I want to paint my CF hood. Unfortunately there is a VERY small spider crack in the clear coat. One paint shop said the couldn't be painted b/c of this....said the paint would crack in that spot. Any ideas to fix the situation?

 

Is the crack in the clearcoat or the epoxy? I would think if it was just in the clear coat it wouldn't be a problem, just sand it off (which should be done anyway) and respray it with color. If the cracks are in the epoxy and the strength of the CF has been compromised then you would have a problem. I'm not aware of procedures that can be taken to repair CF so if that's the case, sorry can't help ya

 

thanks!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by l8brakr
Is the crack in the clearcoat or the epoxy? I would think if it was just in the clear coat it wouldn't be a problem, just sand it off (which should be done anyway) and respray it with color.

 

I would recomend sanding the spot to remove most of the crack. Speaking from experience of owning a composites shop, sometimes the FRP molds used to make carbon parts can crack, thus causing a crack to appear (but not really a crack) in the parts produced from that mold, so the part is not really cracked just has an indention in the gel coat. In either case I would sand the area around the cracked area, then prime the area. After sanding the primer and preparing the rest of the hood you should not have a problem with the paint life.