band aids. it'll make it shine, but not for long.

i just sprayed my buddy's BB4 prelude carbon hood a few months ago. i DA sanded it with 400 dry (i <3 my Hutchens :mrgreen:), backtaped the edges, prepped, and cleared it. it's a simple process and it'll last forever it you take care of it like you should any normal painted surface.

[Omar_MSP]

this is a very general cf question, i'd follow the wetsand, re clear coat method.

[kcnizm0]

what brand did you get? Did you take care of your hood (wash, wax, etc)? Ive had CF hoods on both my cars and never had a problem, although i didnt cheap out on the brand i still took care of it like you have to with any CF

my friend and i both had VIS carbon fiber we didnt cheep out. its the gel coat. It fades over time
give it to me and i'll take care of it ...my fee is reasonable :cool:

turbotagteam is dead on. the only real way to fix carbon is to DA sand it down and re-clear it. wetsanding/buffing/waxing... they're all band aids. it'll make it shine, but not for long.

i just sprayed my buddy's BB4 prelude carbon hood a few months ago. i DA sanded it with 400 dry (i <3 my Hutchens :mrgreen:), backtaped the edges, prepped, and cleared it. it's a simple process and it'll last forever it you take care of it like you should any normal painted surface.

dead on, tried everything and sanding it and re-clearing made it look brand new. It never faded again

[justinlansdale]

my hood is a VIS carbon fiber hood. i think i'm gonna take the advice that everyone is saying and wet sand/reclear it.

[SvicksTc]

just need to take care of it...wax and clean regularly

[180sxpiggy]

i need mine redone its faded in some spots