Restoring Bare Carbon Wings

[Skipper555]

Has anyone found the best way to restore and protect bare carbon wings? (I couldn't find anything about this in the guides)

Mine are a bit dull and have some marks on them.

I was thinking maybe clay bar or first, then some light polish or similar to buff up.

[Jonathan Kay]

[Jonathan Kay]

Previous discussions:
https://www.caterhamlotus7.club/forum/techtalk/any-tips-cleaning-carbon-fibre
https://www.caterhamlotus7.club/forum/techtalk/carbon-fiber-front-wings-white-spots

Jonathan

 

[Skipper555]

Thanks Jonathan.

How did you rotate my picture? I couldn't see a way to do it and it was the right way on my phone.

Not sure why I couldn't find those posts when I searched but they are just what I want by the look of it

[Jonathan Kay]

Image rotation:

I downloaded it, rotated it and uploaded it!

Why it happens and how to avoid it.

...

Searching

...

Happy cleaning!  : - )

Jonathan

[Skipper555]

Thanks for the info, much appreciated :-)

[bluenose]

Try T cut and hair dryer on the white spot areas, and once most of the spots have faded use Woodsilk polish(available in all good supermarkets).  If this fails to restore them then you probably need them machine polished and a UV protection clear coat carried out at a body shop.

 

[Skipper555]

Thanks, I've got some T cut and just need to borrow the other half's hairdryer when she's not looking to give that a try :-D

Got some Wood Silk on order now too.

[anthonym]

I keep mine "polished" with WD40. Works a treat. edit it's ages since my last application, I'll have a look tomorrow what state they are in. Lots of suggestions in those threads linked above. I never had a problem with my year 2000 cf cycle wings, trouble started when I replaced them with "new" ones because I scrawped one of them. Regret. Should have repaired the scrawped one.

[StevehS3]

When I epoxy coated mine the hardest part was removing every trace of the previously applied polish that I had previously applied. This was needed to allow the coating to adhere. I have wondered whether applying liquid polishes, WD40 etc that may soak into the weave would make them difficult to refurbish afterwards. Can anyone confirm?

[mantioras]

Hello. A couple of guys on Facebook group recommended this:

https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/easygloss-carbon-fibre-polish-protect

Just ordered mine, still waiting, will see how it works.

[BigCol]

I use Woodsilk beeswax furniture polish (so no silicates).

As in #11, this is a highly recommended and described in a bit more detail here.

[mph]

What a cracking thread  My wings were looking terrible, but after 10 minutes of elbow grease they're now respectable again. The T-cut top tip is genius!

[Skipper555]

Looking good, and that carbon polish looks interesting too.

Will see how T-Cut and the Woodsilk works for me as I''ll have that on hand

[Nick Chan]

I used wood silk polish, WD40 and some other similar polishes over the years and whilst a massive improvement initially, I tended to find the benefit didn't last a week if we were out blatting and camping in sunny/wet/sunny conditions and the crappy look son came back. In the end, they have been sanded down and clear coated and this should be far more durable. They look like #13 pics now 

[anthonym]

Warning: 

EDIT: I am now not sure how much of my below is bollox. It turns out Tony the Brush quote " used a ceramic coating to try and improve the gloss" and yes there was milkiness apparent.

So I have no idea how good WD40 is at any permanent solution, only that it works well as a "temporary permanent" solution. 

=============================

Interesting! Nick C: I use WD40 just exactly because I want it to get in to the weave, as someone at the time theorised, to expunge the water moisture in there; also because it's very easy to do, a few seconds.

All these polishes and such weren't so apparent as successful solutions back then. I did find using a hot air blower worked quite well, which seemed to confirm the problem being caused by sun dried moisture getting in to said weave. 

Anyway I had a look at my wings this morning and to my pleasant surprise there is no sign at all of the white blemishes. I suppose they look matt black, but ordinarily I just add a whiz of WD40, never a dust problem, but I don't live in a desert. Not thought about actually polishing them. They are dry that's for sure as the car has been off the road for two or three years.

I did try a RiF polish in the past, but to no avail. 

I suppose this can be cast as a success story since I had forgotten about my milky cycle wings problem. Granted it is not an instant solution; which is to say it is an instant solution to the appearance, but has taken an unknown length of time since;  possibly identifiable from earlier threads about it from where I took the ideas.

