Hazy/cloudy in clearcoat?

E

efnfast

New member
I had several of my carbon fiber panels clearcoated. Most came out okay, but one of them has a few hazy/cloudy splotches in it, right in the clear it looks like.



Is haze/cloud in the clearcoat easily removable with some wetsanding or polishing, or does the clear have to be stripped and redone? (bodyshop that was doing it for me went bankrupt, lol, so I have ot bring it to my next shop now.....almost get the feeling the cloudy is as a result of a lack of prep on this panel)



edit: not as bad as the haze/cloud in a clearcoat failure though....almost looks like flour trapped beneath the surface in some places .... plus the clear is only a few weeks old.
 
Poor prep is definitely it, more than likely what happened is that when they sanded they broke through the clear and got into the carbon which can result in the fibers standing up and trapping microscopic air bubbles and particles. Unfortunately carbon fiber is very hard to work with more so if you got cheap stuff as they tend to skimp on the gelcoat which is what provides the beauty. Seeing as you needed it clearcoated means there probably was a problem with the carbon to begin with, quality panels should be ready to go without prep, maybe only a light polishing. I hate to say it but it's part of the hazards you risk when cheaping out. Not all carbon parts are created equal and that also goes with body shops going bankrupt, they probably went bankrupt because they do substandard work. My uncle is more than busy enough even though he charges above average prices but you pay for quality.
 
No, not cheap, paid $4k for my stuff - this shop supposedly does (did) incredibly good work.



The reason I had the panels cleared was



- extra protection

- protect against yellowing

- more shiny shiny



Not because there was any problem with them.



Most of my panels were great, it's just this particular one with cloud/haze in it.
 
It's gonna be tough then because once you get clouding on carbon you can't just repaint it. To reclear you have to remove the existing stuff. Get all the way down to the gelcoat layer without busting through it. Chemical strippers are usually too harsh on the gelcoat and it's pretty tough to hand sand all the clear off evenly. Carbon is a pain to work with. I'd take it back to them and if they can't correct it I'd have them pay for a new hood, there insurance ought to cover it, but if they're going bankrupt more than likely they won't have the proper insurance.
 
Oh well - turns out the pieces were totally messed up - something was trapped between the carbon and clear, and even when we burned right through the clear sanding it still didn't affect the haze. So we chucked the 2 pieces and will redo them. Bummer, but I guess you ere right :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top