[B5BiTurbo]

So I've been meaning to post this for a long time now, just been really busy.

I've got APR canards, APR side sills, and an APR wing.

I just wanted to see if this happened to anyone else wing. All of the clear coat or gel coat or whatever it's called is going all to hell on mine. It looks disgusting and is kind of embarrassing.

Is there anyway to save this wing or am I going to be stuck buying a new one because this one didn't hold up.

It was always kept clean and out of the way. Wasn't bird **** or anything that was left on it. It just started deteriorating very rapidly. I chalked the back lip/line up as just wind abrasion, but the rest of it...ugh so gross and honestly, the dim lighting in the pictures makes it look MUCH better than it actually is. When the sun hits it watch out...

For what it's worth I'm very satisfied with all of my other APR carbon fibre, but the win is just pathetic... Think they could do anything for me?

 

[Lckitty]

That's not right. You should inquire from a warranty perspective and see what happens.

UV beats down CF pretty bad tho. Keep your CF waxed heavily to protect.

 

[Lowtush]

It may need to be recleared.

 

[driftwood]

That's not right.

first off, that type of wearing is not really that uncommon... typical sun exposure/weathering does a great job destroying the gel coating on CF pieces... its the nature of the beast unless you are paying for a product with a specific UV preventive coating pre-applied

you can do one of 3 things to stop this from happening... pending on how quickly you start (& i'm sure other guys who know carbon fiber durability a bit better can chime in as well)


1. keep the car out of the sun (pretty impossible though if you plan on actually driving it right?)
2. liberally use specific carbon polish/wax to protect the gel coat (& then keep the car out of the sun)
3, re-coat with a more durable clear (& then try to keep the car out of the sun)

unfortunately for you its too late & you already have chipping... you are going to need have the problem areas sanded down & ultimately re-clear the wing (it'll look great again after that & will be far more durable than the factory gel coating)

i also wouldn't rely too heavily on a refund through APR, as you're most likely well out of warranty (might not hurt to double check with them though)

 

[MTLDean]

Or, you could just vinyl wrap it and be done with it.

 

[Scottycali4nia]

Wow... this scares me... I daily drive my car right now and I've noticed more then a few of my CF components are just beginning to do this. Does anyone know who makes the best UV protective wax or sealant?

"3, re-coat with a more durable clear (& then try to keep the car out of the sun)"
Can this be done at any stage of the damage? meaning if it gets bad I can just take all the parts to a body shop and they can restore them back to new again? If so, it's not so scary. I just don't want to have to buy all new carbon if everything starts to flake.

 

[spectre]

Or, you could just vinyl wrap it and be done with it.

I have wondered how APR holds up vs. say Revarie. Also, every carbon fiber part I have had has cracked, chipped, deteriorated. So I did exactly what you said, wrap it with carbon fiber wrap. Seems to protect it but kinda sucks to do although it lasts longer.

 

[Tcab]

Wow... this scares me... I daily drive my car right now and I've noticed more then a few of my CF components are just beginning to do this. Does anyone know who makes the best UV protective wax or sealant?

"3, re-coat with a more durable clear (& then try to keep the car out of the sun)"
Can this be done at any stage of the damage? meaning if it gets bad I can just take all the parts to a body shop and they can restore them back to new again? If so, it's not so scary. I just don't want to have to buy all new carbon if everything starts to flake.

303 Aerospace protectant

 

[sumolance]

Shiny/glossy carbon fiber parts are usually clearcoated with (typically) a urethane clearcoat. Prolonged exposure to sun/UV will start to break it down. Raw carbon pulled out of tooling is commonly matte and/or will have air bubbles or visual flaws, hence the necessity to clearcoat. You may sand by hand and use a DA in appropriate places to get the clearcoating off and respray. Wear hand & body protection as well as a mask when sanding carbon as it is very harmful to breathe.

 

[driftwood]

Can this be done at any stage of the damage? meaning if it gets bad I can just take all the parts to a body shop and they can restore them back to new again? If so, it's not so scary. I just don't want to have to buy all new carbon if everything starts to flake.

yeah, sanding down & clearing is something that can be done at any point, although its obviously less hassle if its done before the chipping/flaking of the original coat starts...

in a perfect world, all CF manufactures would coat pieces in a more robust way before it hit a customers hands, but doing that would increase cost significantly (since high quality clear coat is not cheap)... in a slightly less perfect world, customers should really be encouraged to take care of this issue prior to installing the parts, but aren't often aware of the rapid degradation of standard carbon fiber gel coatings

wrapping it in vinyl is absolutely an option (& probably the most ideal if you dont want to deal with prep work thats involved when reclearing)... but by doing so you hide the original weave & on top of that, vinyl also has a shorter life span & is prone to fading much faster than a quality clear coat

 

[sleepe]

A quality UV clear should not do this . . . you should be able to get it cleared for about $150.

 

[B5BiTurbo]

Thanks for the quick replies guys. I really had no intention of trying to get anything under warranty. I've had the wing for about a year now so I figured it's to late. I did keep it waxed, but never thought to use anything carbon fibre specific.

I was mostly concerned with having to buy another wing. I thought of wrapping it as we'll but wrapping carbon fibre in carbon fibre just didn't seem right haha.

I'll take it off this winter and have a body shop clean it up for me of that's all it's gonna take.

Thanks again!

 

[fitfan]

its not carbon specific.... any finished "bodywork" part - should be clear coated from the manufacturer - and that totally looks like clear coat delaminating to me. poor prep and paint work.

the composite epoxy underneath looks fine - but it is not easy to remove clear off carbon fiber. (you don't want to use chemicals that would damage the composite, and you don't want to sand the composite....

i'd buck for a new replacement from the manufacturer... they should own up to that - its a paint finish defect likely from contaminated air in the clear coat.