Hey, I have a crack in my carbon fiber hood and was wondering if there was any way to sand it down to the carbon fiber and re-gel it if possible. Anyone have any ideas? Any help as usual is greatly appreciated.

naw, its gone man, they crack and theyre gone. its not fiberglass

Can it be fixed, yes, is it worth it, no. Question, how long have you had it?

It can be sanded down, if its in the gel coat or the clear coat. Then just have it recleared, dont worry about trying to get more gel coat in it, it will just become a huge mess.

Now if its in the CF, sure you can still do the above just to get rid of the external crack, but of course you will still see the CF's damage.

I know it can be done, Ive done it.

Good luck

It's just the gel coat, the carbon fiber is fine. Is there any hope?

If you have no prior experience, I wouldnt recommend this being your first attempt.

But yes it can be salvaged

Originally posted by powellds
It's just the gel coat, the carbon fiber is fine. Is there any hope?

For a quick fix, you can put some clear nail polish on it. This will eliminate some of the white color from the gel cracking and it will also keep the crack from spreading due to vibration.

Glad I found this. Had my CF hood just over a year, and I have a small crack too that appears to be only in the top coat. I'll try the nail polish thing. I have a friend that does all kinds of body stuff I might ask to help if I can sand and recoat.

So, do I need to sand it at all before putting on this clear nail polish? Thanks for the help guys.

blah you guys suck.......it is easy as pie to fix a crack in the cf hood.
Pick up a small pint of clear resin (it will come with the hardner) a few sheets of 1000grt and a few sheets of 2000 and 2500 grt and also 4 or 5 foam brush's/applicators.

Mask off the area you are going to be fixing so you don't get carried away, roughly 3 inches around the affected area.

lightly wet sand with the 2000 grt untill the crack is gone...if you start to see the strings of the cf you are down as far as you can go.

Mix the resin (About 5-8 drops of hardner(65-80 degrees low humidity) to about 1/2 cup of resin)

use the applicator to dab the resin onto the affected area it will self level

Allow to dry depending on your working locations temp and humidity at least 6-12 hours

Wet Sand with the 1000grt to blend
wet sand with 2000
wet sand with 2500

Alow to dry wipe clean and inspect for any pinholes low spots if you find them repeat the resin step to fill them.

If all is good look for any very minor scratchs if you have access to a small buffer it will take them out with rubbing compound or you can do it by hand....it also add's a nice high gloss.

now unmask, wipe down clean and buff to blend if needed.

Without know what brand clear was used on the hood your small fix can go uncleared because it will not blend right with the exsisting...it will also allow your new work to age a little faster to match the exsisting. Though I doubt you will ever notice it.

I like to use a polishing compound,then wax to shine.

I know that seemed like a lot of steps but it is really not...I just didn't want to miss anything.And wanted to give you enough detail to complete your task at hand.

And for inspiration....this was my first cf hood also...nothing to be scared of :P
This hood had two small chips


Sanding time :)



Changing from Black to Green


second coat


I seem to have none of the finish product on this comp...boo to me...but it came out just like you would buy ...I was very happy with it. But to give you an idea...just like what you see below



Search out some of my cf threads...I have a few of them :P