Carbon fiber hood :help:

[aztec1987]

I got a friend that had his carbon fiber hood stored in his garage in which he wants me to polish out for him and give it that diamond shine. I plan on washing it with Citrus wash, Clay it, and using an Orange Hex logic pad to do the cutting with the CG V36 compound, then with the White Hex logic pass the V38 polisher, and finally seal it with CG Jet Seal. Once the sealant is cured I plan on putting two coats of wax. I see that he has some yellow stains and scratches. Any suggestions on how to remove these or any method to bring this carbon fiber back to life?

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[Dmb5450]

I hope your issue is different than mine. I had a carbon fiber exhaust on my motorcycle, it began to yellow as well. I called the company and they stated that the epoxy is not uv resistant at all and turns yellow. I did more research and found that almost all of the people with older carbon fiber exhausts had the same issues. Some that probably did not care for the exhaust got coloring in one year!With that said, my guess is that you cant polish out the yellowing, since the damage is done to the epoxy. Just a heads up, I took great care of my bike and it still yellowed. I'm not sure if the yellowing is avoidable. I'm sure I prolonged the process but it did still occur.

 

[Gil_]

I've had some of the same issues with the yellowing of the carbon fiber. What I found out is that it is due to the type of resin that is used on the carbon. In addition, it seems that the pre-pegged carbon (carbon that has epoxy built into the fiber prior to autoclaying) seems to be less prone to yellowing because less epoxy is used in the carbon fiber.

What I have seen some people do is to lightly sand an area of the carbon to see how deep the yellowing is to see if it will come out with a 1000 to 1500 grit sandpaper. However, you would need to be careful to not sand too much because you're removing resin from the carbon fiber. Removing too much resign will weaken the carbon. In addition, I've seen some painters use a UV resistant clear and tint the clear with a black paint to help reduce the transparency of yellowing.

 

[Kamakaz1961]

Unfortunately, you may be SOL! Carbon Fiber is lightweight and stronger than most metals, however, the downside is that IF NOT PAINTED, it will start yellowing and it becomes porous and will "breath" through the resin. Most people familiar with carbon fiber say it is best to paint it as it will assure longevity.

I would assume his carbon fiber hood is at least 2 - 4 yrs old...my guess....and sorry to see that I would not know what to do to help you....