Hello all. I’ve searched for a bit, but have not been able to find any info regarding my situation. My brother has a carbon wing on his car that nearly all of the clear has recently chipped/ washed off. It is roughly 9 months old, but the manufacturer only warrantied the clear for 6 months. The carbon itself still looks good, but you can see large patterns left as the clear was delaminating. The surface feels perfectly smooth as well. My question is, how do we go about prepping the wing to spray a new coat of urethane clear on?? I’m afraid to attempt to scuff it as it appears dry, and I don’t want to damage the fibers. I will try to post some pics later as that may explain things better.
MIght want to consider very gentle sanding(220) even if you get into the fibers a bit(as long as you don’t go through you won’t be able to tell the difference) and then carefully brush a coating of clear epoxy over. Once this surface coat is cured then you can sand over this without fear of cutting through the carbon, this layer may need a bit of sanding to even out any wavyness, then shoot your clear.
I feel it’s best to spray clear over a layer of epoxy that’s been roughed up versus a layer of exposed carbon for better adhesion.
Thanks 20_rc51_00, that sounds like a great solution. Gonna be a few weeks before we get into it, but I will check back and post before and after pics.
I spray 2K clear straight over exposed/sanded carbon and have never had a problem with adhesion. Putting on a flow coat is extra and unnecessary work IMO, with far too many opportunities to screw up along the way. If the carbon is properly saturated, sanding through it is only an issue if you sand all the way through the weave.
I totally agree with craj1031tx. Also when you sand before spraying clear don’t use a 200 grid but between 600 and 1000.
If you have access to a product like Duratec top coat, I would highly recommend using that. The high build properties will make filling low spots very easy, and it sands down nicely too. Plus you can prep the surface with 180 grit paper and the Duratec will fill the scratches. It’s much more forgiving and easier to apply than a regular automotive paint.
Thanks guys. My supplier does carry all duratec products. Looks like there is both VE and PE top coats available. I assume it wouldn’t matter which product I use in this situation, but can I use the VE top coat as an imc when infusing with VE?