fixing CF hoods....

[tunerkid]

can this be fixed? its just cracks in the clear coat, not the actually CF. they arent that bad, but no one wants a hood with cracks in it. can it be fixed? if so, where at? any regular body shop? about how much to fix? thanks guys. here is the best pic i could get, the cracks are right above the vent, kinda hard to see.

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[ArticNemesis]

VIS hood I'm guessing. My OEM one devloped cracks too. Mine looks to be in the gelcoat/clearcoat. Wondering if the heat got to it.

 

[tunerkid]

yea its a VIS invader hood. not mine though, a guy i know is willing to trade me for my OEM red hood and im only going to do it if i can get it fixed. i think the cracks come from both heat and stress... hopefully they can be fixed?

 

[chico904]

Hey bro,just wondering if your friend got that hood from a junkyard??

 

[tunerkid]

no, he got the hood BRAND new, had it for 2 years? and now just wants to go back to stock.

 

[chico904]

Oh just asking, I had that same hood when I totaled my car, and it looked exactly like that afterwards, and seeing you live in PA too, I thought that might of been it. I have heard of people fixing the hood, but it being a couple of hundred dollars to do.

 

[mckooter]

ive got a vis racing evo hood thats got cracks everywhere,

and well to be honest, no realy fixing it, its in the top layer and you cant really rip it off and refill it and have it look even half way decent,

the only real option is what im in the process of doing, take a dremel and sand down the edges of it so that theres a bevel where all the cracks that you can feel are, refill it with a resin, and paint it.

it kinda sucks having a nice cf hood that you gotta pay to have painted after putting in the labor but theres really no other solution

 

[madhatter210]

ive got a vis racing evo hood thats got cracks everywhere,

and well to be honest, no realy fixing it, its in the top layer and you cant really rip it off and refill it and have it look even half way decent,

the only real option is what im in the process of doing, take a dremel and sand down the edges of it so that theres a bevel where all the cracks that you can feel are, refill it with a resin, and paint it.

it kinda sucks having a nice cf hood that you gotta pay to have painted after putting in the labor but theres really no other solution

I just recovered a damaged cf hood with another layer of cf in a different color. It still wieghs less than stock. Just food for thought.

 

[tunerkid]

see i was told you can sand the hood down, like sand off the clear and gelcoat and then re-clear it? i dont know anything about CF though, or if sanding it would ruin the CF, i wish Leo was still an active memeber on here

 

[madhatter210]

You can sand down as much as you need to fix the problem as long as you don't sand "on" or through the cf itself. You may need to build up with clear resin and sand/blend it with the rest if is a deep crack. Then clearcoat and also blend that and your finished. If your just doing spot/crack repair. I wouldn't trash it, if its just those cracks in the pics unless they go right through the cf itself.

 

[mckooter]

well youve got me extremely intrigued, how would you blend it? do you think youd be able to see the blend marks?

thanks for the info, i was getting kinda bummed about my 1 yr old $600 hood thats cracked to crap

 

[Bostedquest]

A much cheaper and easier solution...
those winshield crack kits... the ones that have the stick on thing that you have tp really squeeze the crap in... fill with resin instead. It will force its way to the base and reverse fill the crack.

then you use 800 grit paper and such as if you were doing a regular automotive paint refinish/repair.

 

[madhatter210]

well youve got me extremely intrigued, how would you blend it? do you think youd be able to see the blend marks?

thanks for the info, i was getting kinda bummed about my 1 yr old $600 hood thats cracked to crap

clear resin blends great, just sand it. Depending on how high you leave the filler start with 200 grit and end with 2000. Its very important before you clearcoat to not leave any deep noticable scratchs.

 

[tunerkid]

the CF is not damaged in any way, the cracks are just in the clear coating. about how much would a body shop charge to do it? i dont know if i want to risk doing it myself becaus ei wouldnt want to sand threw the CF or mess the CF up in any way.

 

[madhatter210]

the CF is not damaged in any way, the cracks are just in the clear coating. about how much would a body shop charge to do it? i dont know if i want to risk doing it myself becaus ei wouldnt want to sand threw the CF or mess the CF up in any way.

You can do alot of sanding before you get to the cf, if its your first time don't use a power or air sander. Do it all by hand and you will have alot more control on your work. If its only in the clearcoat, then I wouldn't worry at all about sanding down to far. When the crack is gone your all good. Switch to a 1000 grt and light sand for clearcoat. You want it to be smooth and free of any sanding marks as you will see them after its cleared. If the clearcoat comes out a little rough or doesn't blend good with the rest you will need to wetsand with 2000 grit. A rubbing compund will do alot on getting it perfect. Polish and buff and you will be 100%