Perhaps it is a little bold of me to say so, but if the clear coat made the haze go away, then it's asurface defect and could be buffed out. But, I'm not there to spend my own efforts and frustrations on it, so it's easy for me to say it since I can't be there to prove it. True?Mooneggs wrote:Basically I took it to a professional detailer yesterday and he said that he could not even fix it and that it would need to be recleared (he is very reputable in Memphis). He recommended someone who could do it so I drove over there and talked to him. This other guy was worried that it was beyond repair!
Anyway, re-clear-coating it is a good idea too. One thing you must do if your hood is on the car when you do it is to mask off the whole car. You can do it cheaply and easily with a comple of indoor-painting plastic drop cloths for the majority of the car. Make sure you use easy release tape. You might be surprized how long (time) and how far (distance) clear coat can drift before drying. However, rattle can is not as dift intensive as is compressed air. But, be warned if you find clear coat on your tools or weightlifting bench in your garage if that is where you paint it. Heck. Make your wifey happy by cleaning out the garage the same day you apint the car. No -- bad idea -- better celan out the garage the weekend before.I am thinking I can just go buy some more rattle cans and just spray it myself... any suggestions? I will probably wetsand the whole hood with 2000 grit just to scuff it up a little... but should I do anything else??
What I would do to "scuff and squirt": Wash first, rinse well. Slowly examine the whole hood for chips, fill these with non-sprayed clear coat; allow to dry. Remove the windshield wipers, the hood locks or pins. put tape on near by surfaces (such as fender) to protect from sanding. Use foam between your fingers and the paper; and have your fingers at an angle (like 45 degrees) to the travel motion of your hand. As much as possible, move your hand in just 2 directions, straight forward and straight back (no side to side or arcs). Begin I'd use 1000 grit. Wetsand - fill a gallon clean milk container, poke some holes, refill as needed. Blow off the dust (do not use an air compressor - it can carry oil in the air). Re-examine the chips to make sure they are filled, if not refill, redry and resand. Once all chips are filled, and the whole hood sanded, remove the first masking tape. Dry well. Re-examine to double check. The tape up for painting. Tape all areas you don't want overspray, but leave a gap around the edge so the spray can wrap the edges a bit.
If you haven't done much spray painting before, I would suggest that you might want to do a test squirt by wrapping the hood in plastic, then spray the plastic with primer and the paint of clear coat that will be your finished product. Try different speeds and thicknesses. You motion should be smooth, overlap the ends of where you want to paint. Do not change direction while the can is spraying the destined surface; it's okay to change direction over paper or masking. Keep the nozzle the same distance from the surface so the spray pattern will be even. When doing a mock-up create some runs so you know what not to do. Let it dry before removing the mock up. Now you are ready to squirt.
Follow the directions on the can. It will tell you if light coats are better than heavy coats. Again, temperature and humidity is important, don't do it when it is too hot. It really is better to have many coats than one too think. Also consider putting on extra coats so you can "color sand" after the top coat is cured. Color sanding is when you lightly wet sand with finer and finer grit sand paper (1200, 1500, 2000) and then buff, in order to make the surface completely smooth. This would be the ciing on the cake, and if done right will yeild a mirror like reflection, not the patterened reflection that most CF has.
Good luck. Post some pics.
Eric
*sigh*
I cussed him up one side and down the other, for 550 it should come sealed. Funny part is I bought a no-name CF hood for mx-3 and it has been sitting since 06 and still has it's glossy shine ( minus mildew from not being washed)
