Need a little info here. My cousin has a carbon fiber SS hood for his car and wants to paint all of it but the scoop. While I don't see any difference in prepping his hood and an aftermarket fiberglass piece someone else has convinced him that it can not be painted. If it is it will look like ****.

I haven't worked with one yet at the shop but looking at his it appears that it has some sort of clear coat on it. It may not be a true clear coat but it is definatley some form of clear sealer. The only way I can figure that it won't look right is if you were to cut throught the coating and not seal it back up but rather just paint over it, allowing the texture of the material to show through.

Am I just making this to easy or should the same steps be followed for painting CF that you would for fiberglass?

 

It should be basically the same steps. The coating on top of the carbon fiber right now is just resin. It provides some sort of support and protection to the raw carbon fiber but it will begin to fade in the sun and discolor if it is left alone. Just have them prep as if it were fiberglass. Then they would have to clear over the paint and the scoop to give the carbon fiber some protection.

 

Thank you, I never realised it was resin. Knowing that can help me answer his questions.

 

Carbon fiber resin is usually rougher than a fiberglass gel-coat. It takes more filling and sanding to get it smooth. As long as they use a high build filling primer, it should cut down on some of the work.

 

All I can tell you is this... Before you do anything,have them bake the hood first, and then test fit it.

That way you can solve fitment issues and and warping issues before it's been painted. It's Carbon Fiber, and usually those have small dips in them. Like the other guys said use a high build primer... sand it, and do a dark fluff coat over it, and sand it to catch the high and low spots.