i just got my carbon fiber bowtie from blue cav customs. i didn't think it looked good enough to put directly on my car. so i painted the sides black so you can't see where the carbom fiber is glued to the plastic, and clear coated it several times. i let it sit to dry in the sun 15-45 between coats (depending on the amount applied). after the 10th coat seemed dry, it was lookin sweet. i took it inside and noticed a finger print was left on the surface of the clear coat. i took it back outside and over a couple hours applied 2 more coats. later i noticed where the original finger prints were there were lots of little bubbles in the clear and prints were still pressing into the surface very slightly, so i chilled it in the fridge while i removed the old emblem. i put on the new one and it's not the greatest lookin with the bubbles in the clear, if it wasn't for that, and the fact that it doesn't bend to the curve of the piece it mounts on, it'd look like it came from the factory that way. now for the questions; is there any way to fix the bubbles? how long does spray on clear coat have to set before it's totally solid? thanx for info and advice.
Well, a step you left out was wet sanding each layer of clear,( not sure wetsanding is truely needed, but it is a method I have used for years.)it seems to add a more solid look to the clear instead of a layer look, bubbles and such.
i didn't have any really fine sand paper around, and i didn't want to take all of the clear back off. it was fine until i got prints in it. now the one spot has so many tiny bubbles it looks cloudy.
Sounds like you rushed it, and didn't allow the clear cure long enough in between coatings....my best advice would be to remove it, let it sit 24 hours, then wetsand the fingerprint out with 2000 grit or so.
Never start painting/clearing unless you have the vital equipment.
i was never told i NEEDED to wet sand clear coat, i've cleared other things before and they turned out great without wet sanding. i'll have to wait til a weekend to remove all the clear and start over, unless someone can give me some tips on wet sanding. everyone must know how to do it but me cause it's so commonly talked about.
hmm, i would assume you just run water over the part you are sanding and sand it normally, if i am wrong i'd be interested to see what is the correct method for future projects
"I live my life a quarter mile at a time..." "for those ten seconds or less I'm free"
yes, that's a logical assumption, but is that the proper way for it to be done?
thanx, i'll try sanding down the top few layers of clear this weekend. hopefully i won't have to remove all of it.
