DIY:Fix fading Carbon fiber hoods without re-clearcoating

[sadc]

This was done on 1997 mitsubishi eclipse GSX. So I got this Carbon fiber hood. And it was already messed up. So I decided to fix it up a little. In the first pic you can see most of the clear coat coming off. On the sides and edges. Heres what you need

1.Meguiars plastx-You can get this at walmart or even oriley auto parts. Goes for like 6-9 bucks a bottle.
2.1000grit sanding paper(you can also get 1200-2000 if it isn't that bad. Or if you wanna work it down slowly)
3. Bucket of water
4. Two fiber Cloths
5. Last but not least, some arm muscles.

Here's what my hood looked like when I first started


You can see fading everywhere. Lucky me, most of it was already gone before I started :) Thank you hawaii sun!

So make sure when you wet-sand, you want to leave your sand paper in your bucket of water for awhile. Maybe like a minute or two. After that, have a go at it. Make sure you sand down any extra clear coat. When your sanding, if you have a flat surface. Its ok to use a sanding block, but if you have curves, like my hood. You want to use the palm of your hand. Half way through now on my hood


You can keep changing your wet-sand paper. But you dont have to if you dont want to , but i'd recommend it, so it'll be easier for you to take off the clear.

After that you can lay your plastx

Heres half of my hood

And heres the rest



Of course it would be better to have one cloth for applying the plastx, and the other for taking it off. You can apply more then one coat. But wait 10-15 minutes before applying. Also make sure you do this work under the shade. Or some where cool. Its just like your applying wax to your car. You don't ever do it in the hot blazing sun :)

Thanks and have a good day. Just let me know if you have any questions.


Also, if you do this tutorial, and later on you want to clear coat your hood. All you have to do it wash the hood, scuff the hood with 1200wetsand paper. Or just use a scuff pad and some application and clear :) or you can have a shop to do it.




P.S. This is not a permanent clear resolution. Its a temp fix which will last of a couple of weeks. After that you have to re-apply, and so on and so fourth.