Carbon Fiber top
04-23-2017, 12:48 AM
#1
Racer
Thread Starter
Carbon Fiber top
just wondering if anyone has removed the paint and re clear coated the carbon fiber top. I work with carbon fiber for my day job and its not that big a deal to re-clear it.
04-23-2017, 01:13 AM
#2
Instructor
How would you go about removing the paint without damaging the fiber? Or when you say reclear are you meaning epoxy?
04-23-2017, 01:27 AM
#3
Racer
Thread Starter
there are several epoxy friendly paint removers on the market. the exposed carbon gets a clear coat over it for UV protection and durability the epoxy is what bonds the different layers of the carbon together and makes it hold shape.
04-23-2017, 06:48 PM
#4
Le Mans Master
I have a convertible, so bear with me. I'm assuming you're talking about a -painted- CF top, and not an exposed CF top. If so...
The CF under the paint may not be visually appealing. It could have seams, overlap, and so on, just sanded flat before paint.
Remember when they do the "exposed carbon" hood stinger they use a special, one-off hood that has a dedicated piece of single, uninterrupted carbon for the stinger area. Contrast that with if you just took a normal CF hood and removed the paint from that region, you'd have no idea what you'll find underneath.
You also need some special clear additive (GM has a proprietary one but I don't know if you can buy it) to prevent it from yellowing in the sun afterwards.
So, in my opinion at least, not as easy as "Remove colored paint and clear coat it".
You mention that you work with carbon all day, so you likely COULD do this if you could laminate one piece of continuous CF on top of the existing pieces that make it up, but I'm talking out of my butt on that, I don't know much about working with CF.
The CF under the paint may not be visually appealing. It could have seams, overlap, and so on, just sanded flat before paint.
Remember when they do the "exposed carbon" hood stinger they use a special, one-off hood that has a dedicated piece of single, uninterrupted carbon for the stinger area. Contrast that with if you just took a normal CF hood and removed the paint from that region, you'd have no idea what you'll find underneath.
You also need some special clear additive (GM has a proprietary one but I don't know if you can buy it) to prevent it from yellowing in the sun afterwards.
So, in my opinion at least, not as easy as "Remove colored paint and clear coat it".
You mention that you work with carbon all day, so you likely COULD do this if you could laminate one piece of continuous CF on top of the existing pieces that make it up, but I'm talking out of my butt on that, I don't know much about working with CF.
Last edited by davepl; 04-23-2017 at 06:50 PM.
04-23-2017, 07:14 PM
#5
Racer
Thread Starter
the automotive clear has a UV protectant in it to keep the carbon degradation from happening. I had a ZL1 and on that forum a lot of the guys were taking the painted carbon fiber hood insert and removing the paint and clearing instead of dropping 2k on a new insert
