Carbon Fiber hood

[BeirBrennerE30]

I had a really early VIS carbon hood and it was garbage quality fitment but the weave looked good and was passable when not painted. I recently got a MA SHaw CF hood to replace it since I was going to paint it and wanted a lighter better fitting part. MA Shaw hood is noticibly lighter and fits way better. I think my body guy had to tweak a few things to make it perfect but you would really need to look to realize it isnt the stock hood.

[jeenyus]

is there any more information on what carbon fiber hoods are good? Currently looking into the idea and it would be nice to know how much i'm looking at.

[Ludwig]

I've seen only one Karbonius clearcoated CF hood in person an it was immaculate. They do it on special order. Their main business is with CF intakes and interior for the e46 and intakes for the V8 M3s. They make one of the best non-factory CSL intakes out there and are quite known for their work at that, so i'd say they're not shit at doing carbon things.

I have a Singer Carbon hood on my 02 Touring, it wasn't perfect and needed a lot of paint prep, but it has a great fit and the vent cutouts are spot-on.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Any more thoughts on CF hoods? What are the current decent options out there? I'm in the market. Don't really care about anything but function/weight. If there's a good fiberglass option out there I'd consider it too.

Someone backed into my car while parked on the street and didn't leave a note. Crunched the hood. I have full insurance coverage so I'm getting a $1200 check and I'd like to replace it with something lightweight to offset some of the added weight of the 24v swap.

[crash n' burn]

I always had ridiculously good success with seibon. I remember that used to make them for e30s, but I haven't seen any availablein a long time. VIS is hit or miss. Usually they fit really well with the exception of in the corners.

I'm not a huge fan of the look anymore, so I'd paint a CF hood. I'm with berlow in the fact that I'd rather have it for performance than looks..so a little body working it wouldn't piss me off since it'd get painted anyways

[berlow94]

I've installed some VIS parts on other cars, and I agree with Nando. The fitment is pretty good but nothing like OEM, plus they're not dry carbon. I'm not shooting down your choice in hoods, but if it's not dry carbon then it's basically a show piece that happens to be a bit lighter than stock.


Factory hoods are 38lbs according to this thread, which is why I said their weights are off a bit

Gotcha.
I could care less about looks honestly.
I'm all about function. It's a track car.
A lightweight lift-off hood takes weight off the front axle of my car and makes it much easier to work in the engine bay.


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[E30SPDFRK]

I've installed some VIS parts on other cars, and I agree with Nando. The fitment is pretty good but nothing like OEM, plus they're not dry carbon. I'm not shooting down your choice in hoods, but if it's not dry carbon then it's basically a show piece that happens to be a bit lighter than stock.

I don't think their weight on the stock hood is that far off - 24kg is 53lbs. It's probably close to that with that huge noise insulation pad. A full CF, high quality hood certainly could weigh as little as 9lbs - mine is about 10lbs. the box it came in weighed more than the hood. :p

Factory hoods are 38lbs according to this thread, which is why I said their weights are off a bit

[berlow94]

I just remember the fitment not being too great, I've seen several of them up close. They fit fine if you want to leave it bare CF (can't tell that much around the edges), but it had a pretty big bow on one side and one of the corners dipped in near the windshield. It wouldn't be suitable for painting.

do they even make them anymore? they were from quite a while ago.

my MA Shaw hood is almost 10 years old now. The only issues I had were inside the hood due to the heat from the headers, so I finally added a heat shield. Also put some lightweight foam pieces on it to cut down the noise a little bit. from the outside, you can't tell it's aftermarket at all (except not having the windshield sprayers).

Gotcha.
I did have my body guy install it. So I'm sure it wasn't a direct fit out of the box.
He's a very skilled dude.
Only guy I've ever seen who was able to perfectly match the factory Zinno paint job. (Difficult to do because of the Mercury content in the paint back then)


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[nando]

I just remember the fitment not being too great, I've seen several of them up close. They fit fine if you want to leave it bare CF (can't tell that much around the edges), but it had a pretty big bow on one side and one of the corners dipped in near the windshield. It wouldn't be suitable for painting.

do they even make them anymore? they were from quite a while ago.

my MA Shaw hood is almost 10 years old now. The only issues I had were inside the hood due to the heat from the headers, so I finally added a heat shield. Also put some lightweight foam pieces on it to cut down the noise a little bit. from the outside, you can't tell it's aftermarket at all (except not having the windshield sprayers).

[berlow94]

Carbon Fiber hood

I wouldn't call anything about it cheap. It's a little heavier than a true Motorsport hood because it still has a frame to it and is still compatible with all the stock mounting points. Doesn't require hood pins.
The fitment on my car is 95% perfect.
After 5 years of track abuse and sitting out in the sun I've had zero fading and zero cracks.
Have had to repaint my front valence and replace both headlights and my windshield because of tire marbles and nuts/bolts flying up on the track. So I know for a fact she's taking a beating.



I will add that it matches the color and finish of my APR GT250 wing.
And those things aren't cheap!!!


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[nando]

VIS are the cheap ebay ones we were talking about a little while ago.. I wouldn't call it awesome fitment, but it's OK. fairly heavy too. do they still have the huge dip in the corners or did they finally fix that?

the LWS parts look nice - prices aren't bad but shipping? I don't think their weight on the stock hood is that far off - 24kg is 53lbs. It's probably close to that with that huge noise insulation pad. A full CF, high quality hood certainly could weigh as little as 9lbs - mine is about 10lbs. the box it came in weighed more than the hood. :p

[berlow94]

Bump since I haven't seen an up to date carbon hood thread.

Does anyone have experience with LWS designs carbon pieces? They're the only company I can find that is still making a full dry carbon hood. The also make dry carbon trunks; their website lists some weights but the stock weights they list are off so I'm not sure I can trust their carbon part weights.

http://www.lwsdesign.co.uk/product.php?product_id=232

Look up and call VIS racing. Awesome quality and fitment. Also located in the US.



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[E30SPDFRK]

Bump since I haven't seen an up to date carbon hood thread.

Does anyone have experience with LWS designs carbon pieces? They're the only company I can find that is still making a full dry carbon hood. The also make dry carbon trunks; their website lists some weights but the stock weights they list are off so I'm not sure I can trust their carbon part weights.

http://www.lwsdesign.co.uk/product.php?product_id=232

[///schwartzman]

Mike is a good guy and I picked up my hood from him in Orange Co. since he is local to me. He does make a full carbon hood and fits perfect but it comes unfinished so it will need clearcoating and bonding of the brace supports on the underside @$1000 depending on the cost of CF now. He also has some nice e36 LTW front splitters that I've seen adapted to e30 that look siiick!
Here's a pic of my fittiment... If you're by Castro's, Chris can show it in person should be on his new dyno this week.


I'm using the EVO hood seals...

Keith at Competition Concepts has closed his doors for automotive at least... due to health issues his products were exceptional as he made bike frames as well for a big company. His work will be missed.

[Chummy]

Talked to Mike at MA Shaw and he said he would make a cf hood an e30. So there is still hope!