thefatalepic

My hood looks like a pale scratchy ugly sad sad piece of ****. And I have cracks all around the hood pins and a crack right in the center near the opening (there's a opening vent thing but it's facing the windshield so it looks like it's not helping air flow much, maybe).

Is it worth it to try and sand it down, rattle can the SOB (I learned "rattle can" from mr22508) and do what remmick69 did to bring it to a beautiful, beautiful glossy shine? Will my hood just keep cracking? (how fast? or anyway to stop the cracking?) I mean, I know it'll look way better but I don't know how fast the cracks spread and what not.

(Don't know much about CF and bought my car for cheap in this condition)

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

As I tell everyone, it's hard to tell you what you should do without seeing the extent of the damage

Snap a couple pictures, and we'll let you know if it's too damaged to repair

thefatalepic

Will do! I should have done that before posting now that I think about it.

7genmarathon

iTrader: (1)

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

If it ain't rusting don't worry about it.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

don't think a CF (carbon Fiber) hood will ever rust
Sorry, could not let it pass
one lifts the ball, someone needs to whack it (voleyball rules)

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

Is it just me? or....
Nevermind >.<

thefatalepic

Too late. It's been sig'd!

thefatalepic

After I took these, well it sort of just convinced me that I need a new hood...

thefatalepic

I know the cracks around the hood pins were always there.. the other cracks surprised me.. they might have been there but got bigger.. I'm not sure. I wouldn't rule out it cracking when other people were opening and closing my hood. (I had a friend try to open it not understanding what hood pins were. I could have sworn I saw him try to unlatch and pull the hood up before I went over and unlatched the hood pins).

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

Yeah......those cracks look pretty deep, i'm guessing if you were to refinish it, you'd have to completely sand off almost all the clear, then reclearing it

I would not really advise you do this yourself, because you run the risk of sanding into the carbon fiber itself

thefatalepic

:'( ... sounds like I need to drop $500 - $600 on another CF hood :'(

Would waxing do anything for it? (I don't mean for fixing the cracks but just for making it look a little nicer)

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

You could prolly make it shine again by wetsanding the whole thing with like 1500 grit, and then buff with some polishing compound

If it still shows scratches from sanding, try something a little more aggressive like rubbing compound.

After it's all polished up, then waxing will prolly bring out the shine

You'd still have the cracks, but prolly less noticeable when it's all shiny and not oxidized

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Fix up your clearcoat this time and when it fades again either get it professionally finished or get a new hood Thats what I'd do anyway.

qijian

iTrader: (6)

damn that's in horrible condition...and i thought mine was bad. I guess you can try and buy some inexpensive products like rubbing compound and try to do what you can with it. I bought a bottle and rubbed it on and the clear coat looked a lot better. But if i ran it over with a wet towel...hazing starts coming back. I would just say get it professionally done when it gets to that condition. Cost you maybe $100 bucks or so. Where in LA u from?

thefatalepic

Thanks Kennykid2002 and tbohar, I'll see if I can get all that stuff to sand it down, maybe spray some laquer, sand it again, and use some rubbing compound or whatever. How fragile are these things, really? I'll admit I'm worried about cracking it more myself when I try and do all that.

qijian, I'm in East LA, well borderline Montebello East LA.

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

only the clear coat cracks, carbon fiber is some tough **** lol

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Like Kenny said though the problem is once the clear coat is cracked it has to be removed entirely to make the cracks go away.

thefatalepic

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh I didn't know that. Lol.

Well.. what if I use one of those sanding machine things or that thing that has a circle at the end and spins (I know, I'm bad) - and sand it all the way down to the carbon fiber. Then get like a few cans of spray on lacquer? (I'm 80% joking 20% really wondering if that'd work)

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

bwaaahahahaaaha! did not think of it in that ways!

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

That is the last thing you want to do

Machine sanding is very dangerous if you're not a professional, as you will almost 100% sand into the carbon fiber, and that's the last thing you want to do.

thefatalepic

Alright I'll steer clear of that... I'm clearly not a professional as I am going to ask: Is wet sanding just sanding it down with sand paper that's wet?

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

Pretty much

Make sure you get automotive grade 3M sandpaper, prolly from O'Reily (or if it's still called Kragens down there)
Or pep boys/autozone

Two ways, either sand with a spray bottle to keep it constantly moist, or sand with the sand paper wrapped in a sponge
I suggest getting a sanding block, and a spray bottle....but either way, your arm is going to fall off before you get any progress

Here's what maybe 2 hours of wetsanding does
It looks better, but it's barely finished, I gave up after that and sold it
+ the smell of the clear coming of is horrendous, I suggest getting one of those disposable masks


Btw, I suggest getting the material in this pic, rubbing compound, 1000grit, 1500 grit, and 2000 grit
for best results, along with the other stuff i mentioned

thefatalepic

Can I do all this with the hood attached to my car?

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

If you dont mind being hunchback later in life, or the clear stains dripping all over your car, then yes

I find it easier off the car, on the ground with towels, that way I can put my back into it
Don't be scared to break it, if you have a real CF hood, you should be able to jump on it with no problems

I've seen people take sledge hammers to VIS CF hoods without it breaking

thefatalepic

Your worrying me with the amount of time. I get home at 8 and need to be asleep by 12-1AM so I can get up for work in the morning Lol...

I'm off Sunday but I usually need to take care of something on my one day off... I guess I'll have to pick a Sunday out of the month and spend all day sanding and spraying. The only thing is I won't have a hood for Monday unless I put it back on and Monday night sand it and apply the rubbing compound...

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

In that case, I would prolly sand for an hour each day for a week, while its on the car
Prolly like 2 days of 1000 grit, a day of 1500, and a day of 2000, then on the sunday just go to town with rubbing compound/polishing compound
Then wax it

thefatalepic

You are a clever chap.

I might be able to get a couple of people to help me out.. so maybe with the three of us sanding we can get it done on a Sunday - the sanding at least, then I can do the spraying the following Sunday maybe..

If not I'll do what you said - an hour a day - doesn't sound so bad when you break it down..

Regarding the clear stains dripping - it wouldn't be too bad my car is badly in need of a paint job anyway. If there is can't I just wax it away or something - or spray some more clear coat on my front end lol..

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

Non!!!