vtluu
10-28-2004, 12:35 AM
As someone discovered a while back, the painted parts of the Evo VIII wing are actually made of carbon fiber just like the rest of the wing. I decided I'd have a go at taking the paint off, then clear-coating and polishing the CF to give my car a unique look--less weight, cool look, what's not to like?
One word of warning before you consider attempting this: the biggest cost factor in this project is not money but time. Depending how meticulous you care to be, this is an insanely time-consuming project. I spent some 20 hours total on this project and most of that time was sanding the paint and primer off. However, at the end of this write-up I'll list a few ideas for doing this faster and better.
A few things you'll need:
- sandpaper for paint removal: 200-400 grit for paint removal (I used 220 and 320), light-coloured (important, so that you know if/when you're starting to sand into the CF);
- sandpaper for wet-sanding and polishing: 800-2000 grit;
- an electric hand sander (unless you're extremely patient);
- sanding block;
- 10mm socket (with extension);
- safety equipment: dust mask/respirator, safety goggles, gloves.
And materials:
- permanent black marker (I used a Sharpie);
- isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol;
- (optional) paint stripper that's safe(r) for plastic/fiberglass/CF surfaces; I used Bulldog Flexible Bumper Paint Stripper in a spray can;
- masking tape; the blue stuff is best;
- paper towels and lint-free cloths;
- clear glossy paint of some sort--automotive grade is best, but I used Rustoleum brand spray cans (3) from Home Depot (time will tell if it holds up);
- wax, polish, rubbing compound, etc.;
- double-sided tape.
Wing removal
The first step is to take the wing off the car. Open the trunk and you'll see this:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/01_G.jpg
The wing is attached on each side by a couple bolts. You'll need to undo a nut, which has a plastic cover on it (easily pried/pulled off), and a bolt concealed by a threaded rubber stopper. Unscrew the latter, first making sure how many threads are exposed and what direction the arrow on the stopper points. It needs to sit out far enough that touches the car body when the trunk is closed (to dampen vibration/noise) but in enough that it doesn't prevent the trunk lid from closing.
The wing is fairly well attached with double-sided adhesive tape, so it shouldn't fall off once your remove these, but just in case, remove the nut first, then the bolt. This prevents the wing from falling forward and putting stress on the lower bolt and bending the trunk lid surface. When you undo the bolt, lower the trunk lid as much as you can. That way when the bolt comes loose it won't fall in between inner and outer trunk lid layers and be difficult to retrieve.
Store the pieces you've removed in a safe place--they may be off for a while (did I mention this will take a lot of time?) so you don't want to lose them.
With the nuts and bolts undone on both sides, close the trunk lid. The wing is still fairly well-attached with double-sided tape. You could try and using fishing line to cut through the tape, as with badge removal. I found you don't need to: grab the vertical part of the wing and pull back on it firmly and steadily, not too hard because you don't want to permanently bend the trunk lid. The trunk lid may flex a bit; that's okay. You should hear some crackling as the adhesive begins to come undone. Ease up a bit as more and more of the tape comes undone--when the last bit lets go the wing will kind of "snap" free. It's best to do both sides at the same time so as to not end up twisting the wing.
With the wing off you'll see something like this on the trunk lid:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/02_G.jpg
If you're lucky, the double-sided tape will have stuck to the wing, but chances are it's more tightly bound to the trunk lid. You can use your favourite adhesive remover to clean it up but I found the best way was to rub most of it off with my fingertips (use different fingers to prevent blistering). There's also a thin adhesive "seal" around each bolt--remove this as well.
On the right side there's a black sticker covering some sort of hole in the trunk lid--leave this alone. Once everything is cleaned up, use some masking tape to cover the holes to prevent rain/dirt from getting in--you didn't think you'd finish this in one day did you?
Clean up any tape and anything else stuck to the wing as well--it's not nearly as sticky so this is pretty easy:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/03_G.jpg
Paint removal
You can use paint stripper and sanding, or sanding alone, to remove the paint. As you can see in the above photo, the two pieces of the vertical wing are riveted together so there's no easy way to take them apart--and even harder to put them back together. Therefore, you'll want to mask off the existing CF parts of the wing. It's fairly straightforward to get the edge of the masking tape into the joint between the two pieces--be thorough, especially if you'll be using paint stripper.
