Alright. I dove in. It helps if you crack the resin. Mine was still in tact just warped. Once i accidentally cracked it in a spot it all went much smoother

 

Yes, it all just cracks and breaks off leaving the perfect carbon fiber weave to be re-coated. Mine came off very easily and the long strip lent itself to the cracking off process. A small rounded vent wound be a different story.

 

Still holding up well with the clear?

 

Yes, perfectly and it's been years now...no curling whatsoever

 

It's not clear coat, rather poly resin (hence why it yellows and looks like **** over time). Yes if you're careful you can peel it all back. Next I would try and clean carefully as you don't want to disturb the carbon cloth. Then I'd brush layer after layer of epoxy resin (not poly) and then sand in between and then after all that you re-clear w/ auto paint. Will last forever.

 

You don't have to sand in between if you do the next layer within about 12 hours (depending on the cure time of your resin). The slow stuff takes about 24 hours to cure fully.

If you coat with automotive clear coat (3 coats) at the end, you can stop the "yellowing" process almost completely.

 

Yeah I should've clarified to mean, sand in between last coat of resin and clear, not between all layers, though case by case my sometimes dictate otherwise. The yellowing is due to the poly resin 100%> clear will eliminate for sure. I bet even just the epoxy resin would be stable for many years as most is UV rated nowadays.

 

I just used an off the shelf clear coat in a spray can and it has lasted for years, no yellowing or curling...it took about 20 coats to get a good look and depth.

 

Yeah it works, but there's a reason you had to do 20 coats. It's not the proper way to do it. Substrate > carbon cloth > epoxy resin > clear coat.

 

I'll be honest, the resin scares me. How do you separate it, etc? How messy does it get? Which resin do you recommend? How do you ensure even layering?

 

I use a marine resin. Epoxy is 2-part. Easy to use, makes a mess, no fumes which is nice. It's very labor intensive for sure, but if you are interested and take your time you can do it.

 

The resin you use really matters. Some resin easily fills with bubbles that are hard/impossible to get out, other stuff is clear and invisible. Easy rule - if it costs more - it's probably better. I get mine at CompositeEnvisions.com. If you don't know what to get - call them. They will fix you up.

 

torching is key, but agreed buying good resin is very important.

 

Maybe so, but it was very easy to do and worked very well, so I am totally happy with the result and have zero regrets...I did the 20 coats in a day and was done. No mixing materials, no fussing, just go out and spray a coat every 30 minutes or so until a the desired thickness is achieved. A coat takes about 1 minute with a spray can. I think it's a reasonable alternative to mixing and playing with resin.

 

So, i decided to clear coat them.....and in the process my kids decided to knock them off onto the ground.......i now need to redo them. Any tips for getting clear coat off CF