Re: Carbon Fiber Hood Restoration

Hello to all...

I'm taking Friday off before a big car meet to restore my poor carbon fiber hood.

I've got hazing and UV damage all over the hood.

So I started prepping a test spot to find my formula for restoring the finish.

It's heavily swirled and has a milky, splotchy haze all over it... :shakehead:

What I have to tackle the job is:

* PC 7424

* 3.5" backing plate

* 4" Black

* 4" White

* 4" Red

* 4" Orange

* 4" Yellow

* Optimum Compound

* Optmum Poli-Seal

* UFSE

* FS UPP

* 1000, 1500, 2000 grit sandpaper

Can anybody please shed some light on what I can do to have some success in my restoration.

I did start with a test spot and wasn't able to achieve full correction.

I did find another great thread on this forum about hood restoration but it involves different equipment and materials.

I'm somewhat new to detailing...please help if you can.

 

Current condition for reference:

 

Wet sand it. compound it polish it. protect it. Start with the least abrassive and get more abbrasive until you get the results your looking for.GL

 

Only problem is if it does have UV damage and yellowing in the epoxy coating, you would not be able to get that out really. As the damage will go through the epoxy coating down to the actual fabric. You can less noticeable but yellowing will still be there.

 

if its yellowed in the epoxy, you're not going to be able to correct that.

 

Looks like there's some damage to the CF hood. Do you store it outside? Usually does a lot of damage to the hood.

 

it doesn't appear to be in as bad of condition as you made it seem. I don't think you will really need to wet sand it . . . . . should be able to polish it to get the desired finish.

 

dont forget, the yellowing can also be an optical illusion as some carbon fiber parts are made with kevlar, which is a naturally yellow material.

go with compounding first and see what you get, then work from there.

 

so this is my hazed/uv damaged cb hood it seems to have some yellow in some areas..where and how do i start to restore it?

 

Thats why I never bought a carbon fiber hood. They look great the first couples year and are to much work to take care of.