carbon fiber in the winter?
Senior Member
SL Member
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 396
From: Marietta, GA
That is a good question. Im curious too, I snowboard a lot and a few of my buddies have had problems with cf bindings. They said on super cold days, its not unusal for the cf to become brittle and break. One guy had it happen the first season he had them. Anyhow, I can't imagine that would be a problem since body panels wouldn't see the same kinda stress. But yeah its a good question- I wanna hear people's response.
Senior Member
SL Member
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 353
From: Altoona, PA
Carbon fiber hoods are mostly fiberglass as only the surface layer is carbon fiber. It will be more brittle in the winter but unless the part is impacted by something of substantial weight or impact it will be fine. It is not going to shrink under cold temps and stress crack.
Also on cf hood in the winter you need to be sure the hood has a protective clearcoat. I have seen many carbon fiber hoods in PA that run through the winter and the grime and road salt from driving in the snow have taken significant surface damage and loss of the glossy finish. If the hood has a protective clear coat applied by a body shop or the hood is pretreated as the KGD carbon fiber hoods we carry they will be fine and should just be waxed before winter starts.
If it does not have the clear coat finish with uv inhibitor then you should have it done at the body shop or put the stock hood on for the winter. Most carbon fiber hoods on the market only have a uv inhibitor added into the resin during manufacturing. This inhibitor is far less effective than an automotive clear coat as what is on your stock paint. That type of clear should give you 10 years of protection on a carbon fiber hood without fading or surface resin breakdown.
Also on cf hood in the winter you need to be sure the hood has a protective clearcoat. I have seen many carbon fiber hoods in PA that run through the winter and the grime and road salt from driving in the snow have taken significant surface damage and loss of the glossy finish. If the hood has a protective clear coat applied by a body shop or the hood is pretreated as the KGD carbon fiber hoods we carry they will be fine and should just be waxed before winter starts.
If it does not have the clear coat finish with uv inhibitor then you should have it done at the body shop or put the stock hood on for the winter. Most carbon fiber hoods on the market only have a uv inhibitor added into the resin during manufacturing. This inhibitor is far less effective than an automotive clear coat as what is on your stock paint. That type of clear should give you 10 years of protection on a carbon fiber hood without fading or surface resin breakdown.
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