Claying Carbon Fiber?

[NOFX]

Okay, this question was inspired by a comment I read on another forum. A member on there mentioned that he was detailing his brother's car. This member is very new to cars in general, much less detailing.

He claimed that clay bar can remove the clearcoat from a carbon fiber hood. He said it did this to his brother's car and the "clearcoat" came off on the carbon fiber hood and caused foggy spots.

He explains it like this:

Claybar gets fricken anything off... Even the clearcoat off your CF hood if you scrub hard enough...

He was then asked if this happened to his car.

My brothers actually, and I was (Successfully if you might ask) removing some red overspray...

Not ALL of the clear, but enough to cause fogging...

Then someone asked him if he was using some sort of lubricant.

yes, it was lubed, I used some meguiars Cleaner wax and got most of the foggy off, now just alil spot but ill use some turtle wax polishing compound and it shoudl come off.

Now... I've never heard of clay bar causing clearcoat to come off and cause fogging. I could see that if there was previous clearcoat damage, of course don't clay bar it because it will come off the car. But he claims there was no previous damage to the hood.

Does anyone have any info on this? I can't help but think he did something wrong.

 

[audiboy]

Most carbon fiber products only come with a thin gelcoat for protection from the manufacturer. It is the owners responsibility to clear coat the piece after purchase. That being said, if the clay bar was properly used and still ended up clouding the finish, I seriously doubt it was a clear coat finish. On the other hand, if he didn't use enough lubrication, the clay could have stuck to the hood causing a cloudy look on carbon fiber. Without pictures it's hard to tell.

 

[dr_detail]

Depending on the overspray, clay can become contaminated to the point that it works like a piece of 2000g sandpaper -- at which point it can cause some cloudiness. Also, someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but carbon fiber is simular to fiberglass in the way it's molded and constructed, and if it is the type that many "ricers" display on their imports (that unpainted "look at me I have 100#'s of body mods and $30k in upgrades just to go as fast as a stock Mustang GT), it is not clearcoated but is a gelcoat. In which case if it is a gelcoat clouding can happen.

 

[hybrid240zxt]

carbon fiber is simular to fiberglass in the way it's molded and constructed

Very similar. Carbon fiber body parts actually contain fiberglass, or kevlar. Carbon fiber its self is very strong, but not rigid. It would be like replacing your hood with a piece of starched fabric. The carbon fiber is woven with fiberglass to give it the rigidness of fiberglass with the strength of carbon fiber.

Also, I've seen a million different qualities of carbon fiber hoods. Some are just a regular hood with a giant carbon fiber looking sticker on it. Think this could be the case here?

 

[YNOT]

You guys are correct...basically those carbon fiber hoods are only 'gel-coated' and rather thinly I might add. They have a nice gloss, so most people assume that they are 'clearcoated', however that is not the case.

I had a carbon fiber hood on my previous car. Being an amateur painter, I scuffed it with a gray scotch-brite pad and layed 3 nice thick coats of DuPont clear over the top of it and that was the perfect touch. It added a nice depth to it as well as a much better layer of protection from the elements.

I've seen so many of these un-cleared carbon fiber hoods and they all look cloudy and hazy as the gel-coat is not as tough as an actual clearcoat.

Bottom line...he should clear-coat the hood if he wants it to last at all.