Carbon fiber Hoods......

[Twinturbo2800]

hey guys, i got a question.....with these carbon fiber hoods..... is thier a company that makes a very high quality one that doesnt need hood pins?? that just fits the stock hood locking thingy?

i really dont like the look of hood pins...


or are the pins the only way to go?

 

[karbon]

Pins are the only way to go really. There's not a surefire way to bond a hood latch onto the carbon fiber or epoxy that is as strong and reliable as a weld. Your best bet is definately hood pins. I feel your pain.
Generally speaking, hood pins are prevalent because they're a necessity, not because they :look cool".

 

[SoCalGST]

Well, i bought my carbon hood of of ebay, it did not come with a hood catch, i took my hood to a custom body shop, they drilled four holes and fabricated a plate with a catch, then they cut off my secondary catch, and made one out of metal, grand total: 2 hours of labor and $100.00
i have no ugly hood pins and its strong as hell. Heres a picture of the work they did.

 

[madhatter210]

Well, i bought my carbon hood of of ebay, it did not come with a hood catch, i took my hood to a custom body shop, they drilled four holes and fabricated a plate with a catch, then they cut off my secondary catch, and made one out of metal, grand total: 2 hours of labor and $100.00
i have no ugly hood pins and its strong as hell. Heres a picture of the work they did.

The catch looks great but remember its only as strong as what it is bolted to ( and in your case they look like wood screws?) . I don't feel this is a safe alternative for hood pins. They not only keep the hood from possibly flying up while driving, but also help aid in an accident condition. Giving the front 3 points of of secure attachment. But I guess its an installers/owners choice as to how secure he/she wants their cf hoods as they are not dot approved anyways.
From experience, theres nothing more suprising and scary when driving then having your hood fly up and lift off almost hitting someone then clipping down a tree 4 inches in diameter. Granted it was an oem steel hood but the latch malfunctioned and at 70 mph theres not alot thats going to stop it without sustaning serious damage. Another example is my friend from virginia whos cf hood on his talon flew up and destroyed his windshield and actually making 4 puntures in the drivers side of it. Hes pretty lucky nothing went through. I have always choosen safety over looks but thats just me.

 

[SoCalGST]

i had my hood fly up and hit me, and thoe arent wood screws, this thing works perfectly, they cut my old hood and took out the catch and welded it to this, plus i got a brand new hood latch, it works just like oem. (o and i was doing 70 on the highway when this happened, i didnt get hurt to bad, only had glass in my eyes, i managed to avoid al lthe cars around me and pull off the road to safety)