RE: Need opinions
Good thoughts, however the styrene in all polyester resins would have a reaction with the clear coat applied to the mold and wrinkle it for sure! Another thing is I don't just pop these out of the molds and paint....I like to sand, fill in any imperfections, prime (if needed), and finally apply base coat. I use clear gelcoat directly in the molds allowing it to kick off, then place the carbon fiber over that in the correct area again allowing it to kick off. Spray in my normal gelcoat over everything and add my fiberglass as normal.
You will always get a better finish clear coating after the part is out of the molds anyway...no doubt. Have a new vacuum bagger that I've been anxious to use. The new cat molds will have very wide flanges so I can bag the parts using epoxy instead of polyester. This will defiantly enable me to build a completely air pocket and defect free (hopefully) part that will be superior to any polyester part. I would then be able to make 100% carbon fiber pieces that would look better than this windshield only part came out.