What up peeps I've had this VIS cf trunk for roughly 4 years now and Its about due for a new gelcoat. Ive had a VIS hood in the past and made the mistake of re CLEARING it rather than gelcoating it.. ( needless to say i had to get a new one)

My question is how hard is this to do? Whats the process like, and roughly how much would this go for about the same as a new clearcoat if i were to go to a shop? Im not sure how different the process is, and what materials are needed..

 

Ummmm... why was it a mistake to re-clear it?

 

because vis hoods werent intended to be clearcoated they gelcoat they're product. I finished it and it turned out blotchy, not because i did it incorrectly but because I used clear on it.

I wasnt the only one to do this.. another guy did the same thing to his hood following me, again he didnt know either.

 

damn no takers...shyt...

 

I have had my Vis hood for about 2 years now and i clear coated it as soon as i got it and its fine. what kind of clear did you use?

 

I've had great luck clear coating CF pieces.

Need to wet sand it first, then some adhesion promoter, then clear!

If it's not up to snuff, cut and buff and it will be good for years

 

I didnt use adhesion promotor before the clear, but I did wetsand for days on end!

So basicly you can clearcoat a piece thats been gelcoated when done right? I didnt think It could be done. Hmmmmm.. Ill have to contact a local body shop for this one.. I love my trunk. I cant afford to screw this one up!

 

If there are still traces of release agent(what they use to release the piece from the mold), you may have reaction issues....but usually wet sanding and wax remover gets rid of this. Adhesion promoter does help coverage though

 

goodlooking out!

 

Ya to clearcoat over gel is common practice concerning c/f. It gives a lot more u.v. protection. You need to know what you're doing, though. The gelcoat is denser and expands and contracts slowly compared to the clear when heated by the sun or a motor. Thus, vigorous scuffing and an adhesion promoter are needed to prevent lifting or peeling. Even still, some wetsanding and buffing are needed as general maintenance from time to time.

Rediculously unimportant info but I hope it makes sense. Good luck!

 

i didnt wanna do any damage so i just claybar the surface and seems to work for roughly 6 months at a time. But yeah...i was too neverous to go much further.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Thateguhate &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">because vis hoods werent intended to be clearcoated they gelcoat they're product. I finished it and it turned out blotchy, not because i did it incorrectly but because I used clear on it.

I wasnt the only one to do this.. another guy did the same thing to his hood following me, again he didnt know either.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Vis hoods are NOT gel coated! they are all clear coated, cheap clear coat, but clear coat none the less

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by aristro &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Vis hoods are NOT gel coated! they are all clear coated, cheap clear coat, but clear coat none the less</TD></TR></TABLE>

True story... I was told otherwise, but called them after creating this thread and deciding where to take it and have it done.. they did clarify this.

I wish they used a decent clear on these things but oh well...what can ya do..

 

I've never had any issue clearing carbon fiber. Really any new CF should be re-cleared for UV protection.

I would sand 800 or 1000 grit wet, lay 2-3 coats of high quality, high solids 2K clear.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by powerflow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've never had any issue clearing carbon fiber. Really any new CF should be re-cleared for UV protection.

I would sand 800 or 1000 grit wet, lay 2-3 coats of high quality, high solids 2K clear.</TD></TR></TABLE>

wish i could afford to do the hood for the hell of it but at this point it wont fit into my budget... its gonna run me $250 with a "proffessional clearcoat" ive been told...

Seem like alot to me, i might shop around more.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Thateguhate &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

True story... I was told otherwise, but called them after creating this thread and deciding where to take it and have it done.. they did clarify this.

I wish they used a decent clear on these things but oh well...what can ya do..</TD></TR></TABLE>
Vis hoods are cheap in a price for a reason, the higher quality materials the higher the price. They even went as far as selling some hoods as black dyed fiberglass hoods and seling them as carbon. I think their manufacture did it without them knowing. Also if you didnt know Vis=seibon. They use the exact same manufacture, just branded different names

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by aristro &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Vis hoods are cheap in a price for a reason, the higher quality materials the higher the price. They even went as far as selling some hoods as black dyed fiberglass hoods and seling them as carbon. I think their manufacture did it without them knowing. Also if you didnt know Vis=seibon. They use the exact same manufacture, just branded different names

</TD></TR></TABLE>

LOL wow...


well the only VIS product i own now is the trunk. My hood is an HC racing which actually fits 10x better, and the hood overall looks much better than the VIS ever did.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by aristro &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Vis hoods are cheap in a price for a reason, the higher quality materials the higher the price. They even went as far as selling some hoods as black dyed fiberglass hoods and seling them as carbon. I think their manufacture did it without them knowing. Also if you didnt know Vis=seibon. They use the exact same manufacture, just branded different names

</TD></TR></TABLE>

The selling black dyed fiberglass hoods was secondary information to me. I saw a test once where a guy took his vis hood and tested for any trace of carbon and three was none. I saw it on the internet so that does not make it true.

 

your better off getting it reclear with 2k clear because you can't regelcoat any parts that is clear because its going to be very orange peely.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by skellator_thoj &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">your better off getting it reclear with 2k clear because you can't regelcoat any parts that is clear because its going to be very orange peely.</TD></TR></TABLE>

what exactly is 2k clear??? Im just curious because ive seen it mentioned several times.. is this a brand, or grade?????

 

2 part urethane clear coat.. use shopline jc661 i believe( its one of ppg's lower grade clear)

 

oh ok... Yeah i know what you mean by the peel..under the sun, or after an excessive amount of heat it looks like the clear gives out, or lifts from the surface and turns shitty...

Good to know...right on

 

2K = 2 part, 1 material - 1 hardener/activator. Could be urethane or acrylic, ect. Could be primer, sealer, clear, ect.

Peel: Surface profile of the finish, common term is orange peel. Nothing to do with heat.

 

so the peel would be just a cheap clear then... I assumed heat contributed to it somehow. lol

Damn, i dont know **** about bodywork...

 

I know its not the best but I have a junk hood I want to redo and have some lacquer based clear, would there be any problems with it sticking to the cf. Only looking to get a year out of it. thanks