any proven ways to get a sheen back to carbon thats 30 years old? the laquer is fine but im suspecting that absent getting it professionally cleaned and re-lacquered, not much more can be done other than a general clean with some degreaser and all purpose cleaner what about a layer of fk1000p to finish it off
Hi there, in a previous life I owned a classic restoration company and we did a lot of work with old carbon fiber panels, the trouble is the gel coat degrades and due to the porous nature of the material the surface becomes like a sponge. it can be flatted and re-laquered but it takes several coats and re flatting between even with high build twin pack paints on the worst pieces, not helped by bikers using silicone based polishes that soak in to the porous surface over time and produce fish eyes in the finish even after serious use of solvents to "cleanse" them! It is a tricky job but can be done to even the most degraded surface if the part is worth saving, we also used to add plasticiser to the laquer to make it more flexible and less prone to cracking, about 10-15% if memory serves! I haven't tried any of the ceramic type coatings as they didn't exist back then but if you try it and it doesnt work your painter will hate you for applying it as they would be a pain to remove! Hope this helps
I've done a bit of carbon repair, restoration, skinning and re-clearing. if it wasn't clear coated from the factory then it will be susceptible to UV damage as the resin generally isn't UV resistant like automotive clear coats, you can try machine polishing it with a heavy cutting compound on a DA or rotary, failing that a flat back and couple of coats of 2K HS clear should revive it. worst case scenario is it will need 'skinning' with a single layer of cloth laminated on top of the original moulding and re-cleared, this is doable yourself if youre handy if not a guy called ABcarbon (find him on insta) is amazing at it. Here's some pics of bits I've done, a few bits off a mates Mille that were cracked, flat and full, and a few bits off my 1098 View attachment IMG_20210828_143501_437.jpg
It’s actually not that difficult to restore in a body shop that knows what they’re doing mate. my pal runs a shop that did the carbon splitter on my Aston as it was chipped from stones. As good as new. Didn’t cost me much either. Although mates rate etc
Ok so heres what i have. I also have a 6 inch dual action with various pads and compounds. Shall i degrease and clean then have a couple of passes with the DA? If the DA works well enough i can get a 3 inch DA like vetool to access smaller pieces
I would That's where I'd start if it were mine, get them clean then hit them with some heavy cut compound to start with
You work in composites don't you? (I'm sure I've seen something to that effect in previous posts..) , do you disagree with using cutting compound and polishes to revive flat/dull resin/clear coat ?
well i completed step 1 today cant say im holding out much hope but will have a play with the DA next weekend and report back
I’ve repacked my cans twice now as once the wadding starts to disintegrate the heat gets to the carbon and it goes brown. Having stripped the metalwork away I wet and dried it with nothing finer than 600 grade and then two or three coats of petrol resistant lacquer. No flatting off between coats and, for cans, it was acceptable. Obviously if you are looking at bodywork you need to go the extra mile. Hopefully this will be the last time I need to do them because this time I have encased the central perforated tube that is wrapped in a fine stainless steel mesh in a 60mm stainless steel tube that is sealed against the end caps of the cans. So the exhaust gasses cannot now reach the wadding which is now purely thermal insulation having nothing to do with sound attenuation. The exhaust note has changed a little
Have you asked a few local car spray shops for quotes to do this for you? I did and found -perhaps luckily- that it wasn't expensive and the results were & still are fantastic.
ok so im gonna stick with it. ill get the vertool 3" DA polisher and get to work. i dont want a concours finish given that the rest of the bike will not be restored heavily just autosol on the zorst metalwork on a microfibre. i was thinking of 0000 grade wire wool - too abrasive?
there is pitting on the surface which now has cutting compound lodged in it. compressed air or pressure wash to remove?
Try a squirt of brake cleaner. As for the metalwork on the exhaust it will be stainless steel so you need to be pretty robust with it.
My compressor developed cracks in the pressure vessel so I repurposed the 2hp electric motor to a polishing machine. A bit heath robinson looking thing but it’s a real beast. I original purchased a kit to fit on my bench grinder with 6” wheels but found it absolutely gutless. With this one I can easily run 8” wheels. This is what the pipes looked like before I started.
