Trimming out stock hood reinforcing framework?

[imagine3163]

I was reading some posts on here and came across this guy who trimmed out the underside of his stock hood. He was actually able to take out about 20-25lbs of metal essentially achieving the same gains as a CF hood without the $500 price tag. Has anyone on here ever done this or have any thoughts about it?

 

[19BLACKGST98]

I have seen this on cars before but I didnt do it to mine. I know that once you take out all of that metal you better be anal about people being around your car. It could be somthing as little as someone puting there hand on the hood an leaning on it a little and it would cave in. That is not a problem for the CF hoods.

 

[imagine3163]

Do you know what you would use to cut the metal out? Could you just use a dremel with a cutoff wheel or would you need something more substantial than that?

 

[phaseoneracing]

if you trim out the skeleton of the hood your hood will be very flimsy. the skeleton is the whole structure of the hood. i wouldnt suggest doing this.

 

[squirley8888]

I was reading some posts on here and came across this guy who trimmed out the underside of his stock hood. He was actually able to take out about 20-25lbs of metal essentially achieving the same gains as a CF hood without the $500 price tag. Has anyone on here ever done this or have any thoughts about it?

I've done this on my eclipse as far as 20-25lbs of metal getting cut out that's extreme unless he basically just left the top layer as a skin. If he still has where the hood latch is like I do you only lose about 10-15 if that. A carbon fiber hood still weighs much less than my hood does. I only did it because I have another hood so it didn't really matter. I used a die grinder with a 3m cut off wheel there was actually a line I followed to cut then you just pop off the tar crap and your golden. If you want pictures let me know and I'll try to get you some.

 

[imagine3163]

Well I went ahead and gutted it. Since I took everything out from the hood, I had to install hood pins. After all was said and done, I got everything down to 17lbs, which is only 2lbs away from CF status! It was a lot of work, but I am glad I did it in the end.

 

[1992awdlaser]

A guy I know did this with his galant. He lost right around 20 pounds with it. If you lift up on one side of the hood, the other side will go down because of the lack of support.

 

[lowandsleekDSM]

Yea 25lbs to me is a little extreme too. I did this for a buddy of mine on his CRX and i wouldnt recommend doing it either but to each his own. I used a dremel and it took a little time but it was perfect for tight areas. Just gotta make sure no one dents that hood of yours since you have not support. But this is a good alternative to a CF hood in my opinion.

 

[spoonman]

I removed the center bracing and the extra metal all around the edges so the hood is just one big sheet of metal. It flexes like crazy when you support it from one side. But it only removed at most 18 LBS. I would suggest for others to only remove the center bracing which does not weigh alot but does not take away to much of the structural rigidity from the hood so it bends and warps when you open it.