3rd gen carbon fiber hood
01-24-03, 11:09 PM
#26
Let me tell ya a story...