I have a rather odd question, I think ... as I've never seen it come up before.

Recently, I got myself a VIS CF trunk (for cheap) ... however, it was used and over time, had faded to a very ugly greenish color ...

I emailed a shop about it and they mentioned that the CF itself wasn't faded, but the clear coat quality on the trunk was poor, so they recommended that I take it to a paint shop and have it re-clear coated.

So here's my problem ... I emailed a reputable shop and they said the only thing they could do was to add another coat of clear coat on there ... they wouldn't polish the old, stained clear coating off because ... I don't know ... they said it was impossible.

Which leaves me with a few options: (in a nutshell)

1 - leave it how it is (and boy, is it ugly.)
2 - attempt to buff it out myself
3 - ask more shops if they can do it
4 - paint it stock color

 

im pretty sure VIS uses a gel coat instead of clear coat. that may be why this has happened. I say you should search around for a tough cleaner/polisher or else jus get it "clear" cloated

 

just paint it the stock color it will be hella light and nobody will know. plus i think it will save you a headacke.

 

more opinions?

 

i just re-cleared my vis hood.....sanded with 400 grit....then sprayed it with PPG clear....looks brand new...i did the same to my Spoon wing the next day.....came out beauiful.....i try to take some pics for you.


Modified by Madspeed at 9:47 AM 4/6/2005

 

i would paint it your cars stock color, less attention from thieves/ricers/haters/cops/etc

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Madspeed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i just re-cleared my vis hood.....sanded with 1500 grit....then sprayed it with PPG clear....looks brand new...i did the same to my Spoon wing the next day.....came out beauiful.....i try to take some pics for you. </TD></TR></TABLE>

oh nice ... did your hood fade as well?

I'm assuming I can just rent a sander from home depot, or similar store?

pics would be excellent

 

yes the hood was faded looked like **** really....sorta hazy in the center. I hand sanded iit with 400 grit paper....(wet) thats it.
i went out and took these pics....sorry the car is dusty...(pollen season)...but anyway here is how it turned out.....i dont have any before pics...sorry

 

very nice ...

wait, in the post above you said you sanded it with 1500 grit and this post, you said 400 grit (wet)?

(wet as in ... sanded w/ water on the hood?)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Madspeed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i just re-cleared my vis hood.....sanded with 400 grit....then sprayed it with PPG clear....looks brand new...i did the same to my Spoon wing the next day.....came out beauiful.....i try to take some pics for you.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

i did the same thing mine was ****** trashed. 1st gen ViS hood on my teg.

My steps...
Wet sanded with 600 grit, took a lot of the top haze off but still needed more.
Dry & wet sanded with 150 grit and an orbital, this did the job for me.
Wet sanded again with 200/300 grit blocks to finish it off.
Washed the hood with soapy water.
Let it dry and wiped down with alcohol.
Wiped down with tack cloth.
Wiped down with alcohol.
Sprayed with clear I got a pint of 1 stage & catalyst at my local automotve paint supply store.
Total Cost Involved was $41.
I still need to wetsand the final product because its got some orange peel, just havent done it yet. I did this about a month ago.


Some pics...
This pic makes the hood look good, but this was using that 3M gel coat wax, and many hours of buffing. Notice the oxidation on the sides and middle.


This is the day i brought the car home, hood was so damn beat. Actually the whole car was, but after hours upod hours of restoring the paint and hood **** looks brand new. Amazing what some wetanding, eagle1 and meguiars can do to a car.


This is totally sanded down, the other half is just wet. Water will give it the affect of what it would look like when cleared, so you can still see the imperfections.


Afer


The car after, compared to the pics of when I brought it home. No repaint, just some TLC on the paint.

 

very sick car

I've heard if you wax your hood, it's gonna get really nasty with oxidation ... and I know some who have never waxed their hoods and after a few years, it is still glossy ...

oh well ... I guess it's time for me to rent a (wet) sander? ...

 

I've had my hoods for a long time and have always waxed them. Holding up like it was new!

 

you can wax them, but overwaxing them will ruin the gel coat. like in my case the guy would wax his hood everytime he washed the car, my oxidation was basically built up wax.

you dont rent a wet sander, you get the grit sandpaper you need and dip that **** in some water.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1 point 6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

you dont rent a wet sander, you get the grit sandpaper you need and dip that **** in some water. </TD></TR></TABLE>

sorry for all the questions, but I've never done anything like this before ... I'm not anything close to a mechanic or handyman ...

so I would just go buy some 1500 grit sandpaper and go full on karate kid on my trunk?

I'm guessing just get some clear coat from a paint shop ...

 

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

wait, in the post above you said you sanded it with 1500 grit and this post, you said 400 grit (wet)?

(wet as in ... sanded w/ water on the hood?)</TD></TR></TABLE>
sorry it was 400 to start and then wetsanded and buffed with teh 1500 to get the shine.......mine was near as bad as the integra.....

 

If you havent done this before I wouldnt recomend having a crack at it. You can do more damage than good if not doing it properly, just my opinion.

 

what happens if you just sprayed another coat without doing anything?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1 point 6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you havent done this before I wouldnt recomend having a crack at it. You can do more damage than good if not doing it properly, just my opinion.</TD></TR></TABLE>

well, it's either trying it out, or having a ****-yellow cf trunk ...

 

Just be careful and use your head... it can't be that hard.

Good luck

Take some before and after pics!

 

I don't mean to "update" this thread, but ...

wow, 400 grit sandpaper (dry) takes FOREVER to get the gel coat off ... I'm trying to strip it down far enough so the yellow is gone ... after 20 minutes of sanding, I can see silver ... but I managed to get a decent sized blister on my thumb, and the part I was rubbing is only about 1 sq inch ... time to buy some 100 grit sandpaper ... T_T;;;

I tried to polish it with wet 1500 grit sandpaper ... but it didn't work to well at getting it shiny. It looks great with water on it though ... I'll probably have to spend some money and get it professionally clear-coated once the entire hood is silver again ... oh boy.

I'll take pics in a few days/weeks when I get the 1/2 the trunk finished (so you can see the difference in the silver and ****-yellow)

 

i need to do my hood soon too...how do you know when to stop sanding?...i mean how would i know when the hood is ready for a new coat?...my hood looks bad....its one of those cheap hoods...it looks like there is air between the coat and the carbon fiber...when you rub it down it dissappears...then comes back in a few seconds...is this oxidation?...didnt know the term...looks nasty though...

 

imma try this when and if my hood oxides

 

hmm ... hand sanding it took WAY too long. Probably because I needed to take off a few "layers" of the gel coat ... so I bought a sander ... using 80 grit dry sand ... and it is getting down to the layers that are finally silver. It's looking good, but there are spots of silver, rather than a smooth silver ... still gotta work with it though ...

In addition to the 80 grit, I (dry) sand with 400 grit, wet sand with 1500 ... still not nearly as shiny as MadSpeed's hood ... I seriously don't know how he did that unless he put some clear coat on there ...

either that, or he's a mad skilled carpenter

 

Now i know to wax the carbon fiber hood i am getting like every week haha good post though

 

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

In addition to the 80 grit, I (dry) sand with 400 grit, wet sand with 1500 ... still not nearly as shiny as MadSpeed's hood ... I seriously don't know how he did that unless he put some clear coat on there ...

either that, or he's a mad skilled carpenter</TD></TR></TABLE>

He did clear his hood. And I have seen it better in person and it looks brand new.