Carbon Fiber Hood repair
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Canuckian
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 261
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From: Ontario, Canada
Carbon Fiber Hood repair
I picked up a cf hood in a trade, it just needs to be recleared but theres also a significant scratch in the middle of it, it seems to have gone down to the weave but I haven't really gotten into it yet for fear of messing it up. Question is, if the weave is scratched can it be fixed? My buddy was telling me not to worry about it, just to reclear right over it but I'm kinda iffy about it. No pics, don't have a camera atm.
Re: Carbon Fiber Hood repair
the weave itself cant be fixed to my knowledge. i've done light work with carbon fiber. if its just lightly cracked. you can just add resign and fill it in, then clear it, or patch it with carbon fiber pieces and resin it back up, then clear. thats the problem with carbon fiber. for asthetic reasons, it has to be one solid sheet.
that is just a rough idea of whats usually done.
that is just a rough idea of whats usually done.
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 399
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From: Philly, PA, USA
Re: Carbon Fiber Hood repair
^^ what he said.
since carbon fiber on anything except a formula 1 car serves no purpose except for aesthetics, it's all about how you want it to look. if you attempt to patch it, just be aware that you'll see the patch. it's not likely that you'll track down the identical weave pattern carbon cloth, and if you do there's not really a way to make it look seamless. repairing carbon is very easy because you treat it just like fiberglass, but if you want to make it look nice, there aren't many options.
one thing you could try if it's not too deep and is to clean up the edges of the scratch with a razor blade to make it look as smooth as possible with no discoloration. once you basically cut a clean trench (not down to the weave), you can then clear coat it and let the clear 'pool' a bit and then wet sand it flat with 1000 grit wet or even 800 on a DA sander. clear it again and repeat until the scratch is filled in. once it's level and you don't see a scratch you can then just clear the rest of the hood and it should look pretty nice. keep in mind that it's not necessarily the right way to do it, but as long as you're not trying to build the clear really thick there should be no problem with strength. i'd recommend doing the same process but with clear resin, but that's up to you whether you want to buy some and mix it up for a little scratch.
since carbon fiber on anything except a formula 1 car serves no purpose except for aesthetics, it's all about how you want it to look. if you attempt to patch it, just be aware that you'll see the patch. it's not likely that you'll track down the identical weave pattern carbon cloth, and if you do there's not really a way to make it look seamless. repairing carbon is very easy because you treat it just like fiberglass, but if you want to make it look nice, there aren't many options.
one thing you could try if it's not too deep and is to clean up the edges of the scratch with a razor blade to make it look as smooth as possible with no discoloration. once you basically cut a clean trench (not down to the weave), you can then clear coat it and let the clear 'pool' a bit and then wet sand it flat with 1000 grit wet or even 800 on a DA sander. clear it again and repeat until the scratch is filled in. once it's level and you don't see a scratch you can then just clear the rest of the hood and it should look pretty nice. keep in mind that it's not necessarily the right way to do it, but as long as you're not trying to build the clear really thick there should be no problem with strength. i'd recommend doing the same process but with clear resin, but that's up to you whether you want to buy some and mix it up for a little scratch.
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