Hey guys.
Somewhat unfortunately my tenants decided to scratch the crap out of my hood, and dented it a bit. It wasn't intentional, but none the less, I need a new hood (obiously the price to fix the hood is ridiculous).
I've been looking around, and so far haven't been able to find much in the way of aftermarket hoods, I do realize it's not a common trend to put an aftermarket hood on our cars.
I was looking for something along the lines of Ceasar's Chariot's old hood, but have been unable to find anything like it. I looked for old pics of his hood, but couldn't find any, hopefully you guys know what I'm talking about, two rectangular indents near the windsheild side of the hood.
This is the closest ref. I could find, obiously I don't want it so ridiculous.
I was also looking at the carbon fibre hoods, I like the concept, and I'm sure it would work on my car (see sig). But I don't like the negatives I've heared about constant waxing, cleaning, etc. just to try too keep it looking half decent due to sun deterioration. Painting is an option obiously, but I'm not sure, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of carbon fibre? (yes I know it's still lighter, but we're talking around 400-600$ here, then painting it, $$$$$$$$$!?!?!)
I'm hoping with your combined experience you guys can point me towards what I'm looking for.
And before it comes out - I know I can easily get an OEM hood, if it ends up being the best choice, I will, I'm just trying to make sure I exhaust my other options first.
Seems kind of odd that they don't even list the manufacturer, no?
My thoughts exactly, I e-mailed the store owner and informed him of that, this is the info I received back:
The hood is privately manufactured here in the USA for our parent company KKO Inc. The price shown is for delivery to a business address within the continental USA. $40 more for residential delivery. Shipping to Ontario is $80 more to a business address or $105 more shipped to your home. The hood is made to order and would take 5-10 business days to be manufactured and then another 5-7 for delivery. Shipment is made via baxglobal.
The image is just an oem style carbon fiber hood example. The actual product is a 95-99 Nissan Maxima OEM Style hood made in carbon fiber with an OEM style latch and mounting points.
I have had my CF hood for about 3 years now and have no sun deterioration or fading. I'm not big on waxing/extensively washing my car so it gets no special treatment other than the occasional soapy water. My car is garage kept though at home. While I like it, I believe I am going to paint it because it gets too much attention that I dont like and the rest of the car looks stock-ish so it would better suit the look of my car if it was car-color.
some girl actually backed into me the other day adn I saw the hood fold and I thought it was garbage. To my surprised the fiberglass support under the hood cracked in a few places but the carbon fiber straightened right back out with NO visual damage whatsoever.
hood is popped in this pic fyi
Last edited by chillin014; 10-22-2008 at 07:43 AM.
did you see this one? http://www.deftracing.com/carbon_fib...san_maxima.htm
Talk to a body shop that does custom work. See if they recommend adding clear to the carbon fiber hoods. That what I would do if I was going to get one.
Also, from what I have seen (on other cars) the cf hood is usually smaller and results in an increased gap between the hood and the fenders. Sometimes the fenders can be pulled in but that might cause some other panels to be out of alingment.
I have had my CF hood for about 3 years now and have no sun deterioration or fading. I'm not big on waxing/extensively washing my car so it gets no special treatment other than the occasional soapy water. My car is garage kept though at home. While I like it, I believe I am going to paint it because it gets too much attention that I dont like and the rest of the car looks stock-ish so it would better suit the look of my car if it was car-color.
some girl actually backed into me the other day adn I saw the hood fold and I thought it was garbage. To my surprised the fiberglass support under the hood cracked in a few places but the carbon fiber straightened right back out with NO visual damage whatsoever.
hood is popped in this pic fyi
Its true. his hood still looks clean with no fading whatsoever. it must be some kind of special cf hood. lol
i ordered mine march 9th.
so almost a full month ago.
Corey said i'd get a phone call after the hood was finished being built to confirm my shipping which is shipped by some special company or something??? im not all too sure. i never got the phone call. go figure.
corey did email me though on march 20th saying that carbon efx would ship my hood "early next week" which would have been the 27th or 28th. i dont know how long shipping should take? but i've been checking my p.o. box and no sign of it....and no reply to my emails that i sent to corey.
those sarona hoods are made of figerglass right? whats the weight of fiberglass compared to carbon fiber?
Correct. I'm not sure but they are very light. Could be about the same as CF. When I picked up Ptatohed's fiberglass Sarona hood (same as Ceasar's I believe) it was light as a feather. Ptatohed wrote the weight down in his journal. Wish I could remember.
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yup carbonefx. I like it for the most part, I was afraid at first because I remember people talking about replacing theirs after a few years. Personally, a hood is not an item I want to WEAR OUT and have to be replaced...I've got tires/brakes/waterpumps etc for that. The fitment is pretty good in my opinion as well. I did put a small shim on one of the fenders but really did not have to sit there and tweak it to make it fit. When I was backed-into I didn't plan on replacing the hood but that was more for financial reasons than anything else. Weight savings is big in my book if it can be done practically.
I inquired about painting it at a shop that I use and the guy was really discouraging me from doing it..I'm not sure why either. He was saying it would look bad after a year or so which didn't make sense to me personally since he'd just be painting on the scuffed clearcoat like they do on any other body panel...
Also think about things like your windshield washers. I never installed mine because I was kind of worried about irreversible drilling on the hood. Also, hood pins are highly recommended.
Thanks for some good responses,
Not particularly a fan of the Sarona hoods, too ricey for me.
I haven't heard of fitment/gap issues with the carbon fiber hoods, is it really common? I don't want hood pins either, I can't understand why they'd be necessary if the hood is quality built.... opinions?
I'm going to check out a couple body/paint shops for rough pricing and opinions, try and find the most cost effective way.
So far I've not been able to find any CF hoods that are decent for less than $500 (shipped), plus clearcoating/UV treatment.
Best I've found is fully treated, fully equipped hoods (ViS being one) for around 670 + taxes at my door.
Otherwise I've found cheap ones that are pretty much just one layer/cover of carbon fiber, for 'the look'. I've noticed a lot of places, ebay, etc. trying to pass these off swiftly as 'CARBON FIBER HOODS'
I've had to contact every seller to ask if the hoods are 100% carbon fiber, whats included, and wheter the holes are there for the washers.
I'm prepared to pay around 600-700 if I must, I just want to make sure I'm getting what I pay for.
How has everyone's experience been with CF hoods??
Yes, saw that one, they want over $490 just for shipping, and that's only to the airport!! then I've got to pay a pick up fee plus drive the 130mins to pick it up.
I laughed so hard at the girl when she told me that.
So I'm getting the impression that Carbon EFX or ViS is a good way to go, for fitiment and pricing, etc.......????
. Painting is an option obiously, but I'm not sure, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of carbon fibre? (yes I know it's still lighter, but we're talking around 400-600$ here, then painting it, $$$$$$$$$!?!?!)
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