TJohnson

I just thought I would ask a few questions about the Seibon CF hood that I got yesterday and compare some of the issues I had installing it and see if anyone else experienced anything similar.

As far as actual fitment once its all mounted, everything is fine. I would ideally like the lines on the sides of the hood to be a little tighter, but it lines up w/ the headlights and bumper perfectly. I did however run into a few problems.

1. The small rectangular holes in the factory hood near the hinges in the back where the "duck head" goes through on the body were not there. They had little indentations where you could tell they should be, but they weren't there. Had to bust out the dremel to cut these holes.

2. The holes cut for the windshield squirters were WAY too small. I couldn't even get half of one of the sprayers in there. So again I had to go to town with a dremel to make the openings big enough on a brand new CF hood. A little scary, but I made them work.

3. The hood struts did mount up, but they actually pushed the center of the hood up when it was closed. It had a definite rise in that area on both sides when closed. So even though they give you spots for the struts, I can't use them.

4. For the small bracket next to the hood latch, they gave me one bolt that was so long it pushes up against the bottom of the CF in the top layer of the hood. The back bolt went in fine, but the front one was WAY too long.

Overall I really can't complain as this hood cost me less than $500 shipped to my front door, but I would have thought some of the smaller issues wouldn't have been there. The hood fits great now, but not without having to work on those problems first. Anyone else have a similar experience?

CantSeeMe

Lets see a couple pics..........
My CF hood is actually a C-Wing ,not a Seibon. However it all sounds familiar to me.
Since you have already cut those holes this info wont help you much. But those "duckheads" near the hinges you are referring to, Could have been removed if you didnt want to do the cutting.
As you saw those indentations were there by design to be cut by the installer, for custom fitting. Actually its why they recommend a professional install. Its really nothing difficult, but most people, as i was ,are nervous cutting into their new hood.
I actually cut the holes and later removed the "duckheads" as well. But you did it correctly. .... I didnt install the windshield squirters but im pretty sure its also intended to be custom fitted.
The hood struts you should remove. They are too strong for a CF hood. There are some hood struts made for CF hoods . I believe Top Secret makes them. But they are pricey. Im sure theres a lower cost alt.
I didnt have that issue w/ the latchbolt?.....Its been a while, but i believe i reused my stock hardware.
Also they say hoodpins are not required, And i know they are ugly. But you should still consider them. If you are going to be boosting the car, I would say they are a must. And those locking Aerocatch latches dont look bad at all.

97RSPSCTT

all at a cost for aftermarket, i wish everything fit like oem, life would be so much easier

Rexn30

Ya those windshield squirters are always too small. I had a named brand CF hood on my old honda and ya they were wayy too small.

StiCk3

iTrader: (5)

I saw these on V8soarer.com and the Aerocatch looks very subtle. Heres a link

http://www.aerocatch.com/

2.5tsoarer

iTrader: (3)

I have a hood also and had to discontinue the use of struts. Im actually looking for someone with bad ones to trade.

I wouldn't trust the latch it comes with so get the hood pin the last person recommended.

when they take a mold from the oem hood they tape off all the holes the hood came with to help release the hoods. for some reason they don't open the holes back up. same with the stoppers by the headlights.

Rexn30

I had bad ones !!! But I think I trashed them..

over40driv

TJOHNSON just wondered if you weighed the stock hood, and new hood?

ScottURnot

iTrader: (33)

Interesting, I had cosidered a CF hood just to save weight but I was going to paint it. Hood pins would kill it for me.

TJohnson

To answer a couple of things here, first the "duck head" pieces there near the back by the hinges aren't removable on my car. They have two bolts going through them but they are also welded to the body of the car. I am not sure why they chose to bolt AND weld, but they did and they can't be removed, at least not on my car.

For now I will be keeping it latched as it is. Hood pins ruin it for me on the body lines of this car. I don't think they look right and I don't yet see the need for them. I have had it up to about 80mph so far and it barely moves at all. A little ripple movement on ocassion but that's it. I am keeping a VERY close eye on it though.

soarer479

iTrader: (2)

stock hood weight is right at 60lbs i believe the seibon cf is 40 lbs i think i have one

and for everyone trying to put hood struts on your cf hood.... are you kidding? you can very easily break the hood just bolting them on and trying to shut it the first time those shocks are made for a much heavier steel hood... now if you get some custom hood shocks the same length as ours but made for 40 lbs not 60 then you would be ok but ive just dealt with having no hood shocks

OneJay

iTrader: (14)

I have a VIS CF hood the the previous owner installed. It does not have struts, so I just use an extendable police baton thingy.
When not in use it shortens and holds my subwoofer in place!
Here is the best pic I have of it.

craaaazzy

iTrader: (4)

40 lbs? wow, that's still quite heavy! guess i'll find others things to spend my money on.

over40driv

SCOTT what do you think about the aerolatch thing on th prev. page. The link supplied shows how it operates.

ScottURnot

iTrader: (33)

Its a lot better than a traditional pin but I still am not that thrilled with it.