Cloudy Carbon Fibre
Discussion
Has anyone had any issues with cloudy carbon fibre and/or apparent discolouration on bonnet louvers or lower front spoiler on a V12V? It appears to be a breakdown of the original lacquer/water ingress, perhaps caused by heat (louvres) or faulty application at the factory (spoiler). Many thanks.
Guycord said:
Perfectly cloudy and silver lined.....
Get them painted and not only is the problem solved, looks better as well.
I agree that's an option, but it's a carbon black model and I prefer to see the carbon and the fibre......painting over the problem appears to defeat the object!Get them painted and not only is the problem solved, looks better as well.
cayman-black said:
No dont do it! Paint them that is.Think they can be repolished some one on the Ferrari Site had all of the carbon repolished on his Scuderia, looked like new.
100% Agreed! In fact, I used (very gently) a French version of T-Cut on the louvres and this got rid of the cloudiness and shined them up quite nicely, but I am not convinced it will last once they've had a good baking again from the engine. I also read elsewhere that, evidently, the CF in the engine bays of certain Ferraris suffer from the cloudiness syndrome - also due to the heat. Seems that the lacquers being used don't like the heat in the kitchen...sounds like a warranty claim to me....drmw said:
drjonV12V said:
Originally registered in Oct 2010. 3K miles, otherwise immaculate condition.
Then without doubt, take it back & get it fixed under warranty. Even AM can't wriggle out of that one (much as they would/will try)Take it back and get to to replace the clouded parts.
whoami said:
drmw said:
drjonV12V said:
Originally registered in Oct 2010. 3K miles, otherwise immaculate condition.
Then without doubt, take it back & get it fixed under warranty. Even AM can't wriggle out of that one (much as they would/will try)Take it back and get to to replace the clouded parts.
CF is well known for this problem...ask Porsche GT owners about this issue. For the Corvette ZR1, a special hyper expensive clearcoat was developed to prevent clouding of the CF. IIRC, the coating is around $2K per gallon or something ridiculous like that, but it does appear to prevent clouding.
DB9VolanteDriver said:
CF is well known for this problem...ask Porsche GT owners about this issue. For the Corvette ZR1, a special hyper expensive clearcoat was developed to prevent clouding of the CF. IIRC, the coating is around $2K per gallon or something ridiculous like that, but it does appear to prevent clouding.
Thanks for the info; at that price, I would expect the stuff to keep the UK sunny and warm for the whole of June and July. Little Donkey said:
I like the painted bonnet vents on the lighter colour cars, but no darker, definitely keep the carbon look. Especially on a carbon black car.
Will definitely keep the CF. Based on helpful tips here and reading around, my conclusion is that the clouding is caused by one or more of the following, lack of UV protection in the final lacquer, breakdown of the lacquer (poor lacquer and/or poor application), interaction between glue (epoxy?) used for the underlying CF laminate and the lacquer - all of the aforementioned are catalysed by the heat venting through the louvres. Since I was able to bring back the finish to almost perfect with a light use of a T-Cut type product, I speculate that my problem is confined to the lacquer and that the laminate is OK. I am going to use this product ( http://www.kleers.com/product.php?xProd=10&xSe... to provide UV protection. In the meantime, I am talking to AM since, aside from the clouding, one of the louvres has small pitting as well - not a good enough quality at these prices, so will press for warranty action. Will be an interesting discussion.Cover it with Aston *before* you apply any products.
Issues can happen with CF if the wrong cleaning materials are used. And you don't want to give an excuse for them not to cover you under warranty (I wonder what this would be covered under
). It sounds like poor manufacture, but you don't want to be giving wiggle room.
Issues can happen with CF if the wrong cleaning materials are used. And you don't want to give an excuse for them not to cover you under warranty (I wonder what this would be covered under
). It sounds like poor manufacture, but you don't want to be giving wiggle room.Murph7355 said:
Cover it with Aston *before* you apply any products.
Issues can happen with CF if the wrong cleaning materials are used. And you don't want to give an excuse for them not to cover you under warranty (I wonder what this would be covered under). It sounds like poor manufacture, but you don't want to be giving wiggle room.
You are quite right but of course my instinct was to try and 'clean' the problem...I fully expect AM to wriggle hard as these components are expensive but the manual does not specify any special cleaning for the CF elements. I would expect AM to offer to re-lacquer as a first step and will be very disappointed if they simply stonewall and blame it all on user error. As far as the warranty, I would argue that it is covered under the provisions related to "defects in material and workmanship".Issues can happen with CF if the wrong cleaning materials are used. And you don't want to give an excuse for them not to cover you under warranty (I wonder what this would be covered under
). It sounds like poor manufacture, but you don't want to be giving wiggle room.Jockman said:
Didn't realise CF could do this so thanks for the heads up for future reference.
Your car is within the original warranty period which should save you a great deal of negotiating.
Good luck
Your car is within the original warranty period which should save you a great deal of negotiating.
Good luck
I'm guessing it's a similar cause & effect to the "white worm" under the lacquer on alloy wheels
No sign of any issues on my CF parts after 11k miles in 18 months
Jockman said:
Didn't realise CF could do this so thanks for the heads up for future reference.
Your car is within the original warranty period which should save you a great deal of negotiating.
Good luck
Many thanks, I hope you're right about the negotiating part...will provide an update in due course. Your car is within the original warranty period which should save you a great deal of negotiating.
Good luck
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