rich996sps
New member
Hi all, I have noticed that the carbon fibre on my sps is starting to loose its color and shine, does anyone know of a way to revive it to its original glory? All suggestions appreciated.
Carbon Reviver??
- Thread starter rich996sps
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Gizmo
Forum Geek
you can test on a hidden section with 1200 or ideally 2000 grade wet and dry, make sure its kept wet though and polish carefully, if its just the surface degrading it might come back up. you have to remember cf is just carbon sheet impregnated with clear epoxy there isn't usually a lacquer layer over the top, the shine comes from the epoxy pushed against the mold. if you polish too much off you can start to damage the fibres which might not look too good. the epoxy can turn milky over time, if it has then no amount of polshing wil bring it back 
if you can get any small scratches/surface defects out with wet and dry you could try adding a lacquer to seal it again but it needs doing carefully.
if you can get any small scratches/surface defects out with wet and dry you could try adding a lacquer to seal it again but it needs doing carefully.
Coddy
New member
Not entirely true.
When i ordered all the carbon panels and fuel tank for my 1098, i was given the choice by the Carbon maufacturer of laquored or unlaquored.
I was informed by Bikepaints to buy laquored, even though it was to be painted.
Gizmo
Forum Geek
it actually depends upon what the intended use is and type of manufacture, some companies will use 2 pack lacquer - carbon bicycle frames for example but they get painted as well but in an F1 car it probably isn't lacquered.
If you are going to sand carbon you have to make sure you don't go through the fibres so treat it as if there was no lacquer would be my advice, go slowly, fine grade and with plenty of water, if it takes a while it may be lacquered, even if its not if you prepare it well you could try a lacquer coat. if the epoxy resin that is baked into the CF is the problem no matter how much you dress the surface up you won't be able to get it back as new.
I used the same techniques repairing cf mudguards as you do dinghies and windsurfers, even managed to get a few deeper scratches out by cleaning the scratch, running epoxy in then polishing. Same with cracked guards, you can clean the crack up, remove lose/freyed bits then repair from the rear pushing cf/epoxy into crack then clean the outer surface up , run resin into any dimples and carefully sand.
rich996sps
New member
This all sounds like far too much can go wrong doing this, think I will just live with it and failing that keep my eyes on ebay for ones in better nick, thanks for the comments tho chaps