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There are several instances on these forums with owners inquiring about yellowing/fading carbon fiber on their hoods and blower covers. I too fall within that occurrence, however in my case the forward most carbon fiber piece (rain deflector?) that attaches to the hood with four screws has significant gel coat failure occurring as well as noted in the photo below. There are a few spots also beginning to appear in the blower cover, one of which can be seen in the photo. These spots are not stone chips and cannot be felt with a fingernail, and polishing had made no difference. The yellowing (and gel coat failure) is only occurring on the carbon fiber pieces on the hood, and the failure is continuing to propagate overtime. So far the remainder of carbon on the car are in phenomenal condition, hoping that is stays true overtime.
When I had my vehicle in the dealership for a complimentary oil change I noted this occurrence to the service advisor - both the service manager and technician agreed that there is a failure in the piece but they claimed that GM would not honor this. They stated they had a customer come in with a similar issue an a GM representative was flown out to observe the issue and the claim was denied. I cannot attest to the accuracy of this, but I didn't have much ground to push this matter further at the time. I still do want to push harder, but feel that I need additional backing to try to make something happen.
Out of curiosity I have looked at parts diagrams, and while this piece is removable, it does not have a dedicated part number. This piece is only included with the entire hood assembly which is priced to the tune of $10,000.
This link is to an older thread where some members have chimed in on the yellowing hood carbon, there is also a social group post in the C7 ZR1 Owners Group of this forum regarding the matter. A local friend of mine has a ZR1 that is also a victim of the yellowing carbon fiber whom was also denied a warranty claim. Similarly I have encountered two other owners at car events with substantially discolored hood carbon when compared to other components of the vehicle.
As a disclaimer, I take excellent care and pride in all of my vehicles trying to keep them are pristine as possible. Having this issue definitely irks me because it detracts from the beauty of the car - below are a few photos of the car overall.
I always hated the look and color of Carbon Fiber, here was my solution, or rather my preference, especially when I started seeing my ZR1 hood, and almost every other ZR1 hood, turning yellow (it's the intense heat from the supercharger).
If GM is not going to stand behind the finish on the blower cover, I wonder if applying paint protection film to a cover that is still good would be an acceptable preventative measure?
My blower cover is definitely more yellowed than the front CF piece attached to the hood. (#1146). It’s not all that bothersome to me as CF generally has a bit of character to it. I wonder if the blower coveres were sourced elsewhere, or if the extra high heat there is the culprit. I don’t have any of the gel coat defects.
That is too bad that looked like the whole car all the carbon fiber is affected. Like the OP's hood many cars will have issues I'm afraid! Lets hope not!
I wanted to get mine wrapped new tp protect the CF as well as the paint, seen some with some yellowing on friends ZR's, nothing looking like yours, my car has not seen enough sun to yellow
It is odd that all CF pieces have blemishes. Some of those pieces are installed on the car at the factory, some at the dealership (shipped separately). I saw similar spots on the glass windshield. I'm not sure what was that, reflection or acid spots.
If GM is not going to stand behind the finish on the blower cover, I wonder if applying paint protection film to a cover that is still good would be an acceptable preventative measure?
Excellent point Hib.
This looks just like damage to the carbon fiber clear coat to me. When you run your finger over it can you feel a "ridge" where the discoloration begins or roughness in the discolored area?
When I took delivery of my ZR I had these pieces covered with 3-M protective film as I did the mirrors, windshield A- frames, the front and side splitters, the entire front end and the hood and fenders.
Over the past year I've had to re-cover both that piece and the cowl cover behind it a couple of times due to damage caused by road debris of some kind. I've also had to recover the front clip and splitter. The film did its job and protected the paint beneath it in each case. The film is a lot cheaper to replace than the cost and time involved in trying to match the color and repaint.
A really good Corvette paint guy may also be able to lightly sand out those areas by hand and recover them with a clear coat that is frequently applied over fiber glass, let it cure and then sand/buff it out. If you're willing to take a drive to Burke Corvettes in Orlando give Tim a call about doing this kind of repair. He has repaired clear coat scraps on the outside edge of my splitter (driveway rash) and you can't tell it ever happened. PM me for his phone if you'd like it.
Last edited by Repo Pilot; 01-13-2020 at 09:43 PM.
Reason: added contect
It is odd that all CF pieces have blemishes. Some of those pieces are installed on the car at the factory, some at the dealership (shipped separately). I saw similar spots on the glass windshield. I'm not sure what was that, reflection or acid spots.
His car is dirty in the video provided, so some of the spots may be general dirt/debris which is indiscernible from defects - but you can definitely see imperfections in the spoiler in the video. It has been a while since I have seen his car to determine if there is gel coat failure on his hood components similar to my vehicle, however the yellowing of the carbon is definitely prominent.
Originally Posted by .gearhead.
Can it be buffed out?
It cannot.
Originally Posted by Repo Pilot
Excellent point Hib.