Wax polishes etc? I presume they keep the sun dried moisture out by creating a suitable seal. To me it looks like having them lacquered like they should have been in the first place is the ultimate solution; are they lacquered originally or is there some other part of the production process not completed in a way that prevents moisture ingress? Having had both the good and the bad I believe I know it is a question of the original production process. I think it may have been Tillett who explained what the trouble is originally (sun dried water ingress, i.e. "steam")

I'll see if I can add pics from this morning after posting this.

Anthony

 

I'm rather pleased how they look now compared to the milky problem they had.

and to compare to #13 which is gorgeous:

p.s. I think best to avoid putting screws/bolts through CF wings; that was why I replaced mine all those years ago and now wish I had not; a small "tap" with a fence ripped around the bolts, whereas no bolts = no ripping, lots of bending yes, but these wings can safely be folded like a serviette in a ring when not bolted. Tillett showed me this. Or avoid fences ;-)

EDIT: I am now not sure how much of my above is bollox. It turns out Tony the Brush quote " used a ceramic coating to try and improve the gloss" and yes there was milkiness apparent. 

[Rex]

My car is a 2002 with 45,000 miles. The left side stone guard still looks good. The one on the right side is hopeless. I finally replaced it. There does seem to be a difference in quality of the CF pieces.

[Geoff Brown]

Initially I used similar processes mentioned here but it was apparent that they did not work for long.

So, bit the bullet & re finished with this: SprayMax 2K Rapid Clear Coat. Four years later still looking good.

 

[anthonym]

SprayMax 2K Rapid Clear Coat.

https://www.spraymax.com/en-us/products/product/clear-coats-and-spot-blender/2k-clear-rapid/

[PlastererPete]

Based on the advice here about the Spraymax 2k clear, I took the plunge and bought all new carbon bits for my CSR. It is 17years old and on the original carbon which is, well, beyond saving to say the least. I keep them tidy with the Woodsilk etc to give them some gloss but it only lasts a couple of drives then they are back to faded and old looking.

The new parts have no clearcoat on at all and are just finished in the resin from manufacture. I sanded them all down and applied th Spraymax. Then did a few passes with various grits of sandpaper and then a few passes with three polishing compounds. The way they came up compared to the "factory finish" was well worth the trouble. The Spraymax 2k is definitely my vote if the carbon you have is able to be saved. 

[Skipper555]

Spent some time on mine tonight. Just a little T Cut used and the cloth was turning black. I suspect there had been some back to black or similar product applied at some point. The T Cut cleaned up some of the water marks, but didn't shine up some of the what appears to be epoxy on the surface. There are areas which look yellow and dull and others that seem to be just the weave.

Applying the Woodsilk does give a nice sheen, although I'm not sure how long it will last, but it is an improvement

[PlastererPete]

If you consistently get black on the cloth when polishing them you have to be careful that its not actually the carbon itself breaking away. My existing wings have the same large patches where (what I assume are) reinforcing areas are on the top "flat" sections. 

[Skipper555]

Good point, I only gave them a light clean with T-Cut in the end.

[aerobod - near CYYC]

The "patches" are a slightly higher concentration of resin at the surface. As the matting used seems to be pre-preg, when a vacuum is applied in the mould to the wing, slightly more resin will be forced through the matting to the more central and lower points (with the wing upside down in the mould).

[JAL73]

My car is a 2020 420R, so reasonably young but the carbon cycle wings suffer terribly if they get wet or damp for a few days.

Car is fine when garaged but left it out under a decent outdoor cover over a rainy weekend and came back to this:

Ive heard from a couple Caterham specialists that the issue is that the laquer is porous and the white marks are water trapped between the carbon weave and laquer. Was advised to take a hair dryer to it wings and then rub WD40 into wings and this did indeed get them back to looking brand new, but this never seems to last long.

Hairdryer process took about 15mins per wing and you could visibly see the white marks evaporating, and the WD40 coat took them from looking like matt carbon to glossy carbon.

Is there a permanent solution to protect the wings from water penetration? This was laborious and time consuming and dont want to have to do it every few months!

Has any one tried covering the wings in pain protection film or ceramic coating them to preserve the glossy carbon look?

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by JAL73