snowskater34

so i went to the local body shop to day to see what it would cost to sand and clear coat my CF hood. well the main guy had no idea what the procedure would be to make the clear coat stick.. so my question is does anyone know what to do so i can tell him..

raidacaipo

I have no clue either but you can actually wet sand the surface for light scratches with 1000 grit sandpaper.. then smooth it out with 1500-2000 grit and use compound/polisher/wax to finish it..

eros18

i think it has to be wet sanded first then apply the clear coat then buff

you can wet sand if you want

likwid2u

the class im taking for body work told me to wet sand it with 600 grit make sure you pour some dish washing soap in the water first

snowskater34

the body shop is scared to sand to much and scratch it up to where they cant fix it or get into the fibers. there afraid the clear will not cover it up. but will 2000 sand paper be just fine to scuff it up for the clear to stick?

raidacaipo

1000 grit wont even be enough to get rid of the clear coat.. its only enough to even out the surface of the clear coat.. its that light.. if the shop doesnt even know that then I think you should bring it to another shop with more experience.

snowskater34

thanks everyone for there input so far.

Orangegsx

no no no don't put soap in the water. I would wet sand it with 600-1000. You are not trying to take off the clear coat. You just need to remove the shine. Clean it with wax and grease remover. Then spray it with clear. You might want to have them add a capfull of flex additive also. DO NOT buff it before you spray it...

1988_96hb

You would get better responces in the paint and body forum. I scuffed my hood with red scotch brite which most body shops have and the wax and grease removered it and shot it. I would have used adhesion additive if i had it but i havent had any problems and it turned out good.

raidacaipo

do you know what your talking about? 600-1000? have you ever tried wet sanding your car using 600? thats just plain stupid youll remove all the clear coat as well as the paint itself to bare metal.. soap is there to keep the water clean and smooth thats all.. it will keep the pad from dirt sticking on.. if you want to remove the shine you best bet is only using 1000-2000 grit.. how do you clean it with wax? even if you were to wax your car, the little tiny dirt cant be removed.. waxing is a coat not a dirt remover.. meaning it goes over dirt or anything to protect it. if anything you just need to degrease it

VW-Convert

obviously, there is way to much bad information from this for me to pick out one thing

i dont know what to say

raidacaipo

you cant pick out anything because you dont know what your talking about..
if you ever wet sanded a car before you would agree with what Im saying but apparently you haven't so just stay out of the conversation.. Im not gonna let someone ruin their car by wet sanding with 600 grit from someone who tells them to do so...so much bad information because they dont know what they are talking about then for someone like you who barely joined last month to tell me Im giving out false information without even stating why? just shut up

Eyger

Holy mackrel, this question has already been answered in the paint and body forum, using the search button will find your answer rather quickly.

I know that I'm going to get argued with, but here'goes...

You could do this, it depends on the hood, and weather or not there is a clear coat on it already. If he wants to re-spray the hood with clear, this wont work.

This will not work, the paint will not adhere to the substrate if you buff it before spraying it. Buffing it smooths out the finish, for paint to stick properly to the hood, it needs to be rough enough to bite into the surface.

Yes, but as for the dish soap, you don't need it. Adding dish soap to the water is an old school method. Be careful if you do add dish soap, if there is any residue from the soap on the surface before you paint, you could have problems. A lot of those soaps are oil based, you don't want to paint over oil when you do the final coat. I've never used dish soap.

No, 2000 is too fine. The clear will not adhere properly to the surface. Sure it'll work, but you might run into de-lamination down the road.

Agreed, and agreed. Well, maybe they just don't know anything about carbon fiber hoods.


Agreed. Although I wouldn't go up to 1000. You can just hit the whole thing with 600, then call it a day.

This works for a regular re-clear. If you have any hazing or yellowing issues, you need to sand it with something like 600 to get the bad stuff off.

Where did you learn all of this? 600 grit does not go through to the metal. If the OP's hood is faded, then he needs to sand off the clear and get to the gel coat on the hood. Again, you don't need the soap, you can if you want, but it's not imperative. If he uses 1000 grit paper, the clear coat won't stick to the hood. Well, again, it'll stick, but you run the risk of de-lamination down the road.

Eyger

At least we're all trying to help him, and not spending time putting other people down.

raidacaipo

I learned this from personal experience my friend.. I was trying to wet sand her hood (my girlfriend) and I accidentally forgot to check the sand paper on my sanding pad.. I thought it was 1500 from last time I used it but forgot that I switched it to 600 for something else.. well I started wet sanding and all of a sudden I started see paint on the sand paper and soon all over my white tee shirt.. After inspecting the sandpaper it was 600 and I was about to kill myself.. anyways I had to bring it to a shop and have them repainted and clear coated.. If he wants to just get rid of the clear coat itself then he should use something close to 1000 maybe 800-900 but not 600.. its way to rough and will eventually eat to the paint. I wet sanded my whole car as well as a few others from my experience.

raidacaipo

Im not trying to put the OP down.. if anything Im trying to help him because there are other idiots here who make me mad by saying stupid things like wetsanding with 600 grit.. and others who like to instigate and say that I dont know what im talking about without stating a reason why.. and he barely joined last month

Eyger

^Alright. That's cool. Well, you do have to remember, people will always say something just to hear themselves talk. (real world metaphor for interwebs forum) I guess I'm surprised that 600 went through your surface so fast. I'm wondering if what you were sanding didn't have a lot of clear on it.

I think the real issue here is for the OP to describe the hood more accurately. He never said weather or not the hood was faded.

To the OP, if your hood is faded/yellowed, you need to sand it off, use a lower grit, if it's not, and you just want to shine it up, use a higher grit and either re-clear or buff it out.

Yay, rainbows and happiness for everyone!

VW-Convert

yeah, i dont work in the best collision shop in my area....walk into any collision shop spouting off any of the stuff you claim to know and you would get laughed out....

i see, your someone who thinks i am a noob because my post count is low

Eyger

^Well, to tell you the truth, I didn't agree with you. But I'm the kind of person who is willing to agree to disagree, so it's fine. Nice job on the hatch by the way.

To be super technical and correct, the surface preparation techniques should be done according to the paint manufacturers recommended specifications. So if you're using RM clear, go and ask RM what you should do to prep the surface.

raidacaipo

read your current post..

so technically you agreed.. otherwise what did you disagree on?

raidacaipo

anyways this guy wv-convert is a troll.. he just goes looking for trouble.. also read his other posts... most are negative anyways and check out his signature... go to his page, he has others who are bashing on him.. maybe he got banned from honda-tech before thats why he made a new screen name..

DB1_559

if the bodyguy dont know,how do you know he can even reclear it take it somewhere else your better off then wastein money just my 2 cents

raidacaipo

thats what I told the Original Poster. read my first posts

precisionsc54

600 wet to remove the shine and the very top layer of clear, anything higher grit and you will have adhesion problems. Or use a fine scotch brite pad. If the bodyshop doesnt know this I suggest moving on to another. If you dont agree with me I dont give a S*it. Its the right way to do it

snowskater34

alright..first off what the hell did i start. Second of all..my hood as not yellowing just has like 3 dull spots and some scratches that your cant feel with your finger nail. ive tried buffing waxing the dull spots go away till i wash it.. scratches never go away. they where put on there by a plastic button. Third.. i have no clear on it just what ever it came with from the dealer.. Prolly the gel. Forth..the body shop is pretty good they sprayed and cleared my front and rear bumpers and they still look great. the owner just stated he as never really messed with CF but has messed around with fiberglass...he said he would check the the net to see some prep procedures so everything that everyone is wright is very appreciated..i will just show him this forum.