[Twisted Shark2k4]

Ok so everyone says something difference so lets just get it all out. What kind of wax is best to use on a carbon fiber hood? How often should you wax it? I dont care if a clear coat should be added. I just want to know what is the best wax to use, and how often should i wax it?
Ken

 

[bagpiper]

Any decent name brand, unless you find one with UV protection. CF is just clearcoated like your paint, (except hopefully better).

 

[MoogLe]

didnt turbowax have some wax that was supposedly specially made for cf?

 

[Twisted Shark2k4]

didnt turbowax have some wax that was supposedly specially made for cf?

I thought so, but i was unable to find it on there site!

One of my friends has a carbon fiber hood, and he says that you should use glaze. But how often can i wax it? Every week, or every six months?
Ken

 

[MoogLe]

i was reading up on waxes and glazes the other day,

and glazes are supposed to last a long time, 3-6 months or so,

i dont think it was very abbrasive at all so i would guess you could do it pretty often without doing any damage

 

[Kalian]

Just posting this because it might help somebody

My cf hood started to get faded (really faded) and lossed its shine and looked very dull (like a primer). I'm taking a refinishing class at the local cc so i was able to restore and make my hood look new again. I did this last week thursday so when i wash my car (the wax picked up alot of the dust from the wind) i'll take pictures.

Steps are very simple.
1. Clean/Wash hood
2. Wet Sand with very fine paper (i used 2000 grit; seeing white and yellow residue is normal, its the surface clear coat that was going bad on the hood)
3. Buffer with Rubbing Compound

take a break to let the compound settle

4. (optional) Go over hood with Polish
5. Go over hood with wax

It was pretty annoying going over the hood like 5 times but in the end it was all worth it. I got a really good shine from the rubbing compound, but i wanted to go over the hood again with the polish to ensure the best possible shine. Afterwards i gave the hood a good waxing and it looked brand spanking new.

For the job i used meguiar's car shampoo, wetsandpaper, electric buffer w/ buffing applicator pad 3m rubbing compound (you can pick up at any auto paint store), meguiar's polish step 2, meguiar's carnauba wax step 3

 

[Kalian]

I thought so, but i was unable to find it on there site!

One of my friends has a carbon fiber hood, and he says that you should use glaze. But how often can i wax it? Every week, or every six months?
Ken

wax you're hood as often as you would wax you're car. Afterall, just like bagpiper said, the hood is clearcoated just like the rest of your car.

and moogle do you have a link to your read about waxes and glaze? i'm not even sure what glaze is exactly so it would be a great read for me as well if you have it =P

 

[MoogLe]

this was one of the "articles" i read

http://www.autogeek.net/carwax.html

there's also lots of stuff on www.autopa.org and http://www.meguiarsonline.com/

 

[Turbo Wax]

The way we do it

Wash
Clay
Swirl Remover with the buffer
Wax

ONLY if we can't get the results we want, last thing we do is the sand paper thing, the quality of the part has a lot to do with it, if is under the clear coat very deep then it may be too late, that happen to us with our Brand new carbon fiber hood, you get what you pay for, we pay $200.00 for the hood and has never been in the sun and is already faded ,not even Turbo Wax could help it.

Some brand of waxes will do nothing on Carbon Fiber.

Heres a Sample of one we did

 

[Kalian]

The way we do it

Wash
Clay
Swirl Remover with the buffer
Wax

ONLY if we can't get the results we want, last thing we do is the sand paper thing, the quality of the part has a lot to do with it, if is under the clear coat very deep then it may be too late, that happen to us with our Brand new carbon fiber hood, you get what you pay for, we pay $200.00 for the hood and has never been in the sun and is already faded ,not even Turbo Wax could help it.

Some brand of waxes will do nothing on Carbon Fiber.

Heres a Sample of one we did

heh. my little quick steps up there was a solution for faded hoods becoming discolored. If you're hood still has a shiny clear coat like the rest of your car then theres def. no need to wetsand. I wetsanded to remove the dull clearcoat that i later found out had became "yellowed" after seeing it drip from my hood. I wiped it down with a litte water afterwards and let it dry.

For someone that will try this, There will be alot of clear coat residue left on the hood and it will look even more faded than before as if you had thrown a bucket of soap suds on your car and let it dry but dont worry that is normal. when the hood is dry and is perfectly smooth from the wetsanding, splatter a little rubbing compound in a small area and buff it in and it will act as a new coat. thats where you continue to polish and shine. There is no need to clay bar because the wetsanding followed by the rubbing compound create a smooth surface.

 

[fixer]

some hoods will fade and it will be too deep for wet sanding..which sucks. cause that where mine is now.

I clay mine every couple months along with my car. I've never had an issue waxing it...

 

[Twisted Shark2k4]

some hoods will fade and it will be too deep for wet sanding..which sucks. cause that where mine is now.

I clay mine every couple months along with my car. I've never had an issue waxing it...

What kind of hood do you have? How long have you had it?
ken