stripping paint/stickers off of carbon then adding clearcoat

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BmanX
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by BmanX

I was going to strip some paint off of some carbon parts and just do not have time to do this myself. Is there somewhere in the US that can strip the paint off of carbon parts and remove stickers and then re-apply a few coats of clear back onto the parts.

Right now I am looking at doing my to Easton EC90 SL forks, my Easton EC90 Aero forks with red paint near the bottom of the forks, my carbon Arch of my Manitou Mars CL's and some seat posts.

The look that I would to go with is clear carbon void of any stickers or paint. All my bikes are black and I would like to keep that theme throughout the bike including all my carbon parts except the handlebars and cranks. Although I would love to remover the stickers possible from the cranks as well.

Any thought on this.

rustychain
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by rustychain

Just to give you an idea of the time involved I did my easton sl fork in less then an hour including finishing. Granted I do lots of finish work but still this is an easy DIY project.

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MrCurrieinahurry
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by MrCurrieinahurry

but would it be easy to do to say my tcr?? is it hard to get it looking all even??
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BmanX
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by BmanX

Did you just sand it down with 600 grit sandpaper wet till you got low enough to remover the stickers.

Can you explain what you did and how you applied clear back to the forks so it looked good.

If I can do it quickly on my own like an hour or a bit longer than I will do it myself for sure.

The big project would be the Easton EC 90 Aero forks. I really want to get rid of the red paint on the end and just have an all carbon clear coated fork with no stickers.

Again I am not wanting to do this myself. I want to box all my parts up and send them out to have someone do them for me professionally.

Seat posts and arch I am sure can be down very quickly.
Last edited by BmanX on Mon Feb 05, 2007 5:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

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MrCurrieinahurry
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by MrCurrieinahurry

id just be scared especially on a frame id go to far.
tikka
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BmanX
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by BmanX

Plus I know a lot of frames have bondo or what ever it is called under the paint to even everything out. I am not sure about the Easton aero forks but obviously everything else I want to do I can see underneith.

I would be worried a bit about a frame thou.

rustychain
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by rustychain

Regarding forks, I used 120 grit sandpaper and a small radom orbital sander to remove 90% of the finish. I then moved up thru the grits until I was at 220. I then applied a waterbased sanding sealer and when dry sanded with 400 grit. Two coats of waterbased topcoat sanded between with 400 then 600 grit. If you wish you could then buff it with buffing compond but I chose a less glass like shine. If you have not used a random orbital sander before practice on something you don't care about. Keep the sander moving at all times and work on the whole fork at the same time so you get an even result. If you have any further questions PM me.

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CaptainWilier
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by CaptainWilier

Lost of topics about this, including mine 8) , search please.
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BmanX
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by BmanX

Actually there are no subjects that I could fine on sending out my parts to be stripped, all stickers removed and paint removed as well and then sprayed with clear.

I am not asking how to do this myself as I have done this myself already and repainted the forks then applied clear over top. What I am asking is if there is a place that I can send my parts too to have them done for me.

Professionally done and not a do it yourself. So no search needed and your post is useless to me if you did it yourself and did not send it out to be done. Thanks.

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Boonen
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by Boonen

Not sure where you are located but in the US you could try Dave Sem, he has been very helpful and kind to me so I can only recommend him.
The job isn't very complicated or hard (as most say they just do it themselves) so maybe some auto garage that paints themselves will do it for you as well. My fear with that would be that they probably aren't experienced in doing carbon work, but if it's the respray you are worried about and you are willing to do only the sanding yourself, something like that might be of help.


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mrowkoob
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by mrowkoob

Anyone know of a brand of waterbased sanding sealer availiable in Europe?
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legs 11
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by legs 11

I reccomend a visit to a good automotive bodyshop and speak to the painters, for them sealing and clearcoating is very easy.
They can also put your parts through the bake cycle in their oven to get a perfect finish requiring little or no polishing and also a harder finish for a pro job.
Beleive me as an ex panel beater I can say these boys make it look easy and will be more than happy to spend a lunchbreak on your bits for a few beer tokens!!
As for the prep work, well unless you know the person doing it very well I'd do it myself to avoid any confusion or risk of damage to your pride and joy.
Most of the big paint manufacturers will make a waterbased sealer, but be sure your sealer and your lacquer are produced to work together (again a good painter is the man to speak to) 8)

rustychain
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by rustychain

Baking the finish on carbon is not a good idea. The epoxy that holds it together will get soft and can wark the object being baked.

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legs 11
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by legs 11

Maclaren and various other exotic motor manufacturers bake carbon in low bake ovens all the time are you suggesting this is bad! :shock:

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