Removing Paint from Carbon Fiber - Ducati.ms

Desmo_Demon · Jun 3rd, 2008, 1:17 pm

I'm in the process of buying a carbon fiber part that was painted over, but I want to remove the paint without damaging the carbon fiber. Anyone know any tricks that won't destroy the carbon? Is a paint stripper for fiberglass good for carbon, also?

Edit - I changed the parameters of my searches and found this....

Painting Carbon Fiber

Quote:

Originally Posted by DT996

Yup, Carbon can be painted. But, unless you are going for a full coverage paintjob (versus original exposed carbon), don't set your goals too high. If you are using the factory Red, then you will be safe with any scheme you are looking to do.

I bought my tail and belly pan from a racer from this board, and they were finished with partially exposed carbon (with stickers applied and cleared) and alot of silver, which was painted over a previous Red scheme. I had intended to go fully exposed carbon with Transparent red, but stripping the two layered paint was a bear to deal with, and wherever there were pits from the carbon, it left little white spots from the original primer and the silver, that were impossible to remove without compromising the integrity of the carbon.

The only thing to watch out for is if you sand the old paint, don't go too far where you start to see carbon dust, this means you sanded through the resin and exposed the actual fibers, and getting those to cover is nearly impossible, as well as losing the strength and structural integrity of the piece.

I figure the worst-case-scenerio is that I repaint it.

DuckMan · Jun 3rd, 2008, 5:51 pm

Don't use any type of chemical stripper. I refinished a set of CF forks on my bicycle and I just sanded it. Be carefull not to sand through to the actual fibers though.

kaos · Jun 3rd, 2008, 8:37 pm

wet sand with 600 grit,plenty of water will let you see your progress well before you sand too far

thatkidchris · Jun 4th, 2008, 1:00 am

I sanded several layers of paint off off the complete DP carbon body set that was on my bike and had no problems. Make sure to use a very fine grit paper, take your time, clean real well before painting, and then do several coats of clear and you will have a nice looking carbon piece.

Just a note from your quote. The little pits mentioned that hold paint can exist. They don't always. Basically if the surface was nice when it was first painted you will be good. Otherwise you may have to try cleaning with some lacquer thinner to try to clean those out after sanding. If it was a high quality piece to begin with you wont have any problem.

Matt_P · Jun 4th, 2008, 1:21 am

sounds like a huge pain in the ass that yields questionable results.

Why not just hold out for an unpainted piece, or one that has been painted the way you want?

Desmo_Demon · Jun 4th, 2008, 7:24 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt_P

sounds like a huge pain in the ass that yields questionable results.

Why not just hold out for an unpainted piece, or one that has been painted the way you want?

I would be satisfied with it just being painted matte black, but if it is carbon, I'm curious how good the quality and weave is on it. I got it at a pretty good price, and if I can restore it back to carbon, I may opt to sell it for a modest profit and buy a matte black one (or use it if it would look good on the bike which already has some carbon on it). If not, this one was cheap enough that I will just paint and install it.....in general, I don't care for carbon. It's just that I could probably NEVER match the paint that is on the bike. If I could at a reaosnable price, I'd prefer to paint it to match the bike.