unknown spots on carbon fiber

[nitsuj]

I've noticed these spots on a carbon fiber hood on one of my cars and cant for the life of me figure out how to get rid of them

I've tried to clay it, use a paint cleaner...everything...thoughts?

also, on another carbon fiber piece, the whole thing went cloudy...except some spots...

I'd love to know what happened to it, or what it is and how to fix it. Both are made by Seibon, so they are higher quality items...thanks in advance for the help!

 

[refreshauto]

looks like the clear that was sprayed over top is starting to fail, at least that's what it looks like in the pictures.

 

[allenk4]

Those are very good pictures

I would email them to the manufacturer and see if they have any input

If you are impatient...you could try to hand polish just those little areas.
Start with a light polish like Meguiar's Ultimate Polish on a low nap microfiber towel

Read Mike Phillips threads on hand polishing before you get started

Good Luck

 

[nitsuj]

Thanks for the help, I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it could have been or why it would still look like that.

It's 2 different pieces, same manufacturer, the top two are a hood, the last one is a trunk lid

The top two pictures look almost like a spot with a blue iridescence around it, you can almost feel them, the last picture it looks like the clear coat has a white haze to it, except in some spots.

I want to say they are about a year and a half old (the CF parts) and spend ~6-8 months a year under a car cover, never parked under any trees.

I'm going to try to give it a polish tonight and in the mean time reach out to the manufacturer.

 

[nitsuj]

well good news, bad news, and bad news.

I polished it with pinnacle paint cleanser, and then applied wolfgang paint sealant 3.0

bad news number 1, were on a few days, no response from manufacturer (either via phone or email)

good news, most of the test spot came off the hood, its not a pencil point size and brownish, if you can see it in the picture:

bad news the trunk still looks like 100% crap.

 

[tenblade2001]

I've noticed these spots on a carbon fiber hood on one of my cars and cant for the life of me figure out how to get rid of them

I've tried to clay it, use a paint cleaner...everything...thoughts?

also, on another carbon fiber piece, the whole thing went cloudy...except some spots...

I'd love to know what happened to it, or what it is and how to fix it. Both are made by Seibon, so they are higher quality items...thanks in advance for the help!

Agree that the clear is failing. I'm not trying to flame ya, but Seibon isn't a quality product (they're a knock-off company). There were a lot of complaints with their products on the s2000 boards when I was active on it. We saw failures like this, and clearcoat discoloring all the time. i'd contact them, but based on my experience they won't do anything. GL.

 

[nitsuj]

Agree that the clear is failing. I'm not trying to flame ya, but Seibon isn't a quality product (they're a knock-off company). There were a lot of complaints with their products on the s2000 boards when I was active on it. We saw failures like this, and clearcoat discoloring all the time. i'd contact them, but based on my experience they won't do anything. GL.

No offense taken at all, I guess it's more the opinion I formed after reading comparisons of their products vs all the 'cheaper' options that were worse day 1, worse fit, etc. It being of higher quality than some of the others is what I guess I perceived. I get the feeling that I likely won't be hearing back from them at all.

I appreciate all the help from everyone...worst case scenario, I'll ride it out and just have it painted the same color as the car if it gets much worse. The car is a subaru sti, has a front mount intercooler instead of the top mount, so there was no more use for the hood scoop, and the shopping cart handle had to go, the trunk was somewhere around a 40-50lb weight savings (since no wing and it's much lighter to begin with) and the only other option for a plain hood was the RS hood which is steel not aluminum so the cf is about 30lbs lighter, weight and not looking 'ricey' is really the only drive to have what I bought.

 

[tenblade2001]

No offense taken at all, I guess it's more the opinion I formed after reading comparisons of their products vs all the 'cheaper' options that were worse day 1, worse fit, etc. It being of higher quality than some of the others is what I guess I perceived. I get the feeling that I likely won't be hearing back from them at all.

I appreciate all the help from everyone...worst case scenario, I'll ride it out and just have it painted the same color as the car if it gets much worse. The car is a subaru sti, has a front mount intercooler instead of the top mount, so there was no more use for the hood scoop, and the shopping cart handle had to go, the trunk was somewhere around a 40-50lb weight savings (since no wing and it's much lighter to begin with) and the only other option for a plain hood was the RS hood which is steel not aluminum so the cf is about 30lbs lighter, weight and not looking 'ricey' is really the only drive to have what I bought.

They're a very solid and you will be happy if you take it for what it is. As far as knock offs go, they are one of the better ones. Let's me honest, there's no reason to pay 6x more just b/c its JDM. You can get it re-coated or painted. I had a knock off J's hood, that I painted. IMO, that's the way to go. GL.