[anfro]

Ok, so I have too many rock chips on my hood. There is always road construction where I live so its hard to avoid. I figure I could just repaint the car for way too much money, or just the front section and have it blended in. Either way, the costs exceed a nice CF hood. I have seen them for around 500-600.

Obviously the oem hood weighs a ton, its one of the heavier cars hoods I have seen. So I assume the CF hood would weigh much less. But I have a few questions:

Is it made out of CF? Or is it a CF overlay on a oem hood? I would think a real pure CF hood would be much more than 5-600 dollars.

If it is real CF, do they have insulation on the underside to keep things quiet?

Weight difference?

How do rock chips appear on the hood?

Would a CF hood on an otherwise stock looking IS look dumb? All the pics I have seen are on cars that have body kits.

Thanks for the help!

 

[zachMDis]

no, it would be an actual CF hood... it looks good but depending on your setup and what kind of hood you want to get can cause heat to warp/ chip/ crack/ discolor the carbon fiber... make sure you get one with a heat shield, not just a hood...

 

[anfro]

Ok, I would want to get one that is as close to oem as I could. I don't need scoops or racing mesh inserts. And you say heat shield? So I take it the bottom of the CF hood has no insulation. Does this heat shield you speak of attach to the underside of the hood, or something else? Any links on this heat shield?

 

[nless_dream]

i was thinking just like you about repaint or CF hood but i will end up repainting and clear bra the front end.

 

[Snoop23]

i was thinking just like you about repaint or CF hood but i will end up repainting and clear bra the front end.

I was in this situation last year.... and I ended up repainting the front lip and hood together. It looks great, you would never be able to tell it was repainted. The shop matched the current color of my car because the "Black" faded, aged, and got weather over the years. They won't paint it the color it came off the factory floor, but rather the actual color of your car. The only thing about repainting the front end and living in construction areas, is that you need to let the paint cure for a few weeks. Yeah it's fine after a week to take out and drive, but the paint is still soft and chips EXTREMELY easily. It happened to me. If you are going to repaint the front, try your best and dedicate time to allowing your car to sit for 2-3 weeks, instead of one. Also, leave it out in the heat if at all possible as this will allow for faster curing.

 

[anfro]

ZachMDis, I noticed I had less rep. So I check out my rep. I see that you neg repped me. You provided the response:

"Next time I help you dont neg rep me"

Funny thing is, I didnt neg rep you. Because of that, I now will neg rep you. Cause thats an asshole thing to do. Next time check before you do that.

 

[anfro]

And to snoop23, thanks for the info. + rep to you!

 

[anfro]

And before someone beats me to it:


opcorn:

 

[eastondle]

With the info you provided, carbon fiber hoods are a great alternative, however it should compliment the car. So on a rather stock looking vehicle it may seem out of place. Pricing wise, 5-600 is generally the ball park for high quality carbon hoods (seibon,vis, cc, etc). Keep in mind though, just because you put a carbon hood on, doesn't mean that you won't have the same issues with rock chips as you're having.

If you can afford to repaint your hood, I would do that and add a clear bra. You'd be surprise how that stuff can save your front end. I smile when i look at my wife's e90 bmw and see that its still looks as good as when we bought it.

 

[anfro]

So clear bra's are some sort of plastic overlay for the front bumper / hood right?

 

[megz974]

what about cf hood with clear bra? best of both worlds. saves weight, looks cool and will be protected from chips; all for less then repainting. In fact i think that this is what i'll be doing... my car got keyed pretty badly on the hood a little while ago and was gunna get it repainted in the spring so I dont have to worry about snow/ salt anymore

 

[megz974]

and yeah... a clear bra is just a piece of clear plastic that's cut to fit over the hood and I think bumper too

 

[eastondle]

So clear bra's are some sort of plastic overlay for the front bumper / hood right?

in essence, yes. it's a clear vinyl like a high grade decal.

 

[anfro]

Does anyone know how the carbon fiber holds up under daily wear and tear? The CF hood is sounding better and better, plus it has to weigh much less. The clear bra things sounds cool, but I hate stickers. And they sound like stickers, like the kind people put on their PSP screens.

And for those of you who helped me without neg repping me for absolutely no reason, thanks! Have some damn rep!

 

[Snoop23]

CF would be the better way to go if you can afford it. Why not get the CF and paint that and put the clear bra on? .... That would be expensive.

 

[Vossont]

I have been running my ViS CF hood for 1 year this month and I do not have one rock chip. You need to clear coat it before installing it though, to prevent the resin from yellowing. I would go with Seibon or this one brand that starts with a D I can't remember it though.

-Will

 

[Mayo]

So clear bra's are some sort of plastic overlay for the front bumper / hood right?

Now here's a subject I know a little about. I purchased my CF hood from DG Motorsports and their quality is outstanding. They use a skeleton shell with CF overlaid like most CF hoods. They also utilize an OEM latch. The body shop did a custom paint job for me and also installed the heat insulation from the stock hood. I then purchased the hood props from FIGS made for the CF hood and had 3M Clearshield installed.

One thing that I did learn about CF is that you will tend to get little stress cracks due to the flexibility. There just isn't much you can do about that. Here are some pics.....

 

[XRflip05]

Is your car garage kept? Though I'm not 100% sure, I think that CF does have a tendency to be affected (effected?) by the sun. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Either way, CF+Clear Bra would probably be a nice bet.

 

[Mayo]

Yes, I do keep it in the garage. I have heard that about CF hoods but I'm not sure what the effect is.

 

[ill roller]

Is your car garage kept? Though I'm not 100% sure, I think that CF does have a tendency to be affected (effected?) by the sun. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Either way, CF+Clear Bra would probably be a nice bet.

Carbon will often turn yellow, or the clearcoat will begin to fade... This can be counteracted by adding more clearcoat to it, or just waxing it regularly.