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/04_G.jpg
With everything masked, it's time to break out the paint stripper:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/06_G.jpg
The paint stripper I used creates a foam that sticks to the surface. After a few minutes the paint underneath "bubbles" and is easy to scrape off using a plastic scraping tool.
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/07_G.jpg
Warning: paint stripper is nasty stuff and you want to do everything possible from getting it on your skin. It penetrated right through the latex gloves I was wearing as if they weren't there, and gave me a nasty rash on one hand. Use thick gloves, goggles (if it's that bad on your skin, imagine what it'll do to your eyes), and a mask to protect yourself from the stuff. Also be sure to wear a long-sleeved shirt when spraying the paint stripper.
The paint stripper I used could not remove the bottom layer of primer, which is probably a good thing since this eliminates any risk of damaging the CF. Interestingly, on left side I encountered an unexpected number of layers of paint: the top clear-coat, red, silver, red, and primer. (On the right side it was just the expected clear-coat, red, and primer.)
Sanding: use the power sander to remove the remaining primer and paint from the large flat surface and the edges of the wing. Use a light-coloured sandpaper; if at any point you see black stuff starting on the sandpaper, stop sanding--you've hit carbon fiber. Sanding further will damage the CF and the nice woven pattern. Sand off the paint as evenly as possible--avoid removing the paint from one "spot" at a time.
After power-sanding there'll still be paint/primer left in a bunch of places--edges, joints, and spots not accessible with the power sander. Sand these by hand. To remove paint out of the joints (cracks), I first used a pointed knife to scrape and peel away most of the paint, and then used a piece of sandpaper folded around the edge of a credit card to sand the paint out of the cracks. This was probably the most time-consuming part of the project.
Remove the paint first with a coarser grade of sandpaper, moving on to finer grades to remove the last bits of paint. Finally, use a much finer grit (400-600) to make things extra smooth prior to initial painting.
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/09_G.jpg
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/10_G.jpg
You may notice a number of "pits" in the CF surface--small defects in the surface that got filled in with primer and paint. Do not attempt to sand these out as they can be pretty deep and you'll end up sanding into the CF. I used the tip of a knife to scrape away any paint in those pits but the primer remained. In the next step we'll conceal those pits.
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/11_G.jpg
Painting preparation
At this point the masking tape I'd originally applied was getting kind of ragged and torn up in a few spots so I actually removed and re-applied fresh masking tape--also to make sure the paint stripper hadn't affected any of the masked parts.
To conceal the primer-filled pits in the CF surface, first ink them over with a black permanent marker pen:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/12_G.jpg
Then dab some isopropyl alcohol onto a cloth or paper towel and rub over the spots you inked. The alcohol will remove any ink not stuck on the primer left in the pits, and part of the ink stuck to the primer. If you take off too much ink, apply and clean again. By leaving on just the right amount of ink on the primer you'll effectively conceal the defects:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/13_G.jpg
Use alcohol (on a lint-free cloth) to clean the rest of the wing prior to painting--handling the wing will leave oil from your skin on it and this will hamper paint adhesion so it's important to clean it off first. Use the alcohol sparingly as it could otherwise soak into the masking tape and un-stick it (and damage the finish underneath as well).
Painting
At this point you may elect to take the wing to a body/paint shop which will apply clear-coat for a fairly reasonable price, and do a lot better job of it than you (or at least, I) ever could at home.
Otherwise, apply clear paint, let dry, wet-sand (using finer and finer grades of sandpaper), and repeat again, as many times as needed to achieve a smooth finish, or until you get thoroughly sick of it--whichever comes first.
I used the remnants of an old dinner table as a rig for holding the wing while I was painting it:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/15_G.jpg
This is the wing after one coat of paint:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/16_G.jpg
Two coats:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/17_G.jpg
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/18_G.jpg
After applying the final coat of paint (I applied 4 coats total... or was it 5?), let the paint dry for a day or more, then polish using polishing compound (I also used 2000-grit sandpaper), polishing cloths, etc., until you're satisfied with the finish.
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/19_G.jpg
Re-mounting the wing
Cut and apply double-sided tape to replace the sticky bits you removed when the wing came off. Make sure to make replacement seals (indicated below) to go around the bolts--to prevent water from leaking into the trunk.
