my carbon fiber hood is faded and has some small cracks i heard i need to get the clear coat off and re clear coat it im wondering how to get the clear coat off.... do i wet sand or??? and idk how to wet sand so all help is apprieciated

 

how bad is the fade?????? you could always apply peanut butter to hood.....

 

its pretty bad and has cracks why peanut butter????

 

dont put peanut butter on it. Just wet sand with some 320 grit on a rubber block till it looks like it has no shine. No need to go all the way through the clear. Then reclear. If you have never painted I suggest leaving it to a professional.

 

Agreed.....must reclear it. pb bullcrap is a temproary fix for hoods that are barely faded. not for highly sundamaged hoods that are peeling. clear must come off, and then you bury that thing in clear.

 

im a certified auto body tech at the largest dodge city in milwaukee, wi and i also delt with customized cars such as my ek hatch and all my friends. to fix the faded hood, you wet sand with at least 1000 grit. you can start with a coarser grit but make sure you work all the way up to 1000 grit. if you dont, then the new clear coat will not cover up the minor scratches from wet sanding. clear coat is made to cover any scratches from 1000 grit and up, nothing coarser. after wet sanding, just reclear.

 

Sorry to tell you but if you spray clear on a hood after you sanded it with 1000grit paper your in trouble. It will not adhere properly to such a smooth surface. I dont care if your an autobody tech. I have been doing this for a long time and I have seen this happen 1st hand.

 

Needs a clearcoat.

 

i agree with precision. i use 800 on a DA for blends, or 600 or 800 wet sand. clear will cover no problem. my helper does it 10-15 times a day and i've never had trouble clearing it. and i've been certified though spies/ppg/sikkens schools and am a Painter at a Ford Subaru dealership
make sure you don't sand through the clear or you'll have trouble from what i'm told

 

i dont know what kind of clear coat system you use, but i use dupont. and its the same for ppg too. if you just clear over anything less than 1000, the scratches will show up through the new clear you just laid down no matter how smooth the new clear coat is. everyone knows that clear coat will only magnify any defects in the paint.

(I-CAR certified)

 

just got the oxidation out of a tonneau cover with some polish and a porter cable. then used a final polish to get the gloss back and finished it off with a layer of wax

 

I spray PPG and it doesnt show through. If it does then how do u denib the base before clearing?

 

i used to work for dupont as a rep, and mattos inc(one of the largest supliers of dupont/spies in the country) and have painted professionally for several years and built custom trucks for a hobby for 12 years. never heard of using 1000 grit before clear(as necessity). but hey thats just me and all the paint manufacturers saying that, what do we know

 

i suppose everyone has different procedures that they prefer mainly because they have been taught differently. i've been taught through I-CAR and am certified. i guess the way they do it is different from others. its been 25 years i spent in the trade. maybe its time to update on new stuff. as far as what precision said, more power to you. just another shout out to a fellow body tech.

 

Most carbon fiber hoods are coated with clear gel coat. It's generally thicker than it needs to be which looks good, but develops cracks from it's brittle nature and thick application and yellows over time. If you have a cracks in the gel coat I would suggest sanding down to the carbon without sanding through...if you know what you are doing.