A lot of you have asked for a full carbon version of the GTR hood and now is your chance to hop on board!
Let me preface this by saying I've always wanted to take on this project, but it has been difficult for me to invest into the project because of the upfront tooling costs to make this happen. I make carbon fiber parts on the side and laying up aerospace parts is my full-time gig. A lot of you know that almost all the vented "carbon fiber" hoods available are just a single layer of carbon on the outer skin reinforced by fiberglass, while the inner molding is just fiberglass on its own. A lot of the time that inner molding can just be some chop strand mat that is wet laid. Usually, that's where all the extra weight goes. It's pretty disappointing people buy these hoods and save probably half a pound compared to the OEM aluminum hood. You see, I used to sell these very parts and I stopped once I realized the whole industry is a sham. Don't get me started on "double sided hoods." Instead of making it in full carbon, they are just adding a cosmetic layer to the inner fiberglass molding. That extra cosmetic layer probably leaves a part as heavy as the aluminum hood.
Rant over.
Now you may be thinking, "Well what's your plan?"
For starters, I have the Seibon variant of the hood, and I plan to mold it. But not to a tee. I'm only going to cutout the inner section including the vents/hood bulge and then have a body shop mold that shape onto a stock OEM hood. Reason for this is to try and attain as close to OEM fitment as possible. As you may imagine this process won't be cheap but will definitely be worth it. Now as far as the actual layup goes, this will be a FULL carbon hood. Meaning 0 fiberglass used. Not "single sided,or double sided" but full carbon fiber (or kevlar if you're into that). Thanks to countless experiments of mine I was able to calculate the plies needed just buy measuring the thickness of edges. Once I calculated the materials, I was able to do some math to figure a rough estimate of the weight. I got ~9 lbs. This is using the same dimensions of thickness as the aluminum hoods. Somebody help me and tell me how much a stock m3 hood weighs because I see different answers on the internet. I can always make it even lighter but for starters I want to go with something that won't be floppy at high speeds. I'm not really familiar with other carbon fiber hood weights so if mine is high, let me know and I'll go back to the drawing board lol. I know I can shave about 20% more using a special fabric but it would also be costlier. Also, I must mention that the parts will be Vacuum Infused. for those of you familiar with the process, you would know it yields similar results to prepreg. Also they would just come with a protective gel coat (Duratec, not that cheap stuff) but you always have the option to pay more for clearcoat. I will also be bonding with 3m DP420 adhesive which is known to be one of the best in the industry. The epoxy resin would be Pro Set, and the actual carbon fiber would be the same stuff we use to build the rocket stringers at work minus the prepreg resin.
EDIT*
I see there's alot of interest in a mk renn style hood. Should people decide on that I can definitely do that for the same price. Just show your interest in the thread.
Now, time for the money talk.
These prices are rough estimates, but if I were able to garner some attention I could really pinpoint the pricing because of bulk ordering materials, I'd have the ability to get discounts and therefore pass the savings onto you guys. What I came up with was as follows:
10 people- $2000
15- $1900
20-$1800
+$400 for Clearcoat post cure, otherwise it will only have Duratec Sun Shield Gel Coat
Realistically, I would be able to produce one a week and it would be produced on a first come first serve basis. If you were looking to expedite it, you could technically cut the line but there would be an added fee to make up for my loss of sleep after cranking out two in a week. At the end of the day I will honor the list as it comes in.
In conclusion, please share this amongst other forums and lets see who's really about it. All proceeds from this will go towards future projects. I just want to grow my company and this is an opportunity to do something cool. As far as payment goes I would need 50% upfront, then 50% when it comes time to order the carbon fiber. After receiving the deposit from the first ten people the molding process begins and should take between 3-4 weeks. After that production starts. Feel free to ask any questions as you please
Let me preface this by saying I've always wanted to take on this project, but it has been difficult for me to invest into the project because of the upfront tooling costs to make this happen. I make carbon fiber parts on the side and laying up aerospace parts is my full-time gig. A lot of you know that almost all the vented "carbon fiber" hoods available are just a single layer of carbon on the outer skin reinforced by fiberglass, while the inner molding is just fiberglass on its own. A lot of the time that inner molding can just be some chop strand mat that is wet laid. Usually, that's where all the extra weight goes. It's pretty disappointing people buy these hoods and save probably half a pound compared to the OEM aluminum hood. You see, I used to sell these very parts and I stopped once I realized the whole industry is a sham. Don't get me started on "double sided hoods." Instead of making it in full carbon, they are just adding a cosmetic layer to the inner fiberglass molding. That extra cosmetic layer probably leaves a part as heavy as the aluminum hood.
Rant over.
Now you may be thinking, "Well what's your plan?"
For starters, I have the Seibon variant of the hood, and I plan to mold it. But not to a tee. I'm only going to cutout the inner section including the vents/hood bulge and then have a body shop mold that shape onto a stock OEM hood. Reason for this is to try and attain as close to OEM fitment as possible. As you may imagine this process won't be cheap but will definitely be worth it. Now as far as the actual layup goes, this will be a FULL carbon hood. Meaning 0 fiberglass used. Not "single sided,or double sided" but full carbon fiber (or kevlar if you're into that). Thanks to countless experiments of mine I was able to calculate the plies needed just buy measuring the thickness of edges. Once I calculated the materials, I was able to do some math to figure a rough estimate of the weight. I got ~9 lbs. This is using the same dimensions of thickness as the aluminum hoods. Somebody help me and tell me how much a stock m3 hood weighs because I see different answers on the internet. I can always make it even lighter but for starters I want to go with something that won't be floppy at high speeds. I'm not really familiar with other carbon fiber hood weights so if mine is high, let me know and I'll go back to the drawing board lol. I know I can shave about 20% more using a special fabric but it would also be costlier. Also, I must mention that the parts will be Vacuum Infused. for those of you familiar with the process, you would know it yields similar results to prepreg. Also they would just come with a protective gel coat (Duratec, not that cheap stuff) but you always have the option to pay more for clearcoat. I will also be bonding with 3m DP420 adhesive which is known to be one of the best in the industry. The epoxy resin would be Pro Set, and the actual carbon fiber would be the same stuff we use to build the rocket stringers at work minus the prepreg resin.
EDIT*
I see there's alot of interest in a mk renn style hood. Should people decide on that I can definitely do that for the same price. Just show your interest in the thread.
Now, time for the money talk.
These prices are rough estimates, but if I were able to garner some attention I could really pinpoint the pricing because of bulk ordering materials, I'd have the ability to get discounts and therefore pass the savings onto you guys. What I came up with was as follows:
10 people- $2000
15- $1900
20-$1800
+$400 for Clearcoat post cure, otherwise it will only have Duratec Sun Shield Gel Coat
Realistically, I would be able to produce one a week and it would be produced on a first come first serve basis. If you were looking to expedite it, you could technically cut the line but there would be an added fee to make up for my loss of sleep after cranking out two in a week. At the end of the day I will honor the list as it comes in.
In conclusion, please share this amongst other forums and lets see who's really about it. All proceeds from this will go towards future projects. I just want to grow my company and this is an opportunity to do something cool. As far as payment goes I would need 50% upfront, then 50% when it comes time to order the carbon fiber. After receiving the deposit from the first ten people the molding process begins and should take between 3-4 weeks. After that production starts. Feel free to ask any questions as you please
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