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/20_G.jpg
Leave the adhesive backing on for now. Test-fit the wing on the trunk. This is not so much to make sure that it fits--it came off there so obviously it will--but rather, a chance to practice putting the wing back on. Line up the bolts and plastic pins in the wing with the corresponding holes in the trunk lid and make sure the wing goes on easily.
Test-fitting the wing, I noticed one thing: even with the wing fully on, the white double-sided tape I used was still visible. I solved this by used a permanent marker to colour the edges of the tape:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/21_G.jpg
Prep the surface of the trunk lid: clean off the parts that will receive the double-sided tape with rubbing alcohol to ensure maximal adhesion. Alcohol will damage the paint finish so only apply it to the area where the wing will go on.
Once you're sure the tape is well-concealed, and that everything fits, remove the backing from the double-sided tape, and put the wing on. Reinstall the nuts and bolts (torque to 46 in-lbs (around 4 ft-lbs)), plastic covers and rubber bumpers that you removed. Congratulations, you're done!
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/22_G.jpg
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/23_G.jpg
Thoughts on doing this faster and better
Sanding and paint removal is the most time-consuming part of this project, but painting is actually the most difficult. I strongly suggest you get a body shop to clear-coat the wing for you, as they are better-equipped (and experienced) to do a much nicer job, and do it quickly (unless you happen to be a profession car painter).
Taking the two halves of the vertical winglets apart would make sanding much faster and easier. I'd estimate I spent at least six hours solely on sanding and scraping as much of the paint and primer out of the joint between the two pieces. Unfortunately the two halves appear to be joined using rivets, and possibly the four large fasteners whose heads are visible on the inside surface (with no clue as to how they might be removed), and possibly adhesive as well. If anyone out there figures out how to disassemble the wing--and more importantly, how to get it back together--please let me know.
Short of that, the next-fastest option is simply not to mask at all: sand the whole wing (including the existing clear-coated parts)--or perhaps, only mask off the horizontal portion of the wing. While this may seem more time-consuming, most of the surface is power-sandable, and you don't have to take off all the clear-coat. You'll save a lot of time (1-2 hours) by not having to mask the tricky parts, and sanding in the joint (crack) between the two pieces should also be easier now that you don't have to worry about not sanding one side.
One word of warning before you consider attempting this: the biggest cost factor in this project is not money but time. Depending how meticulous you care to be, this is an insanely time-consuming project. I spent some 20 hours total on this project and most of that time was sanding the paint and primer off. However, at the end of this write-up I'll list a few ideas for doing this faster and better.
A few things you'll need:
- sandpaper for paint removal: 200-400 grit for paint removal (I used 220 and 320), light-coloured (important, so that you know if/when you're starting to sand into the CF);
- sandpaper for wet-sanding and polishing: 800-2000 grit;
- an electric hand sander (unless you're extremely patient);
- sanding block;
- 10mm socket (with extension);
- safety equipment: dust mask/respirator, safety goggles, gloves.
And materials:
- permanent black marker (I used a Sharpie);
- isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol;
- (optional) paint stripper that's safe(r) for plastic/fiberglass/CF surfaces; I used Bulldog Flexible Bumper Paint Stripper in a spray can;
- masking tape; the blue stuff is best;
- paper towels and lint-free cloths;
- clear glossy paint of some sort--automotive grade is best, but I used Rustoleum brand spray cans (3) from Home Depot (time will tell if it holds up);
- wax, polish, rubbing compound, etc.;
- double-sided tape.
Wing removal
The first step is to take the wing off the car. Open the trunk and you'll see this:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/01_G.jpg
The wing is attached on each side by a couple bolts. You'll need to undo a nut, which has a plastic cover on it (easily pried/pulled off), and a bolt concealed by a threaded rubber stopper. Unscrew the latter, first making sure how many threads are exposed and what direction the arrow on the stopper points. It needs to sit out far enough that touches the car body when the trunk is closed (to dampen vibration/noise) but in enough that it doesn't prevent the trunk lid from closing.
The wing is fairly well attached with double-sided adhesive tape, so it shouldn't fall off once your remove these, but just in case, remove the nut first, then the bolt. This prevents the wing from falling forward and putting stress on the lower bolt and bending the trunk lid surface. When you undo the bolt, lower the trunk lid as much as you can. That way when the bolt comes loose it won't fall in between inner and outer trunk lid layers and be difficult to retrieve.
