Carbon stripe advice

Andya

New member
Hi guys,
I need a bit of advice on the tail section of my bike..

The tail section in the pics is carbon fibre, it was painted previously leaving a carbon fibre stripe exposed. I want to repaint in the same way. My bodyshop has sprayed it with a high build primer masking off the carbon stripe. Now I have high edges against the carbon stripe and some areas which were masked badly and vary the width of the stripe.

I have masked off the stipe again and sanded down using 320 then 800 paper which has reduced the edge but has dulled the carbon stripe down, which was laquered before.
What should I do now to make sure I get a good quality stripe when the top coat is painted. Is masking off the stripe with a very slightly narrower tape and then paint the colour coat a good idea, or maybe mask nearly up to the edge of the primer and sand down the edge more so that the original paint edge is exposed?

My paintshop doesnt really know what to do now!!!!

Any help would be appreciated

Andy
 

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T

TAZ

Guest
Hello,
What I would do is I would go around the complete stripe and feather out both sides of the stripe. Don't mask off the stripe, just worry about feathering the edges out. Once you do this, of course, the carbon fiber will be dull, so now what you need to do is take some 1000 grit wetsand to get all the 320 scratches out.
Then you will mask off your new stripe the way you want it. You will see that you have some of the fiber exposed where you had to feather it back quite a bit. Now, spray a coat of sealer over the complete body, spray your basecoat. Remove your masking tape. Then clearcoat over the complete body.

The key here will be to feather out the old stripe edges. You may need to go out another 2-3" depending on how thick the primer was applied.

:luck:
 

Andya

New member
Taz, wow that was quick, thanks
It was previously painted in the same way with a nice even stripe, as I feather out the edges and remove the hi build, it will expose the original clearcoat and stripe edges so if I'm careful it shouldnt get down to the fibre. Can you explain what the sealer does? and does that need to be sanded?

Thanks
Andy
 
T

TAZ

Guest
I don't think you'll have a problem even if you feather through the old paint job. I've painted quite a few carbon fiber pieces and sanded them down real good before painting, and never actually hit the carbon fiber portion of it.

Since the carbon fiber would be raw, it would be a good idea to add the sealer. This will help make the new paint adhere to the carbon fiber. This more or less eliminates the reprime step.
This way you don't have primer, sealer, and paint buildup on the edge of the stripe.

If you feather this way out including going through the old paint, you may have quite a bit of feathering to do. if this is the case, you might want to go ahead and mask off your stripe, then reprime, but keep it light along the stripe edge.
 
T

TAZ

Guest
Good deal!!!
Keep feathering! The better you feather, the better the overall job will come out.
Post pics during the process if you need more help!
 
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