BenFer carbon fiber

Recieved my BenFer CF front fender after waiting forever, it came cracked. Was told it would be another four weeks to get a replacement.

Motostrano told me they are having a tough time with BenFer and that even they as a dealer do not have a telephone contact for them.

I tried BenFer direct for weeks before ordering thru Motostrano.

Just a FYI for anyone trying to get something out of them.

Scott

There have been several negative reports from benfer in the last couple weeks... Does anyone know whats going on?

Joe at Motostrano said they are a small two people operation and have been busy with trade shows. Having no telephone contact for thir dealers and customers and not answering email....well I would never run my business this way no matter how good the prodcut may be.

OBTW the Cf front fender looked no better than DP parts (I worked on the development of the CF rear tail section for the 777 airplane for 8 years).

Thanks

Scott

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mouser830 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">...the Cf front fender looked no better than DP parts</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's too bad. The guy behind Benfer is Clay Carrier. He made a twill fender for my SSie and it arrived in great shape and was a great quality piece. Clay had mentioned that he does not clear coat his pieces, instead relying on the resins for shine. I spoke to a few other CF people since then and none can understand how you can maintain the apperance of the part without a UV protect clear coat. My fender has not yellowed, but it is not as shiny as it was when new. I'll probably get it cleared at a local body shop this summer so it matches the CF rear hugger.

Carbon fiber should not need clearcoat, which is paint. The epoxy is naturally shiny (if thick enough and polished). I thought clearcoat was just for the stock, thin stuff with the pin holes in the epoxy! I have 4 Clay Carrier carbon fiber parts on my 1997 900 SP and they are all beautiful (and $$ !!; but you usually get what you pay for).
Joe

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Joe B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Carbon fiber should not need clearcoat, which is paint. The epoxy is naturally shiny (if thick enough and polished).</TD></TR></TABLE>

I am no CF expert, just an owner, but from what I have been told, the only way to ensure a lasting finish is to use clearcoat. I have a Clay Carrier front fender as I mentioned and despite regular care it doesn't shine as nice as it did the day I took it out of the box. Is it still a great piece - yes.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Joe B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Carbon fiber should not need clearcoat, which is paint. The epoxy is naturally shiny (if thick enough and polished). I thought clearcoat was just for the stock, thin stuff with the pin holes in the epoxy! I have 4 Clay Carrier carbon fiber parts on my 1997 900 SP and they are all beautiful (and $$ !!; but you usually get what you pay for).
Joe</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm just learning some of the ins and out of FRP construction so I could be wrong, but here goes....
You have to types of epoxy, the regular stuff used to layup the carbon and then the surface coat epoxy, which is thicker and as the name implies is used for the top coat of the part. Usually if you are using a surface coat epoxy it goes on first then the first layer of carbon, then it is wet out with regular epoxy. Many layers are added on top of the first layer. The problem with epoxy surface coat is that the only kind I have seen is white and not really transparent (as opposed to polyester gel/surface coat which can be clear or white). So it doesn't look good for non painted carbon parts. So for non painted carbon parts you either need to use polyester resin/clear surface coat or epoxy resin and no surface coat. But without a surface coat UV light and the elements can damage carbon parts, so then a clear coat (paint on type) can be applied to add protection from the sun and other elements. You could use a clear polyester gel coat and epoxy resin for the layup, but from what I have read, this is not recommended b/c the surface coat could delaminate from the rest of the part since the two resins are not really compatible.

Of course with that being said, I think benfen uses prepeg stuff. Which I don't know too much about, but I'm guessing the above also applies to prepegs. If it is an epoxy prepeg then your surface coat options are: white epoxy or a paint on clear coat.

I'd bet Clay Carrier uses only epoxy on his pre-preg stuff; no clear coat. My epoxy was getting a little dull too, but polished up like a baby's behind with swirl remover, followed by polish (I use Maguire's).
Joe