Store the pieces you've removed in a safe place--they may be off for a while (did I mention this will take a lot of time?) so you don't want to lose them.
With the nuts and bolts undone on both sides, close the trunk lid. The wing is still fairly well-attached with double-sided tape. You could try and using fishing line to cut through the tape, as with badge removal. I found you don't need to: grab the vertical part of the wing and pull back on it firmly and steadily, not too hard because you don't want to permanently bend the trunk lid. The trunk lid may flex a bit; that's okay. You should hear some crackling as the adhesive begins to come undone. Ease up a bit as more and more of the tape comes undone--when the last bit lets go the wing will kind of "snap" free. It's best to do both sides at the same time so as to not end up twisting the wing.
With the wing off you'll see something like this on the trunk lid:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/02_G.jpg
If you're lucky, the double-sided tape will have stuck to the wing, but chances are it's more tightly bound to the trunk lid. You can use your favourite adhesive remover to clean it up but I found the best way was to rub most of it off with my fingertips (use different fingers to prevent blistering). There's also a thin adhesive "seal" around each bolt--remove this as well.
On the right side there's a black sticker covering some sort of hole in the trunk lid--leave this alone. Once everything is cleaned up, use some masking tape to cover the holes to prevent rain/dirt from getting in--you didn't think you'd finish this in one day did you?
Clean up any tape and anything else stuck to the wing as well--it's not nearly as sticky so this is pretty easy:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/03_G.jpg
Paint removal
You can use paint stripper and sanding, or sanding alone, to remove the paint. As you can see in the above photo, the two pieces of the vertical wing are riveted together so there's no easy way to take them apart--and even harder to put them back together. Therefore, you'll want to mask off the existing CF parts of the wing. It's fairly straightforward to get the edge of the masking tape into the joint between the two pieces--be thorough, especially if you'll be using paint stripper.
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/04_G.jpg
With everything masked, it's time to break out the paint stripper:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/06_G.jpg
The paint stripper I used creates a foam that sticks to the surface. After a few minutes the paint underneath "bubbles" and is easy to scrape off using a plastic scraping tool.
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/07_G.jpg
Warning: paint stripper is nasty stuff and you want to do everything possible from getting it on your skin. It penetrated right through the latex gloves I was wearing as if they weren't there, and gave me a nasty rash on one hand. Use thick gloves, goggles (if it's that bad on your skin, imagine what it'll do to your eyes), and a mask to protect yourself from the stuff. Also be sure to wear a long-sleeved shirt when spraying the paint stripper.
The paint stripper I used could not remove the bottom layer of primer, which is probably a good thing since this eliminates any risk of damaging the CF. Interestingly, on left side I encountered an unexpected number of layers of paint: the top clear-coat, red, silver, red, and primer. (On the right side it was just the expected clear-coat, red, and primer.)
Sanding: use the power sander to remove the remaining primer and paint from the large flat surface and the edges of the wing. Use a light-coloured sandpaper; if at any point you see black stuff starting on the sandpaper, stop sanding--you've hit carbon fiber. Sanding further will damage the CF and the nice woven pattern. Sand off the paint as evenly as possible--avoid removing the paint from one "spot" at a time.
After power-sanding there'll still be paint/primer left in a bunch of places--edges, joints, and spots not accessible with the power sander. Sand these by hand. To remove paint out of the joints (cracks), I first used a pointed knife to scrape and peel away most of the paint, and then used a piece of sandpaper folded around the edge of a credit card to sand the paint out of the cracks. This was probably the most time-consuming part of the project.
Remove the paint first with a coarser grade of sandpaper, moving on to finer grades to remove the last bits of paint. Finally, use a much finer grit (400-600) to make things extra smooth prior to initial painting.
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/09_G.jpg
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/10_G.jpg
You may notice a number of "pits" in the CF surface--small defects in the surface that got filled in with primer and paint. Do not attempt to sand these out as they can be pretty deep and you'll end up sanding into the CF. I used the tip of a knife to scrape away any paint in those pits but the primer remained. In the next step we'll conceal those pits.
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/11_G.jpg
Painting preparation
At this point the masking tape I'd originally applied was getting kind of ragged and torn up in a few spots so I actually removed and re-applied fresh masking tape--also to make sure the paint stripper hadn't affected any of the masked parts.
To conceal the primer-filled pits in the CF surface, first ink them over with a black permanent marker pen:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/12_G.jpg
Then dab some isopropyl alcohol onto a cloth or paper towel and rub over the spots you inked. The alcohol will remove any ink not stuck on the primer left in the pits, and part of the ink stuck to the primer. If you take off too much ink, apply and clean again. By leaving on just the right amount of ink on the primer you'll effectively conceal the defects:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/13_G.jpg
Use alcohol (on a lint-free cloth) to clean the rest of the wing prior to painting--handling the wing will leave oil from your skin on it and this will hamper paint adhesion so it's important to clean it off first. Use the alcohol sparingly as it could otherwise soak into the masking tape and un-stick it (and damage the finish underneath as well).
Painting
At this point you may elect to take the wing to a body/paint shop which will apply clear-coat for a fairly reasonable price, and do a lot better job of it than you (or at least, I) ever could at home.
Otherwise, apply clear paint, let dry, wet-sand (using finer and finer grades of sandpaper), and repeat again, as many times as needed to achieve a smooth finish, or until you get thoroughly sick of it--whichever comes first.
I used the remnants of an old dinner table as a rig for holding the wing while I was painting it:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/15_G.jpg
This is the wing after one coat of paint:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/16_G.jpg
Two coats:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/17_G.jpg
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/18_G.jpg
After applying the final coat of paint (I applied 4 coats total... or was it 5?), let the paint dry for a day or more, then polish using polishing compound (I also used 2000-grit sandpaper), polishing cloths, etc., until you're satisfied with the finish.
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/19_G.jpg
Re-mounting the wing
Cut and apply double-sided tape to replace the sticky bits you removed when the wing came off. Make sure to make replacement seals (indicated below) to go around the bolts--to prevent water from leaking into the trunk.
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/20_G.jpg
Leave the adhesive backing on for now. Test-fit the wing on the trunk. This is not so much to make sure that it fits--it came off there so obviously it will--but rather, a chance to practice putting the wing back on. Line up the bolts and plastic pins in the wing with the corresponding holes in the trunk lid and make sure the wing goes on easily.
Test-fitting the wing, I noticed one thing: even with the wing fully on, the white double-sided tape I used was still visible. I solved this by used a permanent marker to colour the edges of the tape:
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/21_G.jpg
Prep the surface of the trunk lid: clean off the parts that will receive the double-sided tape with rubbing alcohol to ensure maximal adhesion. Alcohol will damage the paint finish so only apply it to the area where the wing will go on.
Once you're sure the tape is well-concealed, and that everything fits, remove the backing from the double-sided tape, and put the wing on. Reinstall the nuts and bolts (torque to 46 in-lbs (around 4 ft-lbs)), plastic covers and rubber bumpers that you removed. Congratulations, you're done!
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/22_G.jpg
http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album153/23_G.jpg
Thoughts on doing this faster and better
Sanding and paint removal is the most time-consuming part of this project, but painting is actually the most difficult. I strongly suggest you get a body shop to clear-coat the wing for you, as they are better-equipped (and experienced) to do a much nicer job, and do it quickly (unless you happen to be a profession car painter).
Taking the two halves of the vertical winglets apart would make sanding much faster and easier. I'd estimate I spent at least six hours solely on sanding and scraping as much of the paint and primer out of the joint between the two pieces. Unfortunately the two halves appear to be joined using rivets, and possibly the four large fasteners whose heads are visible on the inside surface (with no clue as to how they might be removed), and possibly adhesive as well. If anyone out there figures out how to disassemble the wing--and more importantly, how to get it back together--please let me know.
Short of that, the next-fastest option is simply not to mask at all: sand the whole wing (including the existing clear-coated parts)--or perhaps, only mask off the horizontal portion of the wing. While this may seem more time-consuming, most of the surface is power-sandable, and you don't have to take off all the clear-coat. You'll save a lot of time (1-2 hours) by not having to mask the tricky parts, and sanding in the joint (crack) between the two pieces should also be easier now that you don't have to worry about not sanding one side.