This looks just like damage to the carbon fiber clear coat to me. When you run your finger over it can you feel a "ridge" where the discoloration begins or roughness in the discolored area?
When I took delivery of my ZR I had these pieces covered with 3-M protective film as I did the mirrors, windshield A- frames, the front and side splitters, the entire front end and the hood and fenders.
Over the past year I've had to re-cover both that piece and the cowl cover behind it a couple of times due to damage caused by road debris of some kind. I've also had to recover the front clip and splitter. The film did its job and protected the paint beneath it in each case. The film is a lot cheaper to replace than the cost and time involved in trying to match the color and repaint.
A really good Corvette paint guy may also be able to lightly sand out those areas by hand and recover them with a clear coat that is frequently applied over fiber glass, let it cure and then sand/buff it out. If you're willing to take a drive to Burke Corvettes in Orlando give Tim a call about doing this kind of repair. He has repaired clear coat scraps on the outside edge of my splitter (driveway rash) and you can't tell it ever happened. PM me for his phone if you'd like it.
As noted in the original post, this is not stone chips or general road rash that can be felt on the surface of the carbon. If it were rash you'd anticipate similar damage to the blower cover adjacent to this piece as well as throughout the hood and bumper which is not the case. I have watched the issue propagate overtime on the piece noted in the OP, and I'm sure a complete failure is in the near future... I'll likely revisit my dealership to have it on record that the issue is worsening.
I am aware that you can refinish carbon fiber, and I have done this in the past with aftermarket pieces on other vehicles - however I am not comfortable doing that on the ZR1. I'd have to likely refinish all (3) pieces of carbon on the hood, otherwise there may be visible differences in the finish. I'd rather not have my entire hood recleared just to have the piece of carbon near the windshield match the blower cover and rain deflector that require refinishing, similarly doing just a spot touch-up on the hood leaves a hard edge for potential failure down the road.
Similarly I could just replace the blower cover and rain deflector (if I were able to find a replacement), however those pieces would no longer match the exposed carbon on the hood leading back to my abovementioned point.
I thought GM spent a ton of money developing a special resin or clear coat for the C6 ZR1? Do the C6 gen cars have any issues with UV discoloration, or is this a heat related issue and limited to the C7 hood/blower covers?
Bummer,
GM should clearly fix it if it's discoloring or has any new blemishes from normal driving.
Originally Posted by SpeedyVette
They should but they are not stock parts they are pricy and need to be purchased and made by the vender GM got them from.
It's a supplier issue if occurring under normal use. GM needs to hold the supplier accountable and tell them to either repair or replace any piece that's discoloring. It makes no sense for them not to do that. Come on!
I laid carbon for quite some time and can say, to a point, you can wet sand and repair carbon that UV yellows, as long you catch it in time. Then re-clear the piece directly from the foggy/1500 grit sanding stage. Most of that yellowish color will come out in the water of the wet sanding process. The supplier must've had a pretty cheap clear coat is all I can figure.
In cases where I had significant yellowing of parts, was when I pulled the part and just polished it, with no clear coat at all. The yellowing happened within a year and was unrepairable....only thing I could suspect is using a blue'ish tinted clearcoat to cancel out the yellow, or sand the parts and spray a candy over it to match your cars exterior color....it'd be a way to salvage the part.
That top pic though, the damage is down to the weave...that basically looks like impurities in the resin that, through being heated in the sunlight, expanded and cracked the resin. Again, some of that stuff can be mended...kinda, but not fully. I've definitely restored some trashed carbon fiber to something wayyyy better than it was but....that's facing up right in the light so you'd want it to be good. On that top part...I'd start wet sanding and see if that's clear damage or truly down to the weave. You may be surprised how much sands out, before hitting weave, at which point you can clear or candy spray it.
Last edited by KnightDriveTV; 01-15-2020 at 07:31 PM.
It's a supplier issue if occurring under normal use. GM needs to hold the supplier accountable and tell them to either repair or replace any piece that's discoloring. It makes no sense for them not to do that. Come on!
Bummer,
GM should clearly fix it if it's discoloring or has any new blemishes from normal driving.
Originally Posted by 09Z06pj
It's a supplier issue if occurring under normal use. GM needs to hold the supplier accountable and tell them to either repair or replace any piece that's discoloring. It makes no sense for them not to do that. Come on!
I've made an appointment at my preferred dealership to look into this once more on Monday, I developed a good relationship with the Corvette Technician overtime - hoping he will recall the issue from the last time it was brought up and can see it worsening... Will provide updates.
Brief Update: Brought the car in this morning as scheduled, showed the issue to the Service Manager who agreed that the matter has worsened since he last saw it. Also acknowledged that the other sections of carbon on the hood/blower are significantly more yellow than the rest of the vehicle. He took detailed photos of the issues and sent them to a GM Field Engineer, was told to expect a call within a few days...
01-12-2020, 05:36 PM
Yellowing Carbon Fiber & gel coat failure
