Carbon Fiber Worries

[Dream240]

I just bought a Carbon Fiber hood from a fellow Zilvia member, and it fits great. The only problem I'm noticing is that at medium and high freeway speeds, the hood bows up about 11/2 inches in the middle and rattles to the point that I think it's going to fly off!! Bye...bye 400 bucks!!

I just did a 400 mile drive Sunday and when I made a pit stop I noticed the hood screws were coming loose! I tightened them down but the hood still rattles. Now I know that the Carbon Fiber is designed to be lightweight and flexible, but is the flexibility going to be my demise? I know you can buy those hood clips to secure the hood down but I really don't want to buy those if I don't have to. Anyone that's got a CF hood have this problem? And has anyone lost the hood a 100 plus speeds?

Thanks for the input.

[AKADriver]

BUY HOOD PINS!

Never run a composite hood (fiberglass or carbon fiber) without hood pins/locks. You're very right to think it's unsafe.

[burgy240]

I'm getting a second set of hood pins because at 90+ it still shakes. I wouldn't trust the hood latch alone when it comes to a CF hood.

[sykikchimp]

I've seen tons of pictures of destroyed windshields, and hoods from this exact thing.

Hood Pins are a MUST HAVE for composite hoods.. not optional.

[Dream240]

Thanks for the replies, does anyone know of a site where I can get them cheap? And what's the average price for a pair?

Thanks again.

[Fastback180]

Go to Advanced Auto. They have them for like $15. But that should be the ONLY reason you go there, or unless you're buying brake clean.

[Natty]

Why are hoodpins a must for composite hoods as opposed to the stock hood?
I only ask because my stock hood shimmys up and down a slight bit at highway speeds. It's been like that for 15,000miles. The latch seems secure.
Jeff

[AKADriver]

because those types of hoods can flex in the middle and pull right out of the latch.

my stock hood flutters a little bit too, to fix it you can adjust the latch and/or the rubber stops so that the hood holds tight against the latch.

[Dream240]

Alright, guys thanks for the replies, I guess I'm lucky that the hood didn't fly up on my 400 mile drive. I was hitting speeds of about 95 in some places, and I just had this funny feeling that it was going to snap. Boy am I lucky, wouldn't want that 400 bucks to go to waste!

One more question, when I first bought the hood, it was smooth and nice, and after driving the first day, it developed all these dimples and small creases. Is this normal? I figured it was the CF flexing the epoxy and there was nothing I could do about it. But then I started thinking, in about a year will my hood look like a crumpled piece of paper? Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[burgy240]

How many layers of CF is there and do you have a heat mat on the underneath of the hood? This may not be the case but I always worry about the heat from my engine warping the CF.

[DarkRaptor42]

In my opinion Id never buy a CF hood agian. I cost me 450 and then the latch broke the day before I was gonna put hood pins in. The hood was strong enough to bend the hood hinges in half. I had to go get new ones of those. The hood was alright though, only thing that happened to it is that the under portion started to seperate and it started to get worse so I stuck it together with fiberglass. But the flopping around at high speeds even with the hood pins bothers me. Recently Ive been thinking about selling it.

[blatch]

You get a VIS hood, no other brand. You get some sort of billet hood pins.



What do you do with a C/F trunk, though?

[Dream240]

Originally posted by burgy240
How many layers of CF is there and do you have a heat mat on the underneath of the hood? This may not be the case but I always worry about the heat from my engine warping the CF.

Its a double layer hood, and I don't have a heat mat under the hood. Should I pull the old one off my old hood? Would that be my best bet?