carbon nose cone , wings
Discussion
It depends on the quality of carbon, and Caterham has been variable over the years, but it is not uncommon for it go milky in appearance due to UV damage, or spotty due to water damage. It needs regular care from new to keep it looking good. Stripping it back and lacquering is possible, but the result are not guaranteed.
It would take serious care to wet sand the lacquer down to the carbon but you could then apply another resin layer to the carbon using something like Easycomposites XCR that's a lot more resistant to UV damage than cheaper resins. Not cheap though as it's twice the price of other resins.
You might get away with sanding the top layer and then just polishing it up to save you the expense but it's probably a lot of work.
I can see why the previous owner painted it!
Link to the resin
http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/#!/resin-gel-silic...
You might get away with sanding the top layer and then just polishing it up to save you the expense but it's probably a lot of work.
I can see why the previous owner painted it!
Link to the resin
http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/#!/resin-gel-silic...
It is possible to get milky carbon back to black and shiny with a bit of elbow grease and GT85 (or WD40) for most wings. The white marks are deposits left on the surface as the water evaporates. Working at these with a damp chamois will get the worst off. Some will be 'inside' the carbon though - if you look closely you will see that the surface of the carbon has small holes in it as the weave nears the surface. Try soaking them in GT85 overnight. Spray it on and work into the surface, making sure you don't overspray the disks! The next day they should be a lot better, but you may need to repeat a few times. After that, a regular spray and wipe down keeps them looking good.
As you are basically replacing water deposits with oils, others have reported good results with peanut butter or furniture beeswax.
There do seem to be some carbons where this doesn't work though. These look different as the covering resin is a lot thicker and the weave doesn't come to the surface. The issue here is that the resin is breaking down in UV light, which is harder to repair (hence the rub down and relaquer).
My wings and one indicator pod respond well to GT85. One indicator pod has gone milky in the resin. All are Caterham originals but bought at different times. I also have a RiF aeroscreen which has very thick laquer but seems UV resistant.
In your case, it is hard to tell what is under the paint until you remove it - you don't know how sanded down it may be to prep for the paint.
Steve
As you are basically replacing water deposits with oils, others have reported good results with peanut butter or furniture beeswax.
There do seem to be some carbons where this doesn't work though. These look different as the covering resin is a lot thicker and the weave doesn't come to the surface. The issue here is that the resin is breaking down in UV light, which is harder to repair (hence the rub down and relaquer).
My wings and one indicator pod respond well to GT85. One indicator pod has gone milky in the resin. All are Caterham originals but bought at different times. I also have a RiF aeroscreen which has very thick laquer but seems UV resistant.
In your case, it is hard to tell what is under the paint until you remove it - you don't know how sanded down it may be to prep for the paint.
Steve
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