Carbon Fiber Hood Restoration

[racersky]

I picked up a carbon fiber hood about a couple months back. The hood at the time of pickup from the original owner was in bad shape as he didn't take care of it at all. There were signs of oxidations, hood latch failure which cause the two end tips to break off and so forth. I didn't really care much of the condition of the hood because I just need it for one main purpose which is functionality. Worst case scenario I would just have the hood painted and still have a functional vented hood.

From the pics he sent me the hood looks awful....I was told the hood was taken to a detail shop for high speed buffering but nothing worked at all. He thinks that the milky areas (oxidation) is beneath the resin which is why he sold it for me at a price I could not refuse lol. Anyways onto the pics lol

So after driving close to 16 hours roundtrip this is what the hood looks like:

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9525.jpg

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9524.jpg

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9520.jpg

As you can see it's pretty oxidized o_O.....So now onto a test spot to see if I can repair the finish to any extent.

Here's me going at it at the test spot lol

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9543.jpg

Before Area:
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9520.jpg

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9525.jpg

After Area:
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9536.jpg

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9534.jpg

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9535.jpg

Here's a better 50/50 shot with the tape removed:
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9540.jpg

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9538.jpg

Here's pics of one side of the hood almost completed:

Before:
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9544.jpg

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9545.jpg

After:
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9546.jpg

After completing the one side I moved onto the right side of the hood. Apparently what I used on the other side did not go very well on the non completed side. I decided to step up a bit and get down and dirty with wet sanding using 1500 grit sand paper.

Sanded Area with 1500 grit:
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9575.jpg

Hit the area up with Menzerna Power Gloss
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9579.jpg

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG_9580.jpg

Haha.....finally both sides are finished and I topped it off with Natty Red Paste wax:

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc15/mfninja/detail/IMG00124.jpg

Hope you enjoyed my slight carbon fiber hood restoration as much as I did. It was so rewarding after putting in a couple of hours and then seeing the final result :)

[Atomsk]

congrats on the shiny new looking hood. and great write up btw. i hope i can find a deal like this .

[racersky]

congrats on the shiny new looking hood. and great write up btw. i hope i can find a deal like this .

Thanks I think I'm gonna start doing more Detailing write-up....Not getting a lot of hours at work so I'm gonna keep myself occupied with stuff at home lol

[MeatRocket]

nice my kaminari hood is has some small spots like that. what kind of buffing pad did you use? and what kind of compound?

[racersky]

got any pics of what it looks like?



Sent from my T-Mobile G1 using Tapatalk

[MoxBox]

I'm gonna do this - my carbon fiber hood looks almost just as bad. Thanks for the awesome write up.

[racersky]

I'm gonna do this - my carbon fiber hood looks almost just as bad. Thanks for the awesome write up.

Lemme know if you need any info.....i'm more than happy to contribute to the community.

[TheFOSS]

WOW.. what a sweet deal.. Can you add what compound and pads you used for the restoration?

Looks amazing!@

[MeatRocket]

got any pics of what it looks like?



Sent from my T-Mobile G1 using Tapatalk



ill try and take some pics tonight.

[racersky]

WOW.. what a sweet deal.. Can you add what compound and pads you used for the restoration?

Looks amazing!@

Dewalt 849 <<<< Lethal weapon I chose lol
Meguiar's Solo Backing plate
Meguiar's 205
Meguiar's 105
^^^^^Didn't like the results using these so I moved on to my stash
Menzerna Power Gloss
Menzerna 203
Menzerna 85rd

Pads i chose was the meguiar's
PFW (Purple Foam Wool Pad)
Polishing Pad Yellow
Black Pad No cut for finishing it down

Anything else lemme know :mrb:

[lildomicolo]

Wow, It's amazing how good that hood came out. Im very surprised. Now i'm gonna look for cheap hoods! I could use a carbon hood to match my hatch!

[XBCHCK]

looks good, cleaned up nicely!

[racersky]

looks good, cleaned up nicely!

Thanks a bunch. I have a friend who needs his done the same as mine and I hope to give him the same results I came to.

[06tcdude]

nice job on the clean up.

nice hood, i have the same one, and your CF has somewhat yellowed as mine.

[racersky]

nice job on the clean up.

nice hood, i have the same one, and your CF has somewhat yellowed as mine.

Thanks....I just recently got my hood cleared for free and I find the yellowness has gone away. You can slightly see it but definitely a huge improvement. Before my hood was cleared everyone kept thinking my hood was carbon kevlar lol

[20evlvntc09]

congrats on the deal with the hood. looks great.