Rejuvenating carbon fibre wings?

[Mike_C]

The carbon fibre front wings on my 7 are really letting the side down, have faded and look quite matt. What are the options for reconditioning them? One idea I had was to wrap them in a gloss clear vinyl - any other suggestions?

Thanks!

[upsidedownmark]

Same as faded paintwork I'd have said - various polishing compounds, possibly preceeded by fine wet and dry depending on how bad. All involving a lot of elbow grease!

[Composite Guru]

I would get them lacquered and then PPF applied.

The gel cote isn't UV stable so will always return back to that state.

Matt

[Mike_C]

Composite Guru said:

I would get them lacquered and then PPF applied.

The gel cote isn't UV stable so will always return back to that state.

Matt

OK, thanks Matt. Any prep work required? Can the lacquer be done DIY with Halfords paint lacquer, or is something specific required?

[V7SLR]

Find a place that does motorcycle painting and get them to use the toughest lacquer they have.

[Composite Guru]

Mike_C said:

Composite Guru said:

I would get them lacquered and then PPF applied.

The gel cote isn't UV stable so will always return back to that state.

Matt

OK, thanks Matt. Any prep work required? Can the lacquer be done DIY with Halfords paint lacquer, or is something specific required?

I think paint out of a can wont be supple enough. It needs a bit of plasticizer in it really as the carbon does flex.
You could give it a go though.

[framerateuk]

I refinished mine with some laquer out of a can and they looked fine.

I ended up replacing them with some cheaper carbon covered GRP last year (wing came off on a trackday and I ended up drilling it and attaching it with a few cable ties). I actually prefer the new ones since they're darker than the Caterham ones. I've kept my original ones since I'll fill the holes and keep them as spares in case I lose another!

[22daz]

Machine polish them using 3M cutting compound which brings them up a treat..
Then once they are shiny again which shouldn't take too long give them a coat of polish to keep water from soaking in.

[Shaun_E]

A temporary improvement is to use Bumper Black - Autoglym's works pretty well.