Hey everyone,

I'm wondering what methods and products you use to bring that clear coat shine out of the carbon fiber from a CF hood and make it look like new again. Mine is extremely dull looking and has a matte look to it. When I poor water on it, you can see that CF shine which is what I want. My bodyshop waxed it and it looked great for a bit but then it turned dull again. I tried a polish and it came out like crap. There must be some other way or product which will bring that shine back...any recommendations guys?

Thanks

 

Reclear it.

 

I was thinking that...I suppose there's no DIY methods which will give the same result permanently?

 

Most carbon fiber pieces come gel-coated, which is pretty dumb. I guess they do it to save costs. You can buff it out, but it's gonna be tough by hand and the gel-coat will fade again eventually. I would just get it clear coated.

 

You need to polish it to remove oxidation and imperfections in the surface. Depending on how it was done it can be a little more challenging so I would recommend something pretty gentle until you have more experience polishing it. The Klasse All In One (AIO) would be a great choice if you want to be really conservative as it's a cleaner, polish and protectant all in one. If you want to remove more of the imperfections try the Menzerna Super Finish Polish SF 4000 (PO106FA Nano Polish) and a black pad. This is a great light polish and very light pad combo that will remove the light swirls, oxidation, etc. so the surface looks optically clear again and you can see the carbon fiber directly. You may even need something stronger than this for perfection but this is a great starting point.

Greg @ DI

 

3M makes a few products for cleaning, repairing, and polishing the fiberglass on boats. They work great for stripping the gel coat off so you can get your cf parts clear coated.

 

Agreed with the comments about reclearing the hood. Never seen a carbon hood that hasn't had this happen to it without reclearing, from the factory.

 

I would advise going down the polishing route before submitting to a reclear, which I don't think is a solution that should be presented right off the bat. You'll know when a reclear is necessary.

 

It's a gel-coat, which will re-oxidize at some point in the future. OP stated that he wanted a permanent solution, for which clearing is really the only way to go.

 

hey OP eventually you may need to reclear, but check out 3m marine wax. look it up on google. i used this trick before for a faded cf hood i had on my old car and it help bring life back to it.

 

Once you have it polished out you really should have it clear coated. If its just a bare gel-coat it will always oxidize and yellow. If you get it cleared, it provides UV protection