Any tips for carbon fiber?

[j994k]

Hello all. Does anyone have any tips for buffing carbon fiber hoods? Anything I should be aware of? We have a client comeing in on Tuesday for a buff on his Lexus that has a carbon fiber hood, and in the 3 years in our shop we have never dealt with carbon fiber. We have a cyclo, a porter, and as of Friday a flex. We have most of the prouducts and pads that Auto Geek offers on hand, just dont know the dynamics of carbon fiber. Any info would be awesome. Thanks
John

[ScottB]

I would consider contacting a manufacturer or reseller of CF. Lately I have seen alot of it discoloring locally and appears it has little to no UV protection or possibly not clearcoated like traditional paints.

[Matt S.]

It's usually gel-coated, like fiberglass, and thus oxidizes fairly easily.

As always, start with a light polish and assess from there. Lexus paint is soft in the first place, so you should be able to use the same stuff as on the rest of the car. For your LSP, it's best to stick with a clear sealant like Opti-Seal.

[agpatel]

Cf can be one of two things:

1. Gel/expoxy coating: Yellows and is somewhat hard, but polish as you normally would

2. Clear coated: Does not yellow and polish like you would paint

Other than knowing what the top coat is it is nothing different then polishing paint, just keep heat a little lower so you do not induce stress cranking in the epoxy.

[j994k]

Sweet! Thanks everyone.

[Mike Phillips]

Cf can be one of two things:

1. Gel/epoxy coating: Yellows and is somewhat hard, but polish as you normally would

2. Clear coated: Does not yellow and polish like you would paint

Other than knowing what the top coat is it is nothing different then polishing paint, just keep heat a little lower so you do not induce stress cranking in the epoxy.



There are two general categories of Carbon Fiber components,

1. Straight Resin
2. Clear coat paint over resin


If you're working on Straight Resin, be it some type of polyurethane, polyester, or epoxy resin, it will be susceptible to oxidation.

If you're working on clear coated resin, then it's like working on a clear coated car, you're working on paint and the problem won't be oxidation, but swirls.


Anytime you're working on a Carbon Fiber component that has an automotive clear coat finish, you want to treat it like a clear coat finish on the rest of your car and that is to use non-abrasive products starting with the least aggressive product to get the job done.


Most carbon fiber components are straight resin as that's the less costly way to make a component. Taking a component and spraying it with a layer of clear paint is like taking a car to a body shop to get a paint job, there are more steps, more material and more labor involved.

Just a general observation is that a lot of people buy hoods and wings and such, usually the straight-resin type, and don't do any maintenance until the surface of the component starts to turn white with severe oxidation or the clear fails and starts to peel off.

So if you have a carbon fiber component, keep it clean, polished and sealed with a wax or paint sealant just like you would for a car you care about.

:)

[agpatel]

Whops, thanks little correction...was thinking faster than typing.

When I wrapped my mirrors in CF, first thing I did after the epoxy drying was to put a few coats of clear on them, sand and buff them...CF weaves looks sooo nice on a perfectly polished top coat.