Originally Posted by +fireamx
Skyshadow, I'm probably the last person on this forum who should ever comment on CF hoods. Because even though I've owned 34 Japanese cars over the years, not one was ever modified with carbon fiber. I was just going by what info I've read here on the forum about CF in the past. You obviously have experience with the product so I stand corrected.
The reason for using fiberglass, is because it is a product that is relatively easy to work with, and to form or mold into any shape so desired. Maybe CF is too, but I believe more people are comfortable using glass than CF. Then again, I could be wrong.
The point is, we actually had a well known "Fiberglass" hood manufacture "AAR" offer to build a glass hood for our Crossfires, and we simply couldn't get enough people to come up with the purchase price for their product, because not enough people wanted the custom design they were offering.
Since nobody else is even thinking about building an "after market" hood in any material for the Crossfire, I thought we may be able to get the required 10 orders it takes for them to start production if we simply asked for a "Stock" hood design. That way it would be much easier for anybody who wants to modify their cars hood design, could do so without damaging their "stock" steel hoods.
Fireamx- from a stand point of someone who works with glass everyday this can not be further from the truth. I would take metal any day of the week over fiberglass for such a projects. You can weld it, you can manipulate it, you can always bring it back to orginal if you work with it long enough it can be cut, it can be grinded, you can add to it (lead), and no real dry or prep time.
Fiberglass gives the impression that it is easier to work with because most people think they know what they are doing. 90% of people think they are doing fiberglass right because hey how hard can it be you have resin, a hardening agent, and you have cloth? Real fiberglass as in not the stuff you bought at home depot (which is great for some projects) is very difficult to work with because of all the variables how much hardener to add (temp), How much time do I have with which amount of hardener, which cloth to use, which way to lay the cloth, how many layers do i need to be structurally sound etc. These are variables before you even start. Once you start you have variables like which wet up method to use, layering layers in a very small window of tack time so that you are actually fusing not just layering, getting all the air out between layers, material heat shrink etc.
Without going into every single detail (just the basics above) if you have a fiberglass hood (done by a professional) make a wrong cut you might as well throw it out. Patching it is a possibility but on material alone to do it the right way will cost someone $300 who has never worked with fiberglass before. Once they even start trying to patch it again for the guy who thinks he knows what he is doing you might as well throw it out.
So as far as that goes stock fiberglass hood is useless and I know AAR is very credible but $650 for a stock hood in fiberglass is astronomical. We had wet carbon fiber hoods priced out at $600. CF is 4 times as much as much in cost as far as cloth, resin, vacuum materials, sanding, prepping, finishing materials, and man hours go.
On a project like this fiberglass would only be good for one only one of two ways. 1) the hood is completed and Mopar allows someone to make a mold of it so it can be made out of fiberglass or carbon fiber (ie. No one would have to touch it just pull it out of the box and paint).. 2) a fiberglass shop takes a mold of a stock hood modify it in the shop then takes a female gel coat mold of the hood then makes the modified hood out of fiberglass.
Me and Cliff talked about doing a hood because his car is already at the shop there is just no money to fund such a project. A profit usually isnt made unless something like 10- 15 orders can be filled so the initial $6000 up front is a must. We had been working on something to look like the new SL style hood but waiting for the side skirts to be done, one project at a time.
All this aside Mopar if definitely looks like you know what you are doing, and I can not wait to see the finished product I know it will turn out well.