Carbon Fiber

[1anonly]

Does anybody on here have an unpainted carbon fiber hood? When polishing, do you do anything different than if it were painted?

 

I'm thinking about getting a carbon fiber hood in the future. Because my car is black, I probably wouldn't paint it. I'm just wondering if there is any special care needed with these.

[Chewy]

Any of Adams products will be fine on it. Just don't use any products containing Silicon in them. I like to treat it like fiberglass's gelcoat. Silicon tends to turn it yellow IMO.

 

Chris

[whiterp199]

I agree with Chris. The Carbon will either have a layer of resin or clear coat that you can treat like the paint and be okay. Stay away from silicon though.

[Mario Gambacortta]

On a quality carbon fiber product, it will have same (or very similar) clear coat as a painted surface. I treat these carbon surfaces the same as I would the rest of the car. One thing to be careful of, is that carbon fiber holds heat much longer than most surfaces. If you are polishing with something other than an orbital, be aware of the heat created. This can quickly lead to burning of the clear coat. As the Junkman would say "slow-cut". Hope that helps!

[TCorzett]

I just installed a Carbon Fiber hood for my G8:

 

 

It has a nice clear coat on it (very smooth). I was planning on caring for it like the rest of my car (Adam's Shampoo during wash, Detail Spray after rinse while drying. Periodically doing a coat of Brilliant Glaze followed by Americana).

 

When I detail the rest of the car (in the next few months) I'd probably clay, PC polish (taking extra care with heat), then apply a coat of Machine Super Wax before doing the BG and Americana.

 

What are people's thoughts on this plan?

 

-Todd...

[IMADreamer]

My advice as someone who does alot of carbon fiber fabrication would be to wax your carbon fiber surfaces two times for every one of your paint. Even with a good clear and wax the fabric and resin is still exposed to UV rays and problems could develop because of that. Keep it well waxed though and you should never have a problem.

 

Beware of some of the ebay carbon fiber as well as some DIYers because they use very crappy clear coat or poor surface prep and I've done many repairs to things people have bought off ebay or some guy did in his garage because a rattle can clear coat was used or no clear at all was applied. I don't know who you got your piece from but it's something to keep in mind.

[Team Adam's]

Like was mentioned it should have a clear coat over it, many pieces are sold with something resembling gelcoat for marine application on them. In either case you treat it roughly the same as you would your painted panels.

 

As Mario indicated be careful about heat buildup as it will retain heat and to Jason's point keep it protected, the tendency to hold heat will cause it to break down protective products faster do to the heat radiating outward when it sits in the sun.

[Lightningsti]

I got a little carried away with carbon fiber on my car, I treat it the same way as my paint (using only adams and the guidlines they say). My parts look they are brand new, no yellow, no swirls, just shine and they are three years old.

[WheelMaker]

I have some carbon fiber details on my Lexus (like religion, carbon fiber is a fine thing in moderation!) but they were blended before painting and then clear coated... in cases like this, treat it like a standard painted surface.

 

[1anonly]

Thanks guys. I thought I'd ask because I don't think I've seen any talk about carbon fiber body panels on here.

 

If I pull the trigger and get one, I'll make sure it comes from reputable place. When I was getting a feel on price and styles I went to e-Bay. I guess I will be staying away from those.

[Chris@Adams]

Thanks guys. I thought I'd ask because I don't think I've seen any talk about carbon fiber body panels on here.

 

If I pull the trigger and get one, I'll make sure it comes from reputable place. When I was getting a feel on price and styles I went to e-Bay. I guess I will be staying away from those.

 

Post up some pics when you get it Dan!