I have a Painted Carbon fiber Seibon VT Hood and like it very much. This morning I noticed a scratch about 5 inches long. The location is near the front of the hood to to right. I can't tell whether or not its a scratch or a split. My car is garaged and not on the road. Pics will do no good, you have to see in person. Usually when you have a scratch you can run your finger nail across and it will catch, this kinda does. What to do? Could it be a crack, how will I know?

 

wetsand with 1000 grit, then 1500, polish and wax with a buffer.

 

Do you think that its a scratch or a split. Will that work on a split?

 

Nope, I think youll have to take it to a body shop. They might be able to heat it up or something and melt the split together. I have no idea.

 

I have same hood but my problem is over time I've been noticing little cracks inside the hood. Can't feel them, there just inside the material itself. There around the vents were it deeps in. You really notice when there's alot of sunlight. That's ok though. I'm sporting this style until I finally get some sort of custom paint job.

 

How could it split, it's in garage not being driven?

 

I don't know. Maybe weather causing it to expand and contrast. Must have something to do with the type of material used.

My care is kept in a garage all the time too. But I take it out on most weekends weather pending.

 

Mine I can feel, wondering if it split from inside out

 

Somewhat, yes. You'll probably have to have it touched up. Ask a paint shop. They might have to put some type of filler in it, buff it and repaint that portion. I don't know anything about bodywork. I'd also call Seibon and see what they recommend also. They have had to of seen this before. These are the prices we pay. It never stops.

 

Discovered that it is a split, sht. Any body shop guys give me some advice. The hood is a painted Carbon fiber and split paint through clear< looks like a scratch. What does a body shop need to do besides repaint hood?

 

I'm a body man, but can't really give any suggestions as I never work CF. I would assume you would have to bring it to a place that does specifically carbon fiber for repair. A body shop can't really do anything for you. As soon as they try to repair it with filler or glaze it will split again.

 

Looked at my hood today and found another split in hood but once again it's under the surface and it's in another corner of the vent. Gotta get this painted. I hope I don't start have the probs your having. But this is the nature of this biz.

 

If the piece is splitting, dont bother with paint as it will eventually work through the paint.

For fixing the CF you may some options. If you're leaving it with the CF exposed (i.e. no paint) then you'll need to sand it down and apply more resin. If the crack goes down far enough, into the CF material itself you may be SOL.

If you're going to paint it you should be able to sand it down and use a body filler. I''ve never tried it, but the only issue would be the filler not sticking to the CF resin. The resin is generally like Fiberglass resin, which bondo attachs to without issue.