Let me start of by saying please no flames, and if you think it would be dumb don't respond. Anyways I've been seriously looking into either a custom molded hood or an all carbon fiber hood. I contacted a place that could actually make the model the hoods and everything, only thing is is that the model, all the stuff involved in making the model, and a single unit would be about $7,000 (the majority of that money is for the model) but any units after that since the model would then be mine would be signifacantly cheaper. I have only been in contact with the company briefly so far, I should probably have better numbers soon. But anyways my question is if you wanted a carbon fiber hood for your crossfire would you want it to be:

A) Stock.
B) Have some sort of scoop to it.
C) Have 2 duct like things that are towards the front of the hood and between the hood stakes before the outer edge. (you'll see the area if you open the hood because its the only area that would be clear for any sort of stuff to be run from the ducts) and I'd imagine theyd be much smaller versions of this one on the legacy.
http://www.car-list.com/newcars/2007...y_gt_sedan.jpg

And if you would be willing to pay:
A) $750
B) $1,000
C) $1,250
D) $1,500

Anyways I have a feeling I am going to get some negative responses to this but I was really interested in making one for myself and hope that at least a few people like the idea of it. I will be in contact with the shop hopefully tomorrow to see if it is even reasonable for me to consider going in on this or if I'd end up losing a lot of money. My main goal for this would be to get myself a hood and then just break even somehow with hoods that I could sell.

 

Here's my take !

 

If you were to make it, pattern it after the Mercedes SL's hood.

 

yes use the SL hood design, with the real sl grills in the hood.

I've seen the quatily of CF hoods on the market and they always use too much resin, I don't see any point to make it carbon fiber, might as well make it out of fiberglass, I'm going to paint it to mach the car anyways.
Unless your using prepreg carbon then that would be really light.

I also would like to see someone make a wider front fender, so that I can bolt up wider front rims.

 

if you were able to keep the ribs in the hood and get those sl vents i would be willing to spend a pretty penny for that hood. i dont know about $1500 but i would ready and willing.

Justin

 

I'm with z28 to xfire on the design. Would like to have one.

R.S.
2005 srt roadster
#57588

 

if going with pre-preg carbon your looking at about $2,000 hood. yet very light weight.

just crank out some decent quality fiberglass hoods for about $600-$800, the carbon ricer image dosn't fit this car's personallity well, most will just paint to match. ricer style just doesn't fit the cars demographic of owners, mostly retired caucasians.

I would love to splash some larger front fenders!!!

also the $7000 price tag for the molds is rediculous, send me your hood as the plug and I can crank out several molds, easy japanesy. use cheap surfboard resin and some cheap heavy auto glass. I can do it on a $2000 budjet, so I would start looking around for a better price or just do it yourself.

 

i'd be interested in stock look given that i see significant weight reduction and fits perfectly.

color to match or come close to graphite would be great too and preferrably price less than a G.

 

I'd be interested in a stock hood and obviously the more affordable the better. I think—no wait I know it would be impossible to get a consensus on a hood with a scoop here.

 

We've actually spoken to a company that does a lot of private label CF work for Porsche, BMW, Ferrarri, etc. Top notch work. For a run of ten cost would be around 1800 + setup fees. The larger the order the cheaper it would be and more units to spread out fees, but there aren't too many Crosfires to expand your market to.

It's a good idea and I hope someone does it.

 

First off, thanks for all the responses. Second, it seems most people would want the hood to have the SL grills in it and retain the stock ribs/stakes on the thing, which honestly I wasn't a huge fan of the SL grills until I stopped by a Merc dealer today just to look at them. If I am going to continue on with this whole venture I think that the design will definately be the SL grills with the stock ribs (because I need the design that will sell the most), as for material I do have to research it a little bit more and would love to find a local shop to me to do it so I can have an easier time with it (so if anyone knows a chicagoland fabrication place please let me know). The goal is definately a carbon fiber hood because with almost all the options it would need paint afterwards, at least with carbon fiber it would be lightweight and wouldn't require painting right away.

So yeah for a "update" I am going to continue looking into the shop I was going to have do this project but I am also looking for a closer and more affordable shop. I am going to also be looking into the fiberglass option also because hopefully with that I would be able to have more than one design. I'd still really like to get this done so I'm going to keep looking for a way to make it happen and not lose thousands of dollars. Any more suggestions are welcome.

Thanks

 

definetly definetly the sl hood things and the stock hood lines. I WANT IT SOOOO BAD!!!! i was about 30 seconds away from getting holes cut in my stock hood and getting them installed but idk if it can be done on a stock hood

 

Yo nice work. If we're going to modify the hood, it defenetly needs to look different then stock, make improvements and get our moneys worth. I'm with you just need to set the price right. I like the idea of the SL grills with the stock ribs, but would like to see a picture.

this one?

 

Two easier to see pictures that Maxwell has posted in another thread are these:
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...2&d=1201034963

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...3&d=1201034963

If someone would like to photoshop them on that would be great (I'm not amazing with photoshop)

 

Try VFN fiberglass in Addison, they do carbonfiber and fiberglass. They have a website.

 

hey man, i would def. buy a carbon fiber hood, if it is truly real and not a cheap hood, i really wouldn't want to pay over 800.00 i did not read through all posts as they are pretty long and i have to work in morning, lol, send me a pm. involving info. on making this happen, also any idea on a rear mesh grill in some sort of rear diffuser???? this i am working on

 

hey there was a girls member here a while back claiming her friend was going to make a CB hood. I would say there is a good chance she can hook us up. I will try to find the thread.

 

her name is SexyCross06 and the last threat on this topic went no where.

 

seriously, I can have aluminum molds machined for a hood for only $5000, and that's hard tooling. You can also paint the crossfire colors in the molds first, the hoods will pop out of the mold with very little finishing and look oem quality if done correctly. once you have the molds made up, that is the hard part after that it's super easy to make parts.

If you need more help on composite fabrication feel free to post on the forum over here. http://www.rcgroups.com/composites-fabrication-210/

also here is a molded wing being built, should give you a good idea of what's entailed as a DIY project.
http://babelfish.altavista.com/babel...16%26t%3d98558

if you really want to save weight vacuum bag a composite sandwich with balsa wood or rohecell foam I could get the wetgh down to about 25 lbs on this hood if I could afford prepreg carbon.

 

Has anybody considered just having their "stock" hoods Louvered?
The louvers could be placed in between the original factory "hood strakes", and would probably go along way in lowering under hood temps. This would work well in unison with a "Needswings" style intake.
If saving weight is the primary goal of a new hood design, then of course a CF copy of the original XF hood would be all that's needed.
But to attain a "Ram Air" effect from a custom design, then a scoop that sits a couple of inches "higher" than mine would be necessary. Something on the order of a 440-6-pac, 69 Road Runner, a 70 Trans Am Challenger, or a 1970's Formula Firebird style.
I had to spend a lot of money to have my all steal hood fabricated, but I've never regretted it for one moment. So if any of you are simply not sure if ya want to change from what's "Factory Stock" all I can say is, "Go for it". Anything that makes our cars look less like a Sebring sedan () is a good thing.......Right?