Help with a CF Hood-

[jrs1418]

Sorry no pix. We have a customer who regularly brings us his G35 w/ a CF hood made and bought new from Stillen, I believe he said 2 years ago. He comes in pretty often and was asking us to apply Megs synthetic wax 2.0 to his hood after we wash it. It held up pretty good. The hood was showing signs of fading and had some water spots on it. I finally convinced him to let me apply Opti-coat to it, we polished it out to close perfection and applied OC Pro as per the directions. He let it cure 3 weeks before coming in for his next wash and his hood was water spotted already. Weird thing is, it was ONLY spotted on the hood.. his paint was free and clear of water spots. He swore he doesn't park near a sprinkler, and it was just rain water? I believe him, when his car comes in it looks like rainwater dirty

Description of the water spot: It looks like an etch in the shape of the water bead, but not like a hard water stain where you can see the ring of the water bead and smaller rings as the water evaps and leaves behind the minerals. The whole shape of the water droplet is now matte against his shiny hood. Multiplied by 1000 across his hood.

Everytime he comes in, the SAME SPOTS.. I've tried: OC Pro, Wolfs HB, a sealant containing teflon, and Megs 2.0 tech wax. Each with a full polish out before application.

Yesterday was the last time I polished it, we applied his tech wax LSP because he felt it held up the best. While polishing, i noticed two areas that have what appears to be clear coat failure in its earliest stage. But I am not sure. The areas were hazy looking, and when looked at closely has small hariline scratches, the kind you see on a roof of a neglected car before the clear coat peels.

Over-all when polished out, the hood is a 9.5/10.. it really looks new. But i'm stumped on what is causing these etches and how to stop them. I even offered him to vinyl wrap it with clear but he doesn't like the look of the vinyl.

What to do?????????:buffing:

[af90]

Have you tested the beading and sheeting to ensure the Opti-Coat properly bonded? Was the carbon fiber hood clear coated correctly? And are you sure the water spots are completely removed by polishing?

To me it sounds like they're not sheeting off or he's just not wiping it down after it rains and it's water spotting which no coating will prevent spotting if the water is left on there.

[jrs1418]

This is rain water we're talking about. And the water spots are only on the CF.. NOT THE PAINT. If it were acid rain it should affect the paint too shouldn't it? And if it were hard water, it also should be in other places besides the hood. I live about 5 miles from him and never have this on my car.

I can't speak for how the hood was clear coated, but it is a "Stillen" CF hood, which is a well known manufacturer.

I didnt not do a beading/sheeting test with the OC. He came in for his first wash and it was already messed up to the point I needed to polish it out. I dont think thie is an OC issue as every other product I've put on his hood has the same results after 2-3 weeks in the rain.

After we applied OC he had a from bumper body kit installed, I thought the etches might have been from the body shop somehow, but like I said.. i doubt its an OC thing as nothing else works.. even for just 2 weeks!

[jrs1418]

ttt!