 This 'Cuda hood is made completely...  This 'Cuda hood is made completely out of carbon fiber. The scoop is an enlarged version of the AAR design. It's just received an extra coat of PPG 2042 clear and is ready to be sanded and polished. |
 No matter how fresh the paint...  No matter how fresh the paint is, the first step is to thoroughly wash the surface to be sanded. You need to make sure there is no dust or other particles on the surface that could cause a serious scratch or could be further embedded into the clear. |
 No matter how fresh the paint...  No matter how fresh the paint is, the first step is to thoroughly wash the surface to be sanded. You need to make sure there is no dust or other particles on the surface that could cause a serious scratch or could be further embedded into the clear. |
Many of you are already aware that the quality of your paint will be mostly determined by the quality of the prep work done before the color even touches the car. Paint doesn't have the ability to hide flaws and will actually magnify any mistakes left behind in the bodywork. It's absolutely critical you don't cut any corners and do the best job you can in preparing your body for paint.
There is also one final process you have to get right if you want paint that's enough like a mirror you can see yourself clearly in it. We're talking about color sanding and polishing. This is one of those procedures that is less about skill and more about patience. Still, you need to be using the right materials, and there are few tips that will help keep you out of trouble.
One thing you might not know about fresh paint is that it shrinks as it dries. As the volatile compounds in the paint evaporate, the paint will shrink onto and into the surface, and that is how it can magnify any surface imperfections (e.g., scratches and blemishes). Another time this is evident, is when you have applied painted-on stripes to the surface, and you want the clear to even out the height difference between the stripe and the base surface. It might appear that you have accomplished this when applying the clearcoat, but as the paint dries you later find you can feel a small ridge has formed.
That was the case with this 'Cuda hood, plus one other factor that was unexpected. This is a one-off, carbon-fiber hood made by the guys at Muscle Car Restorations (MCR) in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Its form was taken from an AAR hood that was modified with a larger scoop to give it a more aggressive look. The crew at MCR applied their usual five coats of clear over the paint, and sanded and polished the hood to a mirror-like finish. It looked beautiful, but after going to a few shows and spending some time in the sun, the edge between the yellow paint and the unpainted carbon fiber started to become (slightly) evident. Since this did not happen on any other part of the car, the theory is the carbon fiber was drawing solvents out of the clear from below, while the black color drew more heat from the sun than the bright yellow paint, which caused the two areas to cure unevenly.
Whatever the reason, the easy fix was to lightly sand the hood again and apply some more clear. That wouldn't mean we were done; we would then need to sand and polish it again. But what's involved with the process? Won't sanding put scratches in the paint? What kind of compound to use? And how do you use a buffer? We'll get into all this, but first, we'll give you a heads up about the process.