Painting carbon fiber panels?

[Raul-7]

For my upcoming car; I'd like to style it like the GT350 - meaning using the carbon fiber fenders, wing, front and rear valance [maybe even the door shells].

Can carbon fiber be painted to match the rest of the car? I mean it looks good bare on some pieces like the wing, parts of the valance but the fenders and doors would look horrendous/ricey unpainted.

Is it easy to paint without ruining it [ie. I assume the varnish or topcoat needs to be removed]?

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[stevelp99]

Its possible. It would have to be prepped like any panel by sanding down enough to allow to adhesion of the primer, base, clear coats.

 

[speedfrk]

For my upcoming car; I'd like to style it like the GT350 - meaning using the carbon fiber fenders, wing, front and rear valance [maybe even the door shells].

Can carbon fiber be painted to match the rest of the car? I mean it looks good bare on some pieces like the wing, parts of the valance but the fenders and doors would look horrendous/ricey unpainted.

Is it easy to paint without ruining it [ie. I assume the varnish or topcoat needs to be removed]?

I paint carbon fiber stuff on bikes. No problem. Just take it to a good shop. Carbon tends to have little pinholes that need to be filled. You can see them easily if you prime it with a white or light gray epoxy primer. The panels also tend to be wavy compared to the stamped factory panels. If it's not prepped right and block sanded, it will look like hell. So, it will be expensive compared to stock panels... Here's a tail on a 916 I did for a guy.

 

[Raul-7]

Would vinyl wrapping it be better [I'm sure it would be cheaper] or does it still need to be primed?

 

[Martman GT]

Would vinyl wrapping it be better [I'm sure it would be cheaper] or does it still need to be primed?

You would probably have a hard time finding a wrap material to match the rest of the car, but it would be cheaper. You could probably wrap the whole car to avoid mismatched color issues and it would probably still be less expensive than painting the CF pieces. The wrap would cover any pinholes in the panels, but if they are wavy, you'd still be able to see that after wrapping. Just my .02

 

[Lokilightning]

I have true fire flames painted over my cf on my Lightning. It looks great and has held up perfectly for the last 3 years.

 

[JoeMustang]

Seems like a huge waste of money to spend the money on CF parts than paint over them.

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