How do I remove water marks from my R400D carbon-fibre dash?

[John Vine]

Motoring north through France recently, I got caught in a humongous storm - monsoon rain, hail etc.  I managed to pull into a factory entrance where the staff took pity on me and waved me into their warehouse.  As expected, there were lots of photos taken, and lots of questions asked: What is it? How fast does it go? What engine?

The upshot is that my C/F dash got a thorough soaking, and has sprouted white water marks:

Treatment seems to include WD40, Wood Silk polish and Autoglym Resin polish.  I've got those on the shelf, but what would work best?  The dash already displays a creditable patina (which doesn't bother me), but those spots are plain unsightly.

JV

[Benton]

WD40 first, spray on and leave overnight. Works on "recent" water marks, not sure it works on those that have been there some time however, no harm in trying though. 

[John Vine]

Thanks, I'll give that a try.  The marks are about 9-10 days old now.

Maybe I ought to consider getting the dash coated in clear.  How does it detach from the chassis?

JV

[Rich Goddard]

John, as per Oily's post #9 (in thread below) Gtechniq worked for me on my CF rear stoneguards. I used the C1 though, not the C4, just because that's the one I already had.

https://www.caterhamlotus7.club/forum/techtalk/any-tips-cleaning-carbon-fibre

Not cheap though so might be worth borrowing some to try a spot first before buying.

Rich

 

[ScottR400D]

Whenever I've had watermarks I've just hit them with a hot air gun. Once they've gone, wax. 

[John Vine]

Thanks, chaps.  I'll see how things look tomorrow.  So far, the WD40 looks promising, but it's difficult to tell as it's an oily sheen at the moment.

JV

[John Vine]

Well, I wiped off the WD40 this morning, and I'm pretty pleased with the results:

The original marks are just about discernible, but only from certain angles.  A bonus is that the bloom on the switches has also disappeared.

So, patina restored (if that's not a contradiction in terms).

JV

[Benton]

#7 

If you now put some Woodsilk on top it'll protect it for a while, otherwise when it happens again just repeat the same exercise 

 

[Ivaan]

I usually use WD40, but I've just used some silicone lubricant spray for the first time, and the results look promising. Maybe it'll seal the CF better?

[Beagler]

I have a wood effect dash that was dull and full of light scratches. I used mcguires plastic polish and an electric toothbrush with an old head and it came up like new.

 

[John Vine]

#10:  Thanks for that.  Did your dash have any water marks?

JV