Cloudy carbon rear wing - to paint or not to paint

[broad]

The only thing that spoils the 3 I am buying is the cloudy carbon fibre gel coat on the rear wing. In my opinion there is nothing that can be done about it. I have seen this on loads of 3's now, its a shame because the CF looks so good.

So the question is do I paint it and if I do should I paint it the same colour as the car (titanium) or maybe black. I assume a new wing in CF is mega $$$$.

What would you do? Currently it really is quite bad and very noticeable so I am going to do something, just wanted some opinions.

Cheers

Graham

[m12_nathan]

Tricky one, the carbon looks better IMO, but the factory won't do anything about the poor quality finish of the rear wings which results in the cloudyness (I did ask), you're left with a choice of painting your existing wing which will be cheaper and remain looking as when it was painted, or buying a new wing and replacing it every 2 years which will look better until it goes cloudy.

[z3stu]

I have the same problem! I have spoke to a friend and he is going to try re gel coating it and flatting it back till it has a glass finnish then 2k lacquer.

Stu

[joust]

The carbon fibre is a bit of a sham - it's just a layer of CF put over a "normal" wing as far as I can see one I took mine apart.

The coating therefore that's on it is going to fade - however you haven't got much to play with because if you sand it down too much you'll go straight through the weave which is only "single" thickness.

Either spray it with filler primer, flatten, and then paint, or live with it is probably all I can advise. One thing you can try is using a paint rubbing compound and an electric drill - I did it once and it brought the shine back somewhat.

It's a shame really, as I prefer the CF wing to the painted one, but I guess Lee wasn't really worried about longevity when he decided on it, but then soon seemed to move to the painted one, just around the time the originals started to look tatty.

J

[m12_nathan]

To be fair, it is something that was difficult for them to avoid on the first cars as it takes over 18 months to show itself (on my car left outside all the time).

[joust]

True - but given it's a "fake" it was probably to be expected, although a "real" one would have cost a fortune!

J

>> Edited by joust on Sunday 12th June 13:03

[tvrinbfg]

It's cloudy on my 2002 2.5 and I was wondering what to do with it, so this post is timely. On a 98 Cerbera 4.5 I had, the carbon fibre trim at the edges of the windscreen and along the back of the rear screen went cloudy, but my bodyshop just re-laquered them and they came up brilliant.

Do you think, or does anybody have experience, as to what would happen with such a large peice of carbon fibre?

[jipsom]

I've been wondering the same about my 2.5 - glad mine isn't the only one with this problem. Isn't there some way to polish it up, with a huge industrial polisher?

[broad]

I really cant see how to be honest. The problem appears to be between the gel coat and the carbon fibre itself.

You would have to strip it down to the bare carbon fibre and re-gel coat it and the chances of not damaging the CF are highly unlikely.

So - with regards to repainting whats the opinion on;

1)Same as main body colour
2)Black - maybe satin instead of gloss

Graham

[obes]

I tried several coats of polish, didn't make much difference ! - I thought about boiled oiling it like a cricket bat !

[z3stu]

This may help not quite a spoiler but same principle.

www.lotuscolorado.com/vulcangrey/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=Dash&page=5


Stu

[jipsom]

Looks like some resin and a brush might do the job, then. Any idea which resin?

[tvrinbfg]

My painter has now tried painting up a very small piece of carbon fibre and also lacquering up another small piece. Both look terrible and he recons he can't do anything about the dull look on the spoiler and that it's best left alone. I value his opinion and am very impressed with his previous work, so believe what he's telling me.

But if anybody knows different, I love to hear ..........

[gotapex]

There's a few pictures of my vehicle with factory painted wing here:

www.nobleforums.com/showthread.php?p=2367

I think it came out pretty well. You can see the smoothness of the paint in the reflections. If you look very very closely, you can see a light waffling pattern, but mainly because it's black paint. Lighter colors will hide this more.

[jipsom]

Hey, do those M400 lights fit the 2.5? I assume they do. Really beginning to hate those orange Mondeo things.

[gotapex]

Those are the US lights, which are not a direct fit on the European vehicles.

[jipsom]

Oh yeah, been through that conversation; should have remembered. Cheers.

[l6nex]

I had this problem when I had all my car repainted! what to do about the rear wing!! the painter said there was no point painting it as it wouldn't look right!!

A couple of weeks later I was at the motorbike racing and got speaking to one one the racers who had a lot of carbon fibre bits and pieces on his bike! I seen him rubbing a solution into the carbon fibre which brought it up lovely and shiny! when I asked what it was he said 3 in 1 oil and laughed!! but its true it does actually work and makes the carbon look magic!!

[broad]

Interesting - So do I take it that your rear wing looked cloudy and streaky within the gel coat or was it just a bit dull on the surface?

The problem wings that I have seen on many occassions appear to be within the gel coat - just need some clarification here before I proceed with a paint job instead !!

Cheers

Graham

[broad]

Interesting - So do I take it that your rear wing looked cloudy and streaky within the gel coat or was it just a bit dull on the surface?

The problem wings that I have seen on many occassions appear to be within the gel coat - just need some clarification here before I proceed with a paint job instead !!

Cheers

Graham