Carbon Roof Restoration- A Success Story

[Hein Jockins]

Just wanted to share my success story of CF roof restoration, as I was hesitant to do this:

Going into this I had pretty minimal expectations on what the end result was going to look like. I mainly 1) didn't want the fibers to be damaged in the process of repair leading to me having to buy a new roof and 2) I wanted to rid of the ripped clear you can see above the front passenger. Plenty of people have done this job, and quite frankly, it's not all that difficult just takes proper skill, knowledge of where things can go wrong, and time. I have none of the above, and took it to a local shop in Birmingham who I've never used before but came recommended from a local detailer. They had never done the job before but are certified to work with carbon through BMW, Audi, Porsche. As far as options in my city go, they were the only takers --finding specialized services like this can be difficult in a medium-sized city.

I was told to expect a result of 85% "like-new," and honestly the roof looks 100% new, and I couldn't be any happier. The car is mainly tracked, and cosmetic appearance isn't top of the priority, but having a yellow carbon roof was kind of distracting.

The process was relatively simple: There was existing ppf on the roof, and when they removed this, the existing clear came off in one big sheet along with the ppf which worked out. From there they used water and dawn several times to clean the fibers. Fortunately in my case, much of the yellowing was in the gel clear and not the actual fibers. Then clear was applied on top. From what I was told, the fibers were "thirsty" and required a lot of clear but nonetheless the result is spectacular. After this it was polished and smoothed out to remove any unnecessary texture.

Dirty Wizard Paintworx (local to Birmingham) did the job, and I'd highly recommend anyone in my area to use these guys.

Attached are some before and after photos:

[ARS18]

Awesome! I’m in Birmingham as well and have been wondering if there was anyone local that would do this. Thanks for posting!

[Hein Jockins]

Originally Posted by ARS18

Awesome! I’m in Birmingham as well and have been wondering if there was anyone local that would do this. Thanks for posting!

I asked several more prominent shops and all refused the job, so I also assumed it wasn't likely unless I went to ATL or Nashville which I wouldn't have done. You can find them on Facebook or you can DM here for their contact if you want. Nice to see some bham representation here, as there aren't too many of us!

[shimmy23]

that turned out amazing!!

[S65M3AL]

The work looks great. I live in Birmingham as well, off of 280 towards Chelesa. I need to have my roof and carbon fiber side mirror covers done. Are these guys in BHM or in Bessemer? Thanks. Dom

[Hein Jockins]

Originally Posted by S65M3AL

The work looks great. I live in Birmingham as well, off of 280 towards Chelesa. I need to have my roof and carbon fiber side mirror covers done. Are these guys in BHM or in Bessemer? Thanks. Dom

Hey Dom it's Joe! They're in Bessemer, but I wouldn't sweat traveling a little further for a proper job. It's delicate dealing with raw carbon, so I'd much rather someone who knows what they're doing.

[S65M3AL]

Thanks Joe

[Vuu]

Originally Posted by S65M3AL

The work looks great. I live in Birmingham as well, off of 280 towards Chelesa. I need to have my roof and carbon fiber side mirror covers done. Are these guys in BHM or in Bessemer? Thanks. Dom

When you go get it done, if you have a lot of yellowing, request tinted clear coat.

The gel is the worst part of the CF roof and re-doing it with 3-4 coats of clear really makes it brand new and tougher than before.

[ShindigsTX]

Looks great!

I've got 4 or 5 of these little holes that look sort of like rock chips. Any tips on how I could repair this myself?



I was thinking I could carefully remove the damaged clearcoat surrounding each chip, fill the cavity with resin of some kind (need a recommendation), then wetsand, polish, etc? I don't need it to be perfect to make me happy.

[Hein Jockins]

I'm really just familiar with the process of re-clearing the entire roof and cleaning the raw carbon. I'd imagine what you're suggesting is the right move, although if the crack is just in the clear, you might only need to take down the existing clear and re clear as opposed to filling anything.

[DrFerry]

Thanks for posting. Awesome result. Mine is showing some resin oxidation wear from ultraviolet. 2008 original owner, in the sunny southeast.
.

[ARS18]

Originally Posted by Hein Jockins

I asked several more prominent shops and all refused the job, so I also assumed it wasn't likely unless I went to ATL or Nashville which I wouldn't have done. You can find them on Facebook or you can DM here for their contact if you want. Nice to see some bham representation here, as there aren't too many of us!

Did you happen to contact Classic Car Motoring? I would think they would do it, just curious since I’ve done work for them in the past. I contacted your guys though and I’ll probably get them to do it in the spring.

[Hein Jockins]

Originally Posted by ARS18

Did you happen to contact Classic Car Motoring? I would think they would do it, just curious since I’ve done work for them in the past. I contacted your guys though and I’ll probably get them to do it in the spring.

Classic Cars is actually who I contacted first before I met the guys I went with. Met with them, went over the job, never heard back. I followed up a few weeks later and never heard back again. Don’t think they were all that interested, and they made it clear they never did this before and weren’t sure.

Dirty Wizard Paintworx who I went with actually just did another roof repair for a friend of mine S65M3AL and it looks incredible. They also did a complete respray (panels off and everything) and the car looks brand new. I’ve been sending everyone their way hah. Maybe he can post some pics in here if his car.

[Hein Jockins]

Originally Posted by DrFerry

Thanks for posting. Awesome result. Mine is showing some resin oxidation wear from ultraviolet. 2008 original owner, in the sunny southeast.
.

The sunny sourheast will do it. Before I bought mine, my car was sitting in the Louisiana bayou parked outside since 2008. Water spots, yellow roof, etc. Pumped to have the car back to life now.

[S65M3AL]

Sorry for the late reply. Here are the pics of the work Dirty wizard paintworx did on my E92 M3. The overall paint and carbon turned out awesome, couldn't be more satisfied. These guys do it right and work their magic.

[Hein Jockins]

Originally Posted by S65M3AL

Sorry for the late reply. Here are the pics of the work Dirty wizard paintworx did on my E92 M3. The overall paint and carbon turned out awesome, couldn't be more satisfied. These guys do it right and work their magic.

Love these photos. Goes without saying...the car looks brand new in person.

[DrFerry]

Originally Posted by S65M3AL

Sorry for the late reply. Here are the pics of the work Dirty wizard paintworx did on my E92 M3. The overall paint and carbon turned out awesome, couldn't be more satisfied. These guys do it right and work their magic.

Thanks for your follow up post and the photos. Looks like Dirty Wizard Paintworx did an awesome job. Your roof looks as good as new now. I wish they were closer to me. I'm not sure how I'm going to find a competent shop in my neck of the woods though perhaps I could always refer any shop I chose to Dirty Wizard for tech help if needed. Thanks again. Your car looks ultra clean. Very nice E92 M3 example.

[Hein Jockins]

Originally Posted by DrFerry

Thanks for your follow up post and the photos. Looks like Dirty Wizard Paintworx did an awesome job. Your roof looks as good as new now. I wish they were closer to me. I'm not sure how I'm going to find a competent shop in my neck of the woods though perhaps I could always refer any shop I chose to Dirty Wizard for tech help if needed. Thanks again. Your car looks ultra clean. Very nice E92 M3 example.

Yeah the hardest part is leaving the keys with strangers and hoping they understand how delicate this is. I felt good with these guys cause, although they've never done this job before, they assured me they have experience and are certified with carbon fiber for Porsche and Audi. And they provided pictures of an R8 carbon wing resto they did a week prior.

Wish I knew people in SC for you, but you could always make a trip out of it and schlep to Birmingham.