Anyone have any advice on drilling holes in a carbon fiber hood? I'd like to install my stock washer fluid nozzles in my carbon fiber hood but wasnt sure how to go about maiking the holes in the hood for them. If someone could shed me some light i'd appreciate it. Thanks!

 

I drilled like 20 holes in my CF sunroof panel and it actually drills pretty easy. Just start with a small bit and don't push on the bit, let it drill itself through. Then step up sizes on the bit until you get where you need to be.

 

EDIT: yeah, what he ^^ said, lol

Just be extra damn completely sure you're drilling where you want to!

Start with small holes, you can always make them bigger but you can't put material back!

 

good deal. I just didn't wanna risk cracking the hood just to get the nozzles installed.

 

Good luck with that man, Let us know how it turns out...Maybe post some pix!

 

You could also try some some super glue lol. Ive had mine on like for a couple of weeks since I was too lazy to take my hood off again and drill it. So far its stayed on even through rain and shaking on the highway.

 

ever think about installing the windshield sprayers somewhere else so u dont have to drill?

i know some cars have their sprayer nozzles near the wipers and not on the hood...

just something to consider i guess, would be interesting to see

 

How in the world could you put the nozzles on the hood without drilling by using super glue? Care to explain? I'd rather drill mine anyway but i cant even imagine how you'd do that.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KaoSyN &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You could also try some some super glue lol. Ive had mine on like for a couple of weeks since I was too lazy to take my hood off again and drill it. So far its stayed on even through rain and shaking on the highway.</TD></TR></TABLE>

?????????

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sabbotage &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How in the world could you put the nozzles on the hood without drilling by using super glue? Care to explain? I'd rather drill mine anyway but i cant even imagine how you'd do that.</TD></TR></TABLE>

My thoughts exactly......

You mean you have your lines running up over the hood? Or did you just glue your squirters down w/out running any lines? ?

 

LOL sorry I wasnt thinking 100% right I totally forgot about the tubes since my hood came with holes predrilled for the tubes just not the nozzles. I think its what like 3 holes or so needed for the little plastic tube holder things, other than though my nozzles themseleves are being held on by super glue lol.

 

I dont know abot your nozzles, but mine(OEM) have little clips on them where they snap into the holes in the hood. My carbon fiber hood already has the hole on the underside for the hose clips. My oem hood only had one clip holding the hoses to begin with and thats all my carbon fiber hood has as well. I'm not as worried about that anyway, beacuse im sure I can find a way to clip the hoses up out of the way. I was just leary on drilling the carbon fiber. I'm probably gonna try it tomorrow and ill post pics like the guy above said.

 

you should put them somewhere in the cowl, drilling that hood is not a good idea....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mgags7 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">drilling that hood is not a good idea....</TD></TR></TABLE>

Why do you say that?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sabbotage &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why do you say that?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Cause the 5th gens mount them under the hood. See if you can get your hands on the 5th gen's squirters, it'll give you a cleaner look.

 

because the number one reason cf gets ruined is when moisture gets under the clear coat, so go ahead and drill water injectors through it, just hope that they dont leak and they dont let any water into the opening in the cf...

there is no reason to mar up a perfectly good hood when you can avoid it, unless of course youu want that look....

 

In my experience drilling carbon fiber, and I have a lot of it, the best thing to use is a cone-shaped grinding bit and a high RPM device like a Dremel tool.

Use VERY little pressure and let the high-speed of the tool do all the work. You must, however, be very careful not to press too hard OR drill for too long a period of time because carbon fiber WILL burn.

Plus, it keeps the stray strands of the c/f weave from fraying and going all over the place. Once you've finished grinding the hole, use clear nail polish to seal the edges of the hole so the weave won't deteriorate from within.

 

the nail polish is a good idea....

and i will second the notion, it is very easy to get very very hot with a dull bit on a dremel, so be careful....

 

Seriously guys, there's no need to drill holes in the hood, just get the 5th gen's washer squirters and mount them under the hood near the windshield. Hell, mine is semi duct taped to my CF hood and works just fine.

 

Where can you get 5th gen squirters, and do the mate up with the rest of the 4th gen system.

 

push slowly, but have the drill going very fast so it doesn't grab and crack the cf

 

this is good to know. i will be drilling my CF hood shortly. i have a hood insulater, but the CF hood i got is not predrilled like other hoods i have seen.

thanks for the tips!


Modified by cifer6425 at 4:26 AM 9/15/2005

 

Well i went and finally tackled my washer nozzles today and it turned out really well. I just used the dremel tool with the biggest bit and ran it at slow speed until it poked through the hood. Then i turned it up to full speed and kinda let the bit just eat away at the carbon until the hole was the right size and shape that i needed. I did many test fits as i was cutting the holes though. Here are some pics.

my hood has the under side precut for the nozzles and i just had to drill through the top layer. (JSP hood)



And heres the finished product. Kinda hard to see the nozzles but i dont think they are too noticable anyway.

 

looks like you have a great fitment

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 95greenlude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">looks like you have a great fitment </TD></TR></TABLE>

If you mean the hood, no it doesnt fit as good as the pictures make it look. Its got a huge gap on the passenger side and barely any on the drivers side. I can move it side to side but then it doesnt line up with the nose and headlights very good. So i just made it fit as best as i could.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sabbotage &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

If you mean the hood, no it doesnt fit as good as the pictures make it look. Its got a huge gap on the passenger side and barely any on the drivers side. I can move it side to side but then it doesnt line up with the nose and headlights very good. So i just made it fit as best as i could.</TD></TR></TABLE>


well i like the color of you car then overall looks really nice