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Author Message   Hogluvr Posted on Friday, November 09, 2012 - 07:36 pm:        Picked up a replacement AC cover for my S2, it almost looks like someone gouged it with a key in the center. Just wondered if there was some way to clean up the finish?   Greg_cifu Posted on Friday, November 09, 2012 - 09:05 pm:        It depends on how bad it is. The magic is to carefully lay down layer upon layer of good clear coat followed by copious elbow grease and very fine wet & dry sandpaper. Many auto parts stores carry Duplicolor paint in rattle cans. They sell a clear lacquer that applies nicely, flows-out well, dries quickly and rubs out beautifully. I did that exact process to restore a few scratches on one of my carbon huggers. I probably sanded off half of what I sprayed but, with enough coats and careful sanding, it will fill in all the flaws and build up the material to where it hides the imperfections. You'd never know it was damaged.   Hogluvr Posted on Friday, November 09, 2012 - 10:30 pm:        Thanks Greg, what grit sandpaper did you use to sand it down? I think that would probably work, if you look at it at a certain angle it looks worse than at another angle, so I don't think the damage is too bad, it's certainly better than the one that was on the bike!   Littlebuggles Posted on Friday, November 09, 2012 - 11:14 pm:        I have used 1200 to 1500 to wet sand the carbon fibre parts I've refinished, like Greg says be ready to do a number of finish/sand/refinish coats. I've been clear coating my new parts and refinishing a few old parts to keep them okay. The UV damage here in the desert mountains really kills CF fast without some extra care.   Greg_cifu Posted on Friday, November 09, 2012 - 11:42 pm:        I used 400 or 600--wet--to scuff the surface Shot a nice coat or two of clear and let it dry 8-10 hours Wet sanded the surface with 600 Looked at the now-matte surface in the light for shiny pinholes and low spots (left behind because they're lower than the surrounding surface) Shot another coat or two of clear, focusing on the low areas Repeat until the surface is uniform Wet sand it with 1000 or 1200 to get rid of the scratches left from the 600 Polish with your choice of compounds. I had really good luck using Meguiars Plastx on it. It's intended for polishing plastic headlights and because of that, it works well at polishing soft painted surfaces. It has JUST enough compound to cut the surface and leaves an awesome shine. I did it over a period of a few days. Each day, I'd tinker with it a bit. That kept me from being tempted to sand the paint before it was dry enough, etc. At the end of the week, it looked awesome.   Hogluvr Posted on Saturday, November 10, 2012 - 09:14 am:        Thanks guys, appreciate your input. I think I've got a good shot at getting this thing looking good again!

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