Hi all.

Some of you guys know that I pulled my CF hood off a car at the junkyard and that it was all faded. I have some aerosol cans of clearcoat sitting in front of me. I was wonder how I should go about applying it.

I was thinking about giving the hood a good wash then applying the clearcoat on to that. According to the directions on the can, it says...

"Clearcoat: Wait one hour after spraying the last coat of basecoat color before clearcoating. Spray 3-4 medium to wet coats waiting 10-15 minutes between coats. Wait overnight before buffing with rubbing compound. Wait one month before waxing."

My other question was, what type of rubbing compound would I use? Actually, what is a rubbing compound?

Yeah.

TIA.


Threads started this month by DarkOnion: 11

 

postwhore.

 

Whatever...

Trying to add to your post count or something?

 

You need to be careful with that stuff.
"Carbon Fiber" body parts are more accurately described as "fiber reinforced epoxy" because the actual material you would be spraying is the plastic or epoxy resin that the carbon is locked into.

Different clear coats have different formulations, some are going to be compatible, but other might not and can really mess up your stuff if you aren't using the right kind.

The can "in front of you" sounds like it is formulated to go over a compatible paint, whether or not its safe on your CF might be hard to determine...

Rubbing compound is an extremely fine abrasive/polish, usually in a wax-like base that you rub on (hense the name) and buff out to eliminate fine sanding marks and paint irregularities, you can find a few different grades of it usually on your Kragen wax/refinishing shelf.

 

i dont know why they told you to use rubbing compound. its gritty puddy like what youd put on a buffing wheel. maybe its for looks.

i would just spray it and leave it. maybe the rubbing compund gets rid of the gloss.

 

Actually, spray cans in the hands of do-it-yourself-ers aren't known for really smooth flowing coverage. Often a little wet sanding and rubbing compound are needed to level and polish the results, that is if you don't want the thing to look like it was rattle-canned.

Then again if you are happy with the fuzzy stripes usually found after rattle-can painting, you can skip the rubbing compound.

 

rubbing compound will induce more gloss...

if i were you i would check the compatability before spraying... maybe on the underside of the hood...

also with clear coat, what is going to make it look good is the prep and then the final sanding/buffing. you will want to make sure to clean/sand the entire hood to make it as uniform as possible beffore applying the clear coat. Also make sure you clean off all the dust with a tack cloth. A pretty wet bath of denatured alcohol will insure that the hood is dust free, using a cheese cloth, or other dust free rag... (again, test on the back for compatibilty)

after that follow the directions on the can, and a good sand with very fine paper or rubbing compound will be the finishing touch...

you can also ask matt (uglieZ) he works at a body shop, and does excellent work. He may have a better answer for you

 

Interesting. I wonder if I should pay someone to clearcoat my hood for me.

 

if you really like the hood, take it to a cf shop and have them put a gelcoat on it, or re-resin the surface.

 

oh he really likes it...it has racoon paw prints on it!

get a pro to do it. $100? youre lucky to have found the hood for that deal you whippersnapper

 

are they JDM racoon prints?

 

that would be soooo cool...or like those Nagano snow monkeys that are all over the mtn roads over there...they jump out at you like deer!

 

hahahaha

 

Whatever is the the most cost efficient way to do it.

 

sand with 400 grit sand paper

Spray with good quality two part clear coat - make sure to mix correctly