I might be in for a fiberglass hood if someone actually made it, **** 50 lbs is like .05 in the 1/4 mile!

 

300 sounds decent. My hood needs alot of altering, so for me... I would have to make my own, rather then buy one them alter it. It would be GREAT to some 40ish pounds in the front. I don't know if the difference it quite 50 lbs.

 

Do you know for a fact that 99 percent of third gen owners are on a limited budget. Or are you assuming that. I'm not rich but I'm not into third gens because I can't afford anything newer. My brother in Law makes well in excess of six figures (he's not rich either) but he drives a really nice third gen.

 

Big deal, I have a 3rd gen and I don't even drive it. I have two other cars I drive instead.

Does it really matter? My (sarcastic) point is that not many people driving a very inexpensive car have the extra cash for a $600 hood. Maybe I should adjust the figure to like 80 percent? 70 percent? 50 percent?

I know that few 3rd gen owners seem to come up with the money when it comes to a group deal or an expensive mod. Like Danny said, why buy a $600 hood for a $1k car.

 

I would call carbon fiber COVERING rice but not legit CF. And why CF over fibergalss? CF is about half the weight of fiberglass and many times stronger. There is videos of trucks driving over a Cf hood with no damage, try that with fiberglass or steel. I once forgot to latch my hood and got about a block before I noticed, just in time for the wind to slam the hood back against the windshield. I needed a new windshield but the hood shows absolutely no damage. Try that with fiberglass or steel. And you can paint Cf too.

How much does it weigh? The box it comes in weighs more. Most Cf hoods weigh between 8 and 12 pounds. Fiberglass between 15 and 40 pounds. Steel up to 80 pounds. Plus it removes weight from the top of the car, thereby moving the center of gravity lower, albeit slightly.

 

not to mention your worn hood struts (if only recently dead) will work again, since supporting far far less weight. but of course that's a sidenote.

 

This thread is stupid.

Most of the comments here are....And I quote......."the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul. " - Billy Madison

We all know carbon fiber is cool, expensive, weighs less, paint weighs almost nothing, CF chips, fiberglass cracks, blah blah blah....

Now, how about someone volunteers to make the fiberglass hoods so I can get one, or we start making this thread usefull.??

PS: I love you all.

 

I love you too.... But why won't you answer my AIMS?!!? Hurt*

I don't what the time to mass produce hoods. Otherwise I would

 

note the word "rice" was in quotes on my post.
i'm not saying a carbon fiber is not a good material. trust me if there's a CF panel made that's within a reasonable price i would be all over it...but we're talking about a hood that will cost over $600 bucks. sooo my suggestion was a fiberglass hood that still have the weight benefit over the stock hood but cost about half the price.

So shall i put your name down for the carbon fiber hood GD for about $680?

 

Um..No. I already have one thanks.

 

I think I still have a donor hood in the garage to take a mold off of

 

I will just add that the factory hood weighs less than 40 lbs on its own so it will be hard to drop 50 lbs . Seriously though its not as heavy as you think. I weighed it a while back and remember it was less than 40 lbs or right around it...its been so long I cant remember the exact weight though. If someone wants to take the time to search I am sure you can find it. Aaron and I were discussing it and I weighed my hood for him since it was off the car.

 

you don't realize that Carbon Fiber is lighter than air??

 

40 lbs?

hmm... if that's the case then i swear i have never been weaker in my life, because 40 pounds has never seemed heavy to me.....until i swapped hoods, that is, and though it wasn't "OMG HEAVY," it was still heavy. But 40lbs, dispersed across an area as wide as the hood, and hinged at two points, physically speaking, shouldn't require much effort to lift, due to the fact that the hinges support a percentage of the weight...

i respect your input, as i always have, but its just kind of hard to fathom that it weighs so little....but that may in fact be the case, but i haven't checked so i don't know for sure.

 

mebe the supports are so shot, they are acting against the lifting of the hood?

j/k

 

Also note most cheap aftermarket hoods are insanely heavy.
the cheapo hood that's on my 240 weighs almost 70lb.
OEM hood weighs in the 35-45lb range, just like a 3 gen.
(soon as I find out what's legal for the class I'm building the car to race in, the 240's getting an OEM or fiberglass hood.)

 

well coming from 2 reputable members now....i'll concede.

it just feels heavier than that.

 

i dunno cf on a white car thats cordinated right looks damn good to me,any color really just long as its done right. not to step on your toes.

 

CF on white is a tradional 'spoon tuned' honda trademark from way back when CF was starting its rise in popularity.

so if you like teh hondas.......goforit

 

like i said, carbon fiber parts, used to lose weight, look good on a car that is actually used to race with, in conjunction with sponsor stickers. the stick on dash kits, etc are total trash(or if you cant read between the lines, "RICER")
carbon fiber definitely has its uses.

as for color, black, gunmetal grey, i even saw a silver something with cf, and they looked great.
I think the bottom line:
if you can afford CF, goforit! but itll prolly be a last item on the list for most.
same with FG.
it all depends on where you are taking your ride.
i don't think anybody here is a contest judge so for looks, your judgement is what you want your car to be (or mebe they are, but you understand what i mean).
paint, hoods, trunks, wings, rims, add-ons, lights, etc.
we just chose to air our opinions.
have fun. its your ride. (to whoever is upset about our views.)

 

I like the CF look you haters! :P

 

i do too, depending on the part, and the car.
my car: no, none.
I also like the look of velour interior, but for my car, the leather is just fine.
lambo-doors, 20" wheels, etc.

I also like tatoos, but won't get one.

 

I own a fiber image hood along with e36 headlight conversion the stock hood is about 60 pounds at least the fiber image is like 15 pounds at the most.I swing the hood open with one hand I throw it in the air and catch it with no problem also with on hand.

 

okay people, we need a weigh in.

 

i wonder if the different stock weights have to do with the fiber crap... lack of it, oil soaked, etc...

 

Michael already did for a stock OEM one at least.

 

Here's a record of an email dialog I had with Bill at Deftracing.com about making some CF and/or FG hoods for the 3rd gen Max. Good news is his company can make and sell them direct to the consumer and also have various colors. Bad news is it's really expensive and we need about 12 people in a group deal to make the first run.

-----Original Message-----
From: Mrkanda Fitch
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2008 10:05 PM
To: deft_inquiry@deftracing.com
Subject: hood for Maxima

Hi,
I am looking for a lighter weight hood for my 1989 Nissan Maxima and also know some guys who are looking for the same thing on Maxima.org. Would it be possible for you to quote us a price and availability on Fiberglass and/or Carbon Fiber hoods for the Nissan Maxima 1989-1994? Please let us know if you can manufacture them and if you need a group to do the deal or a car to use for taking measurements...
Thank you.

Mark Fitch

--- Bill <bill@deftracing.com> wrote:

Hi there,

Typically for something like that you'd need a good 12 people in to buy, paid ahead of time (likely about 6-700 per CF hood), and to ship us a hood to mold. Typically people can't get that many people together so it's really hard.

From: Mrkanda

Thanks for the reply. Is there scope to do a Fiberglass hood for less money? Is so, what would that entail?

--- Bill <bill@deftracing.com> wrote:

We'd do a run of CF first, then figure out FG later

From: Mrkanda

Sorry to bug you, but my question was could there be a run of FG hoods instead of CF in order to keep the cost down for the consumer?

--- Bill <bill@deftracing.com> wrote:

No, we'd do a run of CF first, then figure out FG later if people wanted them. The price for just FG would be close to the CF price till we were past the first run.

 

I'm signed on all day, by the time I actually get to the computer you're long gone... don't cry it's otay.


Kanda-thats interesting that the FG hoods would cost the same as CF for the first run. I can't think of why, since the materials cost so much different. Raw carbon fiber is PRICEY...we used it on our forumula SAE car for Purdue and it cost tons of cash just to make an intake manifold out of it.

 

the cost of making the mold has to be $$$ hence its the same cost or not much of a difference.

the problem is the lack of volume on parts for the 3rd gen.
if they know they can off load 500 hoods after making the first run then they will lower the price.

 

Here's a little more on why the first run costs more and maybe what could be done with the price after that. By "thread" I wonder if he means this thread on Maxima.org that we are posting too. Maybe if I forward him a link to this and other similar threads, he would see the interest in our community and the demand could drive prices down after the first run.

-----Original Message-----
From: Mrkanda Fitch
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 12:57 AM
To: Bill
Subject: RE: hood for Maxima

Thanks again for the info.

Another related question:
On your site you have hoods listed for the 4th gen Maxima ('95-'99) for substantially cheaper (CF-$375 and FG-$295). Is this because the mold has already been made and you have stock/standing demand for such hoods? If so, would it be conceivable that CF and FG hoods for the 3rd gen Nissan Maxima ('89-'94) would drop to a similar price bracket after the first run was made?

Thanks,
Mark

----Bill wrote:

Couldn't really say, sometimes that is by demand or other factors, and as we
would likely have the only mold for an older car that manufacturers would
not be focusing on, that's a guess.

If you want to send me a thread I'll take a look.

 

ok i got a little confused with all the blah blah blah,but to clear the air.i was thinking of getting a CF hood for my 3rd gen,well i figured i would weigh my hood an when the CF hood came in i would go weigh it too.i didnt order the CF hood but i did weigh my hood at a recycling center.it weighed exactly 74.333332 something or other LBs.

 

So a little over 74 lbs? That sounds a lot more correct than 40 lbs. And anyone who has had their hood off would agree.

On the first run discussion. I contacted a company last year about getting a CF trunk lid made for mine. They wanted $1500 to make the mold and then $700 to make the trunk lid. They figured 10 lids around $500 but still $1500 for the mold.

 

I would be down for a group deal, but would not pay over 500 bucks. Anything more would be just disrespecting your money.

 

do you old folks now see why i push when i think there is a mistake somewhere, and want more backing? ;X

i knew 40 lbs wasn't right, because i am not weak, and that hood is heavy to lift with one hand and no struts......

 

Definatly more then 40 lbs.. I don't even know why there was a debate.

 

because I am to lazy to go weigh traxtar's old hood that is in my garage still

 

haha, I was wondering if you were going to bring that up or not.

 

it's sitting behind the bird right now
I figure that if I eventually build the project I want, I'll need the spare metal. that's why I kept it in the first place.

 

i have the fiber images CF hood, it weights like 5 lbs maybe its mad light. ... the stock hood weighs like 37lbs.
if you call the accual company they will talk to you about what you want ...
www.fiberimages.com they are pretty good to deal with, i was going to get a CF trunk and fenders done, its just kind of pricey so i havent gone through with it yet.

 

This thread is insane. I'm taking orders for plexi-glass hoods. I wanna actually see my oil burning. Who's in?