CF hood got keyed! help!!!

[PH3NIX]

Im rather sad to report that I came out from work one day to find that my car had been keyed from bumper to bumper. now the paint is costly but my insurance should handle the vandalism to the stock parts. my questions to you all would be, Can a carbon fiber hood be "fixed"? the scratches in the hood are many in number but nothing actually reaches the cloth, its all in the clear coat. Is this fixable and how? i dont think just a wax and buff job is gonna do the trick but im also trying to avoid buying a new vis hood because it got scratched. thoughts? if it cant be simply filled in and re clear coated i was thinking of just painting the hood but that hurts to see the CF center piece painted silver......


PH3NIX

[jin602_05]

i think it be cheaper to buy a new hood... Fixing a CF is going to be expensive and wont look the same any more. but that just my opinion.

[xCraZyEddiEx]

i would wetsand the hood, buy some automotive clear, apply, and wet sand it till it is smooth. expresspaint.com sells a good one.

[CELICA581]

the good thung on the hood is that its all clearcoat so you do have a chance saving it by wetsanding and buffing it prob wont need a reclear unless they're very deep

[PH3NIX]

Thats the method the body shop was talking about and the scratches arnt very deep but my car was kept in pristine condition so the scratches are a eye sore. id rather not pay another 700$ for a hood if it can be "fixed" for a couple hundred. on the bright side, my whole car is gettign a fresh new coat! (yeah that bitch went to town on my car, every panel scratched from bumper to bumper even my roof/sunroof)

[TRDoug]

Insurance should cover it. All it needs is a sand and re-clear. It would be cheaper and faster on labor if the shop just does the whole thing in one step. it would take more time and effort to mask off the hood. Most shops will just do it and lump the cost in with everything else.

[Mister Celery]

post pictures

if the scratches are on the clear coat your fine

if it touched the resin/weave your screwed. just paint the carbon fiber hood

[PH3NIX]

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac153/ph3nix_13/IMG_0003.jpg

that's only the hood scoop and altho they look like u can almost just use your nail and scratch them away or buff them out, they are kinda deep. Not touching the CF tho. all in the clear coat. while thats only a small section it covers about 70% of the rest of my hood in similar scratches. (bear in mind that this was taken on a sunny day with a camera phone)

[hhappymonkey2]

ya that doesnt look to bad. Just get out a bucket of water and some 400 grit sandpaper and a block and smooth em out. You should be fine. If you decide to do the clearing yourself go to an actual automotive paint store and buy a true can a clear, dont buy the wallmart crap. (30-40$) What you do is wet sand the whole hood taking out the scratches as you go. Be more conservative than aggressive with your sanding. You need to do the whole hood or else the clear wont stick. That is why you use 400 grit sandpaper. If you go to 600 and up there wont be enough for it to grab onto and any grittier the sanding lines will show. It is easy to tell when you have the whole hood ready because it will be foggy. Then once this is complete clean the hood really well first and let it dry. Then take your clear and start on one area and spray it. It will instantly look new again. Ideally you want your coats to look smooth and glassy when you lay it down. If if looks grainy, you dont have enough, if it starts to run you have to much. If you gets runs dont worry, just sand them down and polish when thee clear is dry.

This also works when you carbon starts to get that snowflake look in the clear.
It is really easy to do this process and you will spend 30-50 as opposed to 200-400 with a body shop. Should take about 1-2 hours total. If you need any painting help feel free to hit me up.

[PH3NIX]

glad to hear it. if thats the case i guess now is the time to add the hood pins? if the whole thing if gonna get sanded and re cleared/glossed. am i correct with this train of thought?

[Aznboi812]

resand and reclear, u can still save it. for hood pins, make sure you get it done at a right shop, drilling c/f isn't exactly easy since ppl who dun know how to drill into c/f can crack it. oh and tell ur insurance that u got a c/f hood and put that on ur insurance so if any happens to ur hood, they can replace or fix it.

[PH3NIX]

ok im starting to get frustrated now. I cant seem to find anyone in MD close to PG county that has any exp with cutting C/F. any recommendations for you locals?

[Mister Celery]

as everyone else said

600-1000 sand grit + polish + shoot a clear coat (get the highest uv reflecting one so your carbon fiber hood doesn't fade over time)

Your not "cutting" carbon fiber your drilling into the carbon fiber

use a UNI BIT do not use a regular drill bit

and even out the sides

tip: measure twice drill once

its not hard just be careful