MX-3.com

Mooneggs wrote:Basically I took it to a professional detailer yesterday and he said that he could not even fix it and that it would need to be recleared (he is very reputable in Memphis). He recommended someone who could do it so I drove over there and talked to him. This other guy was worried that it was beyond repair!

Perhaps it is a little bold of me to say so, but if the clear coat made the haze go away, then it's asurface defect and could be buffed out. But, I'm not there to spend my own efforts and frustrations on it, so it's easy for me to say it since I can't be there to prove it. True?

I am thinking I can just go buy some more rattle cans and just spray it myself... any suggestions? I will probably wetsand the whole hood with 2000 grit just to scuff it up a little... but should I do anything else??

Anyway, re-clear-coating it is a good idea too. One thing you must do if your hood is on the car when you do it is to mask off the whole car. You can do it cheaply and easily with a comple of indoor-painting plastic drop cloths for the majority of the car. Make sure you use easy release tape. You might be surprized how long (time) and how far (distance) clear coat can drift before drying. However, rattle can is not as dift intensive as is compressed air. But, be warned if you find clear coat on your tools or weightlifting bench in your garage if that is where you paint it. Heck. Make your wifey happy by cleaning out the garage the same day you apint the car. No -- bad idea -- better celan out the garage the weekend before.

What I would do to "scuff and squirt": Wash first, rinse well. Slowly examine the whole hood for chips, fill these with non-sprayed clear coat; allow to dry. Remove the windshield wipers, the hood locks or pins. put tape on near by surfaces (such as fender) to protect from sanding. Use foam between your fingers and the paper; and have your fingers at an angle (like 45 degrees) to the travel motion of your hand. As much as possible, move your hand in just 2 directions, straight forward and straight back (no side to side or arcs). Begin I'd use 1000 grit. Wetsand - fill a gallon clean milk container, poke some holes, refill as needed. Blow off the dust (do not use an air compressor - it can carry oil in the air). Re-examine the chips to make sure they are filled, if not refill, redry and resand. Once all chips are filled, and the whole hood sanded, remove the first masking tape. Dry well. Re-examine to double check. The tape up for painting. Tape all areas you don't want overspray, but leave a gap around the edge so the spray can wrap the edges a bit.

If you haven't done much spray painting before, I would suggest that you might want to do a test squirt by wrapping the hood in plastic, then spray the plastic with primer and the paint of clear coat that will be your finished product. Try different speeds and thicknesses. You motion should be smooth, overlap the ends of where you want to paint. Do not change direction while the can is spraying the destined surface; it's okay to change direction over paper or masking. Keep the nozzle the same distance from the surface so the spray pattern will be even. When doing a mock-up create some runs so you know what not to do. Let it dry before removing the mock up. Now you are ready to squirt.

Follow the directions on the can. It will tell you if light coats are better than heavy coats. Again, temperature and humidity is important, don't do it when it is too hot. It really is better to have many coats than one too think. Also consider putting on extra coats so you can "color sand" after the top coat is cured. Color sanding is when you lightly wet sand with finer and finer grit sand paper (1200, 1500, 2000) and then buff, in order to make the surface completely smooth. This would be the ciing on the cake, and if done right will yeild a mirror like reflection, not the patterened reflection that most CF has.

Good luck. Post some pics.

Eric

I wouldn't suggest painting in attached car garage, you got Isocyonates that kill humans/pets. rent someone's shop, etc.

mitmaks wrote:I wouldn't suggest painting in attached car garage, you got Isocyonates that kill humans/pets. rent someone's shop, etc.

What are Isocyonates??? Are they only found in Clearcoat paints? I would probably clear my hood in my friends garage... it's detached from his house but does something linger when you clear?

its airborne, its in most paints that are used nowadays. Wear respirator. Your head will hurt pretty bad if you don't, in worse cases people died from poisoning. I would get someone to shoot it for you, not worth it doing yourself as you'll probably mess it up. You won't be able to spray can it, it's pretty large panel, by the time you overlap it you'll see it "tiger stripe" all over. With hvlp gun you'll be able to lay it out very nicely and smooth, you'll barely will have to buff it if any at all.

oh ok that's what I was thinking... I just never knew what it was called. Yeah I'm pretty sure I'm going to screw it up if I try and do it myself... *sigh*

Once I get my CF gs spoiler and other CF parts next week I'm going to have to do something! I guess I'll just shell out the $150 and have it done right

oops did I say CF spoiler... that was supposed to be a surprise

I would like to thank everyone that was involved in helping out with this issue. I have decided to pay the $150 and have it done right. With all the other CF parts I have on my car, I might as well have the biggest one look just as good! And I agree with mitmaks that it would look like crap if I did it myself and I would have tiger stripes! I don't want an animal print on my hood LOL

I have learned a lot from this thread and I intend to continue to learn by watching when I pay to have my hood done (I am going to see if I can help prep it or whatever needs to be done so I can learn). Once the hood is done and my other CF parts are installed I will finally have enough confidence in the car to take some good pics!

thanks to everyone - your input has been greatly appreciated!!!!!

How did that carbon fiber hood turn out? Did you take any before and after pics? I want to write an article about how to fix your carbon fiber hood but I don't have any good before and after pics. If you don't mind please send me a link to the pics if you have them. Thanks, hope that restored the old carbon fiber hood to it's former shine.

well I made the decision to not do it myself and I lined up an appt. to get it done but it never happened... can't remember if I ran out of money or if they guy backed out on it...

What I did do last year was get a set of CF mirrors sanded and recleared and it solved the problem completely... no pics though.

I have been fooling with CF body parts for a while and I have never been able to get a hood back to CF shine once it turns faded white. I will further rant that VIS makes the worst most garbage CF parts ever. I did a 300zx in CF pieces, even a prototype front nose for 300zx and 550 for Techno-r hood ..was covered and it still faded in a lil over 2 years and they said I should have had it re-cleared when purchased. I cussed him up one side and down the other, for 550 it should come sealed. Funny part is I bought a no-name CF hood for mx-3 and it has been sitting since 06 and still has it's glossy shine ( minus mildew from not being washed)
So don't trust brand names-they mean nothing!

I don't know if this would work with carbon fiber, but when I painted my car I didn't sand deep enough so when I went to wax it the wax got stuck in the paint (I need to sand it out and redo it but I'm lazy) it has the same problem as the carbon fiber where it looks great wet, but terrible dry, so I bought that touchless tire cleaner and it makes it go away, I just have to continually apply it.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... 50&bih=631" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

not the brand I use but the same product

Boy from 2007 to 2010. One more mute comment if I may. Trying to spray a large area like a hood with a spray bomb isn't for the faint of heart. The product usually starts to set up to soon and you end up with over lap lines that would definitely have to be sanded out. HVLP spray guns are sold pretty cheap these days and would be a better way to go. Isocynates, the hardener in automotive paints, are know carcinogens and are readily absorbed through the skin and eyes as well so use Tyvek coveralls, a full face mask if possible and never use this type of paint in your attached garage.