1Revvin7

yeah it was completely cf underneath and above, but not that many layers. Maybe there was something in the middle, but damn it was flimsy.

Rob x-7

Thats an insanely cheap price if the hood is going to be made the way you say it is. Did you guarantee this guy a certain amount to be sold?

I do fiberglass for a living as well, and to make 2 molds, one for the top, and one for the underside is ALOT of hours. I figured it wouldnt be worth the hassle to only sell a handfull of hoods, people talk a great deal, but when it comes time to pay its a different story, lol.



The cost of materials for CF and the epoxy needed to lay it up is alot of money as well, plus finding a reliable source for the CF to begin with. Someone not familar with epoxy may not use a epoxy with UV shield in it, so those who dont paint thier hoods will have them not standing up to the sun's UV rays and yellowing or basically falling apart.



Glass on the other hand, alot cheaper, so I can see them cutting cost with doing a glass underside, but the mold making process to make the underside is where the intense labor would be. Adding re-inforcements into the finished part for the bolting of hinges as well as a hood catch is alot of work and the placement is crucial for proper fit.



Hence the reason no one bothers to make these hoods and why those that DO make them ask so much money for them.



Its not hard at all to paint CF by the way, once you are familiar with the amines that emit from it and how to deal with them and use a high quality epoxy based primer.

Dave G.

The cost of them is related to the fact that the owner of the fiberglass shop is close friends with one of our engine builders that works for the website. He is only charging us $2500 for the molds for 2 hoods which amounts to 4 different tools (molds) He has done quite a few different car CF hoods before, including the ones for the Ford Focus's at SEMA (not sure which booth, but I saw the pictures) and he does ALOT of body fabrication for Manx's and high dollar sand rails. He has even won first prize at quite a few of the local dune buggy shows for best body design in the CF class. His quality is not even at question to me, but the pictures of the first few hoods will prove it to everyone.



The CF he gets comes on rolls that look like short carpet rolls. Same things with his fiberglass from what I saw. I talked to him about the UV question since it was something that I hadn't covered with him, and he does us UV gel coating on the top layer, but he recommend it get painted since it is a car hood, and gets alot of sun for most of the day if it is parked outside at all. I will probably just have mine clearcoated with UV clearcoat at a local auot body shop for extra protection since mine is parked in the sun 12 months out of the year at work.



The rear floating hinge plates will work just like stock, and he says that they won't be any problem. We will be making the hood latches ourselves and he will be molding them into place as well.



He doesn't seem to think that they are hard at all, and even said that the N/A version would be easier to do than the Focus hoods he made. The TII will be a bit mroe work due to the hood scoop, which he will also be making in CF soon as a stock replacement for the regular TII hoods, and that is why they cost a bit more.



The best part about this is that the tooling for these hoods belongs to us. We have signed all the legal documents stating that they are ours, and can only be used to turn out a product with our authorization. Makes that $2500 out to be a pretty good investment



Great points everyone! Thanks for the interest!

Rob x-7

Ah so he charged you a initial price for the mold, that makes a bit more sense. So basically, he charged you for the molds, then he is charging you for the hoods, a win-win deal for him so I can see it being worth his time, and yours of course. The underside of the hoods I have seen have not been exact copies of the OEM hoods, usually they just run a re-inforcement around the edge of the hood, which is all you need anyhow on a hood. The hood catch I remember finding a source for them, my guess is he is glassing in flat aluminum stock where the hinges bolt up, and where the catch will be? And yes, the glass and cf comes on roles usually 36" in width. Looking forward to seeing these hoods. Here is a pic of that hood catch.

Dave G.

Yeah he is charging us for the molds for a few reasons. One, when they own the mold, if they don't sell hoods then they get burned for the cost of making the molds. Also, this way they know up front how serious we are about doing them. We also get full rights to them this way and he doesn't have to worry about someone else wanting to make them off the molds, and us getting mad yada yada yada...



These are exact molds of the OEM hoods top and bottom. I don't want this to be any less sturdy than the stock unit, and he said that it will definately be stronger and there won't be and flexing at high speeds etc.



That is a nice hood catch! We were going to just make them, but if we could buy them it would be alot easier on us. Where did you find that?

dysthymia

The more you talk about this, the more it sounds like a great idea. I'm totally hooked on the plan, I will definitely get one when I've got the money for my rebuild.

Seppuku

I wonder how it would look on a red vert? if i knew it wouldnt look like **** i might buy one.

dysthymia

He said the mold is exactly the same as stock.

Seppuku

He said the mold is exactly the same as stock. [/quote]

i was meaning the carbon fiber and red paint together on a vert with the black top and all. :rice:

Dave G.

UPDATE:



We should have the N/A CF Hood to us in about a week now. The TII hood will take a few days to a week longer to finish since it has a hood scoop. Pics soon to follow



Also for those wondering, the hood scoop on the TII hood will be integrated into the hood so that it is one piece. We will also be making the stock hood scoop insert in CF as well once the hoods are all worked out