How to remove clear coat of carbon fibre

[SircatmaN]

Hey guys, I just picked up a carbon fibre bonnet second hand and the clear coat is peeling off. How would I go about removing the old clear coat and applying a new one?

[SircatmaN]

Sorry for double post but I found this guide so thought I would post it for anyone else wanting to fix up their bonnet.
http://www.clubcivic.com/board/showthread.php?t=63197

[mr_mike]

best bet would be to wet sand the lot with some 800grit paper then reclear it. sand again with 1500grit and clear it again. This will give you back the depth look in the clear.

You dont need to remove all the clear to recoat it just needs to be lightly sanded so the new coat of clear has something to stick to as paint/clear will not stick to a shiney surface.

[SircatmaN]

The old clearcoat is like coming off over alot of the bonnet, is it dangerous to remove the lot of the clear coat?

[mr_mike]

yeh, if you start cutting into the clearcoat to much you will evetually hit the carbon weave and mess it up and it will look fuct.

[SircatmaN]

So when I'm doing it I just go until I've cleared up the cut edges and don't go to much further? And in the areas that are good just rough up the old clearcoat a little and leave them as is?

[kurbn]

I would of thought if you went down to the weave you could wet and dry from 800 - 2000 and would look ok :S what exactly happens, does it merge into eachother?

[mr_mike]

So when I'm doing it I just go until I've cleared up the cut edges and don't go to much further? And in the areas that are good just rough up the old clearcoat a little and leave them as is?

yeh sand around the edges of the flaking paint until the edge is smooth and you cant feel it anymore, the rest you just lightly sand to take the shine off the surface.


I would of thought if you went down to the weave you could wet and dry from 800 - 2000 and would look ok :S what exactly happens, does it merge into eachother?
Because the weave is a uneven criss cross pattern and the clear on top gives it the smooth finish if you sand the clear right down u will damage the weave as you will take the high parts of the criss cross pattern away and will make it look uneven.

[mr m00se]

You do have a very small layer of strait resin between the clear and the fibres. But its not much buffer. In my oppinion your best bet would be to go down to an auto pannel shop and ask for a clear coat stripper, however you will need to to a patch test (somewhere hidden) to make sure that it doesnt react with the fibre resin, which will be either Epoxy, Vinylester or Polyester. Also once you have the clear stripped, you need to keep the bonnet out of direct sunlight as the uv rays will cause the resin to yellow.

It really all depends on how thick the clear coat is, if its a nice thick coat you can cut it back a little and buff it, but if its a really thin coat thats peeling you need to gently remove it, then respray a new clear. if your looking for someone to do it for you i'd swing by windrush yachts in oconner and see if any of the boys are interested in a cashie.