Hey all!
I just installed my new CF OEM hood (bought from prostreetonline.com) and the fitment kind of sucks. It bolted on perfectly and the hood latch is a perfect replacement (size, shape, fit) for the original. The hood just seems to have way too much of a bow in it. Here's a picture.



Both of the sides are like that. The passenger side isn't as bad as the drivers side but it's still really bad. However I'm about to install hood pins which will probably bring the passenger side down to an acceptable level but won't do much of anything for the driver side problem.

I know CF parts are pretty indestructible and what-not but is there *any* way at all to force-flatten the sides?


Modified by tony92875 at 6:52 PM 4/8/2004


Modified by tony92875 at 8:48 PM 4/14/2004

 

Wow, Pic doesn't come up. But I was gonna order one from them too... hmmm... get that pic to work!!

 

http://www.phooie.com/prelude/

Here is a link to all of the pics I've taken of the car so far.. The ones of the new hood are files pelude_04-07-04-05.jpg to pelude_04-07-04-17.jpg (all at the bottom of the list.


Modified by tony92875 at 6:52 PM 4/8/2004

 

pics work fine for me..

wow.. that is pretty bad. You should really call prostreet up and see whats up. Hopefully their customer service doesnt suck ***.

where in MD are you?
i'm in germantown

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chau003 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">pics work fine for me..

wow.. that is pretty bad. You should really call prostreet up and see whats up. Hopefully their customer service doesnt suck ***.

where in MD are you?
i'm in germantown</TD></TR></TABLE>

Columbia .. not too far away

 

Are you running hood pins? If so, you can adjust the lock and lock support when you install the hoodpins and the bow will be eliminated.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FaS4wS &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Are you running hood pins? If so, you can adjust the lock and lock support when you install the hoodpins and the bow will be eliminated.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I will be installing them. But the bow on the drivers side will still be way too bad. The bow on the passenger side should pretty puch go away after that though. But the bow on the drivers side is twice as high and even with hood pins I will only be able to lower that side about half an inch, when the excess hight is an inch or more.

If I could put the hood pins a back towards the center of the hood it might fix it, but the pins will have to be installed too close to the front of the car to make a huge impact on that side.


Modified by tony92875 at 6:53 PM 4/8/2004

 

Ugh, yeah, that's pretty bad. Definitely give 'em a call & send them the pictures. See what they say.

 

Damn, that looks like crap man....You should've ordered from VIS racing. They make good hoods that will actually fit. I'd send that one back

 

you have a 1 inch bow??? wow, you need to show them whats going on...good luck

 

I know it might not be the case in this instance...

but what about the outside temperature? My CF hood is perfect when it's warm out like in the summer, but it starts to bow like that when it's cold. Just a thought.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bdb &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I know it might not be the case in this instance...

but what about the outside temperature? My CF hood is perfect when it's warm out like in the summer, but it starts to bow like that when it's cold. Just a thought.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Nope. It's the same either way. It was pretty warm out yesterday and after driving for over an hour the engine and hood were pretty warm and it had no change from this morning when it was pretty cold outside.

I'm going to call them today and send them the link to the pictures and see what they say. I'll post their response here so everyone knows what their customer service is like.

 

On preludeonline.com they have a pretty good reputation for customer service. I was just reading the F/S thread for these hoods and Prostreet said he would take care of any problems with the product. Hopefully they'll take care of you.

 

you may need to clearance your stock hood hinges to get that to fit right. it will come down most of the way, if not all of the way.

 

after examining the picture for a few minutes, I think I have traced the problem to your Euro-style corners

j/k

it appears that the curvature of the hood is off, not the height that the latch holds it. I would take the hood off, lay it flat, (out in the sun if possible) and start stacking books on top of it to flatten it out a bit. Put something under it also to prevent it from sagging too much.

After a day or two, it will flex downard a bit.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Greyout &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it appears that the curvature of the hood is off, not the height that the latch holds it. I would take the hood off, lay it flat, (out in the sun if possible) and start stacking books on top of it to flatten it out a bit. Put something under it also to prevent it from sagging too much.

After a day or two, it will flex downard a bit.</TD></TR></TABLE>

even if it's fiberglass backing?

 

I also reccommend VIS racing...mine fits 99% perfectly(I have a slight bow, but not that much)....See if you can get your cash back...

 

I thought carbon fiber was supposed to be uber-rigid & stiff? Would you really be able to bend it back into shape? I can't picture that happening.

Regardless, it looks pretty obviously to be a faulty product, so you shouldn't have to worry about it. Get Prostreet to resolve it for you.

 

I recommend BodyKitsNW man, good customer service and all their hoods fit like a glove. Check out their thread in the sponsored section. Pretty good prices if you ask me.

 

i would say their mold is probably warped....or they are overbending the top piecve when they bond the underframe to the hood. I would bring it to their attention.

 

Measure the distance it needs to come down and mark the highest point with tape. Take the hood off and put the frame on somthing so that everything is level and all of the weight is on the frame itself. Get a propane heater or heat gun and direct it at the area you want to bend. After a few mitutes put some books on top of the hood over the part of the frame you want to bend. I know this works with fiberglass but carbon resign may need a higher temp the the fg's. The main thing you're after is bending the frame. Unless the carbons really layered on it will follow the frame. We have to do this at work to get some of the body piece on these kitcars to fit. All it takes is some patience.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by racerx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Measure the distance it needs to come down and mark the highest point with tape. Take the hood off and put the frame on somthing so that everything is level and all of the weight is on the frame itself. Get a propane heater or heat gun and direct it at the area you want to bend. After a few mitutes put some books on top of the hood over the part of the frame you want to bend. I know this works with fiberglass but carbon resign may need a higher temp the the fg's. The main thing you're after is bending the frame. Unless the carbons really layered on it will follow the frame. We have to do this at work to get some of the body piece on these kitcars to fit. All it takes is some patience.</TD></TR></TABLE>

FYI There's nothing special about resins used for CF they are the same as the ones used for FG...maybe viscosity differences but they are all resins...the ones on that hood are probably a standard clear polyester resin

 

even better price than that NW place mentioned, I see kidimports.com has that same hood for like 475 I think it was, anyone ever dealt with this kidimports.com place??

 

Well I've been in contact with their support and so far they seem pretty willing to do whatever needs to be done to fix the issue. I've given it two days for me to try all the things they wanted me to. The issue hasn't changed so today I'm going to request they exchange the hood for a new one.

In case the next hood that I get from them is still a bit off, does the process of heating the CF up really work? I've always been told that there is nothing you can do to reform (or even permanently bend) any CF piece once it's been finalized.

Also. How does one move past Trial user on this forum? The limit of 5 posts every 24 hours is not a lot.

 

Just sent an email to them about returning the hood. They don't charge shipping when you order anything from them so I wonder what they will say about shipping to get this thing back to them?


Modified by tony92875 at 8:54 PM 4/14/2004