Some weeks ago I bought the NRG mugen intake replica

 

4+ years on my Mugen intake and it's as new looking as it came out of the box (not including two chips I put in the clear on my due to my own mis-steps).

Hey with the money you saved on the knock-off, go get it painted.

BTW, watch for the clear coat to start peeling off. CF has an uncanny property of "absorbing" paint and clearcoat. Don't be surprised to see orange peel leading to pitting leading to peel.

Dry-carbon manufacturing tends not to lead to that.

 

If you don't want to spend any money on getting it re-cleared or painting it, take a polishing compound to the clear with a buffer and a medium sponge. Polish it up....the haze may disappear.

 

if resin fades like that, that means cheap resin was used and they knew about it from the get go, which is wrong for manufacture to produce products that are sold for their value in the appearance of the carbon fiber but acknowledging the failure of the appearance of the product during the pre-production of the item.

i would make a big deal about it.

Then wet sand it and try spraying it with heat resistant clear coat.

 

About sanding and reclearing it, I'm not really sure how that would end up because down here the shops don't have much experience with CF, and maybe it'll end up worst.
Besides, the "fogging" or fading seams like it's between the clear coat and the CF, so I'm not sure how much sanding would be needed.

 

Ohhh...could the "clear coat" be lifting off the CF? If it does, I think that means the resin on the surface didn't cure to the CF material. If that starts chipping off in large enough chunks, you could be left with exposed CF. It may be flimsy.

I'm not sure I know what I'm talking about....I'm just relating it to a couple of CF hoods I've seen after accidents. The resin and the clearcoat would come off of the CF. The CF material that was exposed was pliable; no rigidity at all. Sure hope that doesn't happed to your piece.

 

theres a few threads in the wash and wax section on how to bring you CF piece back to life

 

on many replica cf parts, the manufacturer uses a gel-coat, used on boats and other marine vehicles instead of clear coat used on automobile paint

over time, the gel-coat oxidizes and dust and matter get caught in the top layer

boat supply stores carry gel-coat cleaners and polishes to get rid of the cloudy surface

check in wash/wax forum for an in depth article

 

This is a good example of you get what you pay for.

 

Not a manufacturer's defect?????? Are they kidding????