Carbon Fiber Hoods

drifty30 · May 20, 2004

I am in the process of making a carbon fiber hood for my 91 318is and was just gonna check what the interest level would be if i were to sell them. The hood that i'll be making wont exactly be the prettiest thing.... but with only 4 layers of carbon and a nomex core it should weigh less than 10 pounds by far. Correct me if i'm wrong but the 318 has the same exact unibody and body panels as say the 325's so it would fit on most everyone's car. The hood will be vacuum bagged and done all pro like and i can update you on more specs of the hood as the process keeps going. The hood i make for my car will be a matte finish carbon fiber 2X2 twill. It will be matte finish because i will be using less resin in the carbon fabric than the usual "all for show" carbon hood. If people wanted more of a shiny gloss finish... they could clear coat them themselves or i could just use more resin... but more resin means more weight. As far as i can see in the after market parts world... i havent seen anyone making carbon hoods for E30 BMWs and NOONE seems to be making them with nomex cores. I'm just tryin to have some fun with the stuff i learned in school. the product will take a couple months to get into production... but once everything is set up i can turn them out like hotcakes...... really cool hotcakes.

SHOUT LOUD IF YOU'RE INTERESTED

E30Driv3R318iS · May 20, 2004

Im interested tell me how it turns out and keep updating with hows it goin

lpquick · May 20, 2004

drifty30 said:

I am in the process of making a carbon fiber hood for my 91 318is and was just gonna check what the interest level would be if i were to sell them. The hood that i'll be making wont exactly be the prettiest thing.... but with only 4 layers of carbon and a nomex core it should weigh less than 10 pounds by far. Correct me if i'm wrong but the 318 has the same exact unibody and body panels as say the 325's so it would fit on most everyone's car. The hood will be vacuum bagged and done all pro like and i can update you on more specs of the hood as the process keeps going. The hood i make for my car will be a matte finish carbon fiber 2X2 twill. It will be matte finish because i will be using less resin in the carbon fabric than the usual "all for show" carbon hood. If people wanted more of a shiny gloss finish... they could clear coat them themselves or i could just use more resin... but more resin means more weight. As far as i can see in the after market parts world... i havent seen anyone making carbon hoods for E30 BMWs and NOONE seems to be making them with nomex cores. I'm just tryin to have some fun with the stuff i learned in school. the product will take a couple months to get into production... but once everything is set up i can turn them out like hotcakes...... really cool hotcakes.

SHOUT LOUD IF YOU'RE INTERESTED

I am interested, but I would need to see some pictures and know for sure if it would fit. Please keep us informed of how it all goes.

nadroj · May 20, 2004

i would also be interested but it depends on the cost and how it looks.

equate · May 20, 2004

Yeah ive thought about doing that from time to time, lets see how it looks!

xLibelle · May 20, 2004

Im in, snap some shots of the process, id like to see how you plan to enforce its bulk and supply mounting points.

drifty30 · May 21, 2004

I'll be using a nomex core for stiffness and would probably rely on hood pins for mounting. I'll for sure snap pics of the process. I'm still in the testing phase to see if i can do some technique that i'm kinda fudging. xLibelle, what do ya mean about enforcing its bulk?

xLibelle · May 21, 2004

content deleted... didnt read your original post fully. nevermind my question

xLibelle · May 21, 2004

This is what i would end up doing with it... (another reason it needs to be pretty stiff)

drifty30 · May 23, 2004

yeah it would be stiff enough to do that.... the honeycomb core is pretty bomb stuff. I might be taking out the indentation for the badge though. How would you do the vent? (now i'm intereseted)

xLibelle · May 23, 2004

a debadged hood.... hmm, good by me

the vent is a fiberglass piece. hole cut in the hood and vent glued in right after the radiator and vents the hot air and pressure under the hood to eliminate lift

xLibelle · Jun 15, 2004

bump ...whats up with this??

drifty30 · Jun 15, 2004

i have no money..... thats the way it goes. most likely later this summer.

bignate · Jun 17, 2004

How much are you thinking about selling them for?

drifty30 · Jun 17, 2004

probably about 200$ above cost is what i'm thinkin.... maybe more because of the labor that goes into making the mold.

xLibelle · Jun 17, 2004

i am sooo >IN<

nadroj · Jun 17, 2004

same here

xLibelle · Jun 17, 2004

charlie, how much do you need to get started?

JordE30 325i · Jun 17, 2004

I like the hood that was shown with the vent but i would wanna keep the badge on the front. Gotta represent BMW. ireland engineering sells a finberglass hood for 225 that weighs 14lbs. But i think that carbon fiber with the nomex core would be stronger. Id buy one my hood is already got a couple fat dents and a couple big scratches. count me in, maybe, moneys tight.

xLibelle · Jun 18, 2004

ireland engineering for 225 eh? nadroj gettin greedy

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