I'm trying to fix my cf trunk on my car. Only the top of it has faded and some of the clear is chipping. I put wax on it and all it did was just leave a freaking white haze on it. I used a lil rubbing compound before the wax and it left a red residue on my trunk, in the spots I applied it. I really want to fix this. I took 2000 grit sandpaper and I'm trying to wet sand it right now. Getting white residue when I sand, I'm guessing that's the wax? Am I going about this the right way? Any suggestions will be awesome. Ill have pics soon

 

Pics here

 

If it were me, I would sand the trunk with 1000 grit removing as much of the faded/ peeling finish then mask it off and spray it down with clear.

 

What kind of clear? Can I use a brand that comes in aerosol can? I'll get some 1000 grit today and try it out. Ill post pics again

 

Personally I wouldn't use aero clear. I recleared a couple of cf hoods with worse damage than yours looks in the pictures. 1000 grit and if you can get someone to/ or if you can lay down a good urethane clear so it will be more resistant to chips also.

 

^ agreed. Don't use rattle can clear. It's not meant for that. Pay someone on Craigslist to lay down some clear and buff it. Or if you have a buffer, we can walk you through the buffing process.

 

Alright I used the 1000 grit today. I was getting white residue and could smell like a fiberglass smell. How do I know when I have enough sanded off for the clear to be shot? I'm goin to get more sand paper tomorrow and sand again. As far as a buffer I don't have one. Any paint guy will know the process correct? Hey and Thx for the help guys I really appreciate it

 

Personally I wouldn't sand into the cf material but if you are wet sanding just rinse it and see if there is still damaged areas. If not then you are probably in a good spot for the clear to be laid down. It's easy to cut too far with wet sanding especially on something like cf parts because the clear usually isn't too thick

 

I am wet sanding by the way. But yes while im sanding I am rinsing alot making sure i don't eat into the cf. Im being very careful about that part. But as I'm sanding and I get the trunk fully wet the trunk looks freaking awesome, brand new looking. As it dries it gets cloudy again which is to be expected. Is there anything I need to do to the trunk to get the residue off or is water ok? I'll post pics again tomorrow.

 

Just make sure you are degreasing it and wiping it down with a tack cloth before clearing. Gets all the small dust particles and stuff off right before so less chances of contaminates in the clear coat

 

Yeah definitely don't sand into the fibers if you can help it. Don't worry about anything else once you get it sanded the way you want it. Just give it to a good body guy n they will know what to do from there.

 

I just re-cleared a cf honda trunk. It was much worse than yours, and had cracks and spiderwebbing throughout. I ended up sanding almost all the old clear off with 220 grit (very aggressive grit for just a reclear) to get past all the cracks. but it came out fine, sprayed it with DuPont snap clear.



For yours I would say to continue wet sanding it with 2000 grit, the white reisdue is normal thats the clear coat you are sanding off. After sanding it down use a electric buffer with a foam pad and rubbing compound, then clean the pad and go over it again with polishing compound or swirl mark remover, or both, to get the final shine. You want to sand it with progressively less aggressive grits (compounds are like liquid sand paper with a fine grit)

2000 grit wet > rubbing compound > polishing compound > swirl mark remover

Before you buff the surface it should look uniformly dull if that makes sense. It should look dull or matte from the sanding but if you still see cracks or scratches they aint polishing out.

If you cannot successfully polish it out I would recommend sanding it down with more aggressive paper (no lower number than 220) making sure NOT to burn through the clear and sand the CF. and take it to a body shop and have them spray clear on it. Probably would charge you $50-150, or cheaper if you took it to somewhere like a Maaco

hope this helps!

 

I would sand it all out wet sand as the above guys suggested 1000-2000 grit. Use a good urethane or polyurethane clear coat (2k) which will give you a hard finish that you can cut and buff to a pro gloss. And yes, be sure to wax and grease remove it before clearing, tack it and spray 2-3 coats of clear. Should turn out like new!

You would be doing the same thing as far as sanding if you wanted to color sand it and buff it after the clear has cured.

See this YouTube video that talks about color sanding and paper grits: http://labap.linktrackr.com/colorsanding

 

You need to block sand all the old clear off. Use P400 with a block and wet.
Use the paper without a block on the curves.
Give it a good four coats of clear coat with added flex agent.
Its a big waste of time to use anything finer than P600.