BAPE

I've got a Carbon Fiber hood that was painted over black by the previous owner and the clear coat is peeling (looks worse and worse everyday).. My question is, Is it safe to use the aircraft remover on the hood to get the paint off or will it harm it ?? I've seen many mixed threads saying yes it will harm it but no one with personal experience has told me so and some saying no it works fine but dulls the resin so i'll have to buff and re-clear it..... Someone help please thank you, if anyone has actually done this before I'd love to hear your input!

Fabrik8

No. A chemical stripper shouldn't be used on a composite hood, unless you know exactly what type of resin was used and whether the stripper is safe for it. A very mild stripper might be acceptable.

BAPE

Yea I planned on contacting some manufacturers to ask them about the product, I'm not very big in removing paint do you have any suggestions on what type of mild stripper I should use??

Nunyabidness

If you have an aircraft on your hood, you have bigger problems than the black paint on it. And no, do not use aircraft PAINT remover on any kind of composite, that is, unless you'd like a nice pile of carbon fiber strands to clean up when you're done...that shyte will eat the bonding resin.

Fabrik8

A combination of sanding and paint thinner will probably be the best bet. Most paint thinners/reducers won't damage a cured resin, although lacquer thinners can be pretty aggressive and should be used cautiously (many contain chemicals like MEK). Gel coat usually has pretty good chemical resistance, but paint and gel coat are both plastics and can both be affected by some pretty common solvents like MEK.

BAPE

So paint thinner it is, thanks for the advice guys much appreciated

BAPE

By the way what would you guys recommend I use to sand ...a rubber sanding block or this sander I have that like vibrates in a circular motion ??

Fabrik8

Either one will work as long as you don't start ripping through the gelcoat. Don't go very aggressive with the sandpaper grit either for the same reason. I'm assuming you're going to re-clearcoat it, so the normal paint preparation process applies for paper grit. I'm a composites guy, not a painter, so I'm not giving much advice in that area.

nftuatn

if your trying to save the carbon fiber hood...you need to wetsand the hood with some 600 to get all the old paint off..then hopefully the person that painted it didnt sand through the gelcoat or the hood will never look good again...and if thats the case you may as well just sand it and repaint it

Mau5head

^ like he said WETSAND ONLY!!!!! use 600 grit then switch to 1200 grit after all the paint is off use the 1200 grit to remove the 600 grit scratch's then finish wih wet sanding with 200 grit...and is your lucky the gell coat will be fine the use 3m perfect it 3 part compund to bring the shine out and seal it then qive it a good waxing. thats what i would do to it if you bought it to my body shop but if the gel coat is f'ed then you will need it re cleared........by the way what retard paints carbon fiber parts? smack the old owner for me < thats the last step....