Refinishing Interior Carbon Fiber?

[onewhippedpuppy]

The sun has been tough on the OEM carbon fiber interior in my 996, and I have a variety of yellowing and bad cracking on various pieces. Any tips on refinishing it?

[onewhippedpuppy]

Anybody? I'm assuming I can just sand it down past the damaged area, sand smooth with multiple grits of increasing fineness, use a bunch of coats of a lacquer clear to rebuild the finish, then wet sand and polish. If I have to strip the entire thing then I have to replace the resin coat, which would be something totally new.

[Bill Douglas]

Umm, if it's real carbon fiber you have to be carefull in regard to breathing the dust. It is really EVIL. They are microscopic barbed fibers that your lungs can't clear out.

[porsche4life]

The cars ruined Matt... Better just give it to me.

[RWebb]

I'd guess you could try #2 - it sounds like the resin used was not UV resistant; not sure re cracking(!)

My best is that the nano particles will go thru the filter in any vacuum also, so if real CF...

BTW - was this an "Affordable 996"?

[onewhippedpuppy]

The dust wouldn't be an issue until I got down to the actual carbon fiber though, right? I'm hoping most of it can simply be sanded out, similar to how you refinish a paint job.

Webb that's correct, an affordable 996. Mechanically top notch but needs some cosmetic TLC. I could simply replace with the standard plastic panels, but I'd like to save the carbon fiber as it was about an $8k option.

[porsche4life]

Want me to send you some carbon fiber vinyl to cover it with?

[RWebb]

Right - assume the cracks are superficial?

do you have any fancy abrasion machines at work?

any way to pull molds from the originals and make some aerospace-level replacements?

(sure, sounds crazy, but... it's a Pooschey)

[pc100porsche]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

The cars ruined Matt... Better just give it to me.

Agree ... Next inline

[David McLaughlin]

Yes, sand down the resin stepping out to 400 grit and spray with an automotive clear. Done this with a BMW splitter that was almost a throw away. It took many rounds of clearing, sanding and reclearing but in the end the finished piece was better than new and now UV protected.

[rsNINESOOPER]

You might find that all that is needed is to wet sand it and polish it to return it to good condition. However, the epoxy used is not very UV resistant and You might get the best results in the long run by applying a clear coat. Sand it "wet" with soapy water and the proper respiratory equipment. Then use a high quality automotive finish clear coat to spray over the top. Not too thick as you want it to move with the part. Wet sand and polish out for a perfect finish.

Or you can send it out to a re-finisher who does automotive interior wood etc. that can handle the project with ease. Just look on vintage jag forums for a re-finisher, they have lot's of wood in those interiors. Has to be someone out there who can give you a quote for comparison to a DIY.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by RWebb

Right - assume the cracks are superficial?

do you have any fancy abrasion machines at work?

any way to pull molds from the originals and make some aerospace-level replacements?

(sure, sounds crazy, but... it's a Pooschey)

My employer is far too bureaucratic to give me access to any of our equipment for personal use. Sadly, because I would then have the ability to essentially build my own carbon fiber structural components.

Originally Posted by David McLaughlin

Yes, sand down the resin stepping out to 400 grit and spray with an automotive clear. Done this with a BMW splitter that was almost a throw away. It took many rounds of clearing, sanding and reclearing but in the end the finished piece was better than new and now UV protected.

Originally Posted by rsNINESOOPER

You might find that all that is needed is to wet sand it and polish it to return it to good condition. However, the epoxy used is not very UV resistant and You might get the best results in the long run by applying a clear coat. Sand it "wet" with soapy water and the proper respiratory equipment. Then use a high quality automotive finish clear coat to spray over the top. Not too thick as you want it to move with the part. Wet sand and polish out for a perfect finish.

Or you can send it out to a re-finisher who does automotive interior wood etc. that can handle the project with ease. Just look on vintage jag forums for a re-finisher, they have lot's of wood in those interiors. Has to be someone out there who can give you a quote for comparison to a DIY.

Thanks guys, a wet sand and polish is probably what I'll try. I did some wood trim refinishing on my old C36 and it royally sucked, the finish is thick and difficult to remove and I ultimately wasn't happy with my finished product. If it comes to that, I'll be looking into non-DIY options.

[David McLaughlin]

Any good body shop can do this with ease too. It' s really not too difficult. I can walk you through it if you need any additional help.

[Gogar]

My painter re-cleared the fenders on my Ducati and it looks great.

He said it was a little of a PITA, but not 'difficult.'

[RWebb]

"far too bureaucratic" - no surprise; but what about everyone else who works there? someone has got to be so far "into" this as to have something set up in their garage (?)

my thought is that this will be very time-consuming - eve if it is fun for the first 10 hours, it may not be so afterwards

anyway, good luck