Carbon fiber hood?

[parsonsj]

Anybody know of a source for a carbon fiber hood? I've modified my 'glass hood for my reversed hood hinge, and I'm thinking of sending my hood off to be replicated with the hinge mount boss "built in" and the latch mechanism boss removed. I've been doing bodywork on the hood for several days, and I'm thinking I could spend a month getting it all how I want it. Maybe a pro can pull it off faster?

And if I do all that, I might as well explore the idea of a cf hood.



Anybody?

[Jagarang]

There's been some talk on carbon fiber body panels losing their structural integrity due to ultraviolet damage. I heard that even the "UV Clearcoats", treatments, and coverings are really just the automotive equivalent to the ab roller and thigh master. Be sure to research this before spending a bunch of $$$.

**EDIT**
I may have missunderstood John. I was thinking that you were not going to paint the hood. I think the UV breakdown was for carbon fiber that was left clear to show the weave.

[JohnUlaszek]

I am no carbon fiber expert, but I worked on an optical bench for an instrument package that was going out into to space to look at the sun, and I can guarantee you that spacecraft will be much closer to the sun than your Nova.
I think it boils down to the process, and if it is UV sensitive, don't leave it bare, paint it to match the car. It would still look kick ass with the hood up
Jeff Hyasoki's (sp?) car up at DSE had a carbon hood on it and it looked fine to me.

I remember reading in some magazine a while ago about a shop that could duplicate any body panel in Aluminum if they had an original to work with. Maybe some winston cup guys could make a hood?

[parsonsj]

Has anybody heard from Keith Quinn lately? I think he was doing a cf hood.

I've largely completed the body work on the inside of the hood now, so I'm not quite as motivated now as I was then. But I'm still interested.

[StRacerDuke]

You might pick up an import mag or two at your local supermarket. (I know, you'll have to wear a fake pair of glasses and hat).

The reason being is that many of the import mags are filled with ads for body pieces, some of which are C/F. If I was going to to it I'd work backwards and start calling these companies and find who their manufacture is. Chances are that if you call about 5-7 of them you'll probably find that one company provides finished products to 2 or 3 of those distributors. Then you can call the manufacture directly to talk with them. I use to have a roomate that did installs for Opex imports and most of the companies that they purchased parts from didn't make their own pieces, they were just brokers.

Hope this might help.

[TonyL]

check these people out.

http://www.anvilauto.com/

[parsonsj]

Tony,
Excellent links! CompositeShop is in South Carolina, close enough for me to drive down and save hundreds on shipping/crating.

thanks!

[USAZR1]

VFN builds CF parts for just about everything. The chassis shop that built my 69 Elky has an awesome 69 Chevelle race car that VFN built all the body parts out of CF.

[JMarsa]

I'm going to try ro resurect this thread. Other than VFN, anyone know of shops that currently offer carbon fiber hoods for muscle cars? http://www.carbon-werks.com/ apprears to be out of business.

--JMarsa

[TUBED]

John,
Check with Bob Johnson (Orange Cuda) and see if he'll tell you who did the C/F panels for Alan when he built the car. Bob mentioned that he had an extra front clip for his car and stated in one his many posts who did the C/F, whoever it was is doing it for some of the NMCA Street Shootout cars I believe.
Gerald

[customcarpainter]

The CF work on the Cuda was done by 3G Services based out of the Detroit area.I can tell you that the process they use is different than what MOST people use who do CF work.I don't know if there was ever any discussion about the UV effect on the CF or not,but you'll have to look long and hard to find a company who can lay the weave as nice as what they did.Bob will have the number for 3G.My advice is to finish the hood as though you were going to paint it black,the nicer it is the nicer the finished product will be in the end.

[parsonsj]

My advice is to finish the hood as though you were going to paint it black,the nicer it is the nicer the finished product will be in the end.

Yep, that's what I and the boyz at Road Killer Kustoms did. The glass hood came out awesome ... but, it's not cf. Any WAG (wild-assed guesses) on lead time and price?

jp

[tbair]

I looked into this as well with a car Im building, There is a local race shop that car do it.They do alot of Indy car parts. They told me about 2000 for the hood and about 2 weeks.They also said that when it was finished it would be about 1/8 larger than the hood they pulled the mold from.I know its not a big deal to adjust the front end but just thought it may be some info you would like to have.Tim

[Jim Nilsen]

Hi John, saw the thread and though I would ask how things are for your time frame to be finished?

Good luck and hope things are going well.

Jim Nilsen

[Alan Johnson]

These guys did all the carbon work on Bob's cuda. Great to work with, best quality, pricing and delivery time of any shop that I have come across. The carbon parts will be exact copies of what you provide them, the only gain will be in what ever paint or clear finish that is added. All automotive urethane clear has UV protection.

Alan



Doug Groh
3G Services
12254 Universal Drive
Taylor, Michigan
48180
734-947-9434
734-947-9458 Fax
[email protected]
http://www.3gservicesinc.com

[JMarsa]

Thanks for all the replies.

--JMarsa

[parsonsj]

Doug Groh
3G Services
12254 Universal Drive
Taylor, Michigan
48180
734-947-9434
734-947-9458 Fax
[email protected]
http://www.3gservicesinc.com

Thanks Alan. I wish I had this information last summer, when I was actively looking for a cf hood. I did a lot of research and was disappointed with the responses I got, so I fabbed up my glass hood, and RKK made it look good.

But if they can replicate exactly my existing hood, then that's very attractive to me.

jp

[hotwheels]

For anyone who might stumble on this thread, I thought I would let everybody know that Anvil Auto has some cf parts for 1st gen Camaros ready to ship and is working on many more parts for additional cars. We are a sponsor to this web site. Thank you!
www.anvilauto.com

Best, MaTT
ANVil

[Damn True]

VFN is not doing CF stuff for normal consumers for the foreseable future. The raw material is just too expensive.

JP, you might hit up "BossBill" over on CC.com he is doing a nearly complete CF body for his Turbocharged Cobra-R. You might talk him into it. I spoke to him about it, but the cost was out of my league.

[hotwheels]

OR..., you could go to www.anvilauto.com and get what you need at an affordable price, NOW! We can ship today and have it to you in about a week or less!

Best, MaTT
ANVil