the hard part of making a custom hood is the underside, the top skin is the easier part. Making it where it can bolt to the stock hinges in a strong manner is the more difficult part, placement is essential, as well as a latch mechanism.

Have you started to make your mold yet or are you still fairing the plug?

 

yeah i realised that the stock bolts are gonna be a pain to do but its just a matter of getting it lined up right and once i do i can just make a mold from that part so i be cool.....as far as latching goes its hood pins all the way......but right now im making the mold...i spent a whil with the plug and finished that off, which was a serious pain...cuz u wax and prep it for the gel coat then u realsie once the wax is on there that there is something u missed then u have to sand thru the wax to get to it and start all over again.....but right now i have another layer of mat to put on the mold and then to sand the edges tomorrow then pop it off.....get another can of gel coat.....and maybe i can afford to make a copy but money is running really short so im not sure what i will or can afford to do...so if i can make one and sell it then ill make up for all of my loses and have enough to make another and from their on out.....or someone is going to have to pay up front and use a lil faith, preferably someone local but i might have that lined up already....so ill have to see....doing this and getting it right is no problem...having the cash is....

 

yeah, forget the latch. it just adds weight


so how much you think its going to weigh? and how are you planning on doing the underside? are you just going to mold the bottom of the stock hood? or design your own bracing?

make it crazy light

 

If/when you make one of your hoods for me do not add in any latch reinforcement or anything. Actually, just a skin would be awsome, I could add any support I wanted.

Matter of fact- if you bring your mold to someone who does carbon fiber I would pay a lot extra for a vacuum bagged CF hood skin using epoxy resins. Thermoset resin autoclaved would be even better!

 

imagine something very similar to this....talk about sick...the placement of mine is very similar so that where it is staying..this thing is a lil more blocky where as mine is curved but man its SICK..........i cant wait to make one for my car.......lool.....now im even more impatient!!!!

 

how strong do you think it would be without underside bracing? hmmm.... I wonder if I could just use 4 hood pins to hold that sucker down (2 in front, 2 in back) and just have it as a shell..... hmm....... I bet it would be incredibly light with no underside bracing.

BTW, that blue hood looks sick! don't care for tha rest though.

 

searching for the light bro searchin for the light...the mold will be dry tomorrow so i cant wait to see how it will look........

 

more pics

 

I don't think I'd like the idea of a hood that's just a skin, with no hinges or underside framework. If for no other reason, it'd be a massive pain if every time I wanted to check the oil when filling the tank, I had to take the hood completely off (no matter how light it is) and figure out how to set it down without scratching the paint.

I can do without the latch and just going with hood pins up front easy. I think it does need some solid hinges, though.

 

oh yeah im definitely putting hinges no problem...im just talking about the latches and the structural work thats what i meant......yeah no hinges would be stupid

 

loool im sorry u miss understood man...i can just picture having to take the thing off everytime u wanted to get to the engine bay......and with my car flooding when it does it would be a huge pain.....lolll.....sorry bro, its difinitely going to have hinges......just no latch or underside bracing

 

btw kaneto nice car....and what wheels are those?

 

no braces here.....this is what i meant.....never had braces when i was kid and dont need them now

 

Sweet front bumper on the blue car. wtg on the hood.

- James

 

yup just a bit more work today and then time to pop the mold off of the hood...lets pray

 

Good luck and hang in there, man. Projects like that get trying at times.

 

oh yeah.....trust me i know...and i honestly dont know how i had the patiemnce to follow thru btu im doing it..and i have the drive so just wanna do this sell some so i can go and get angaged and then make some headlight kits.....my goal is to see poeple with these things and be satisfied...then to pop on the forum seeing other peeps cars with my hoods on there..thats satisfaction......like something i can give back to the RX7 u know.....so im on that road......keep praying....now just to get the mold off of the hood

 

yeah, it would totally be a PITA to have to lift off the hood every time. I was just wondering how light it could get. actually, two solid rear hinges probably wouldn't even add much weight.



good luck with the mold. and post TONS of pictures when you get it off.

 

man i went to baxters to get the sand paper and i run across an FD maybe once every two months here if im lucky..then im getting in my car and i see a silver one fly by and im sitting at the light once i pull out of the lot thinking man wow i saw an FD today......then a red one pulls right up next to me......crazy..

 

AHHHHHHHH this **** itchessssssss!!!!!!!!!

 

Been there, scratched that

Exactly what I want- no latch, no reinforcement, but hinge mounting points. Latches just slow you down when you have an engine fire, reinforcement just slows you down.

Like I said- make what you yourself want and others will be buy it!

Keep up the hard work...

Ian

 

lol man im trying......back is sore.........working woriking working....mold was a bivreesnatch to get off no joke.......more wax more wax.....i bought the expensive stuff too....so a lil more work on the mold to take care of some fine tuning then i can make a capy when im not so broke.......

 

I want to see the wind tunnel smoke test pictures.

 

u gotta be kidding

 

Why do F1 and Cart cars have intake above the head of the driver?

Looks like the vent will do a good job of sucking air from the engine compartment.

Or do you just want to look like rice (track/fast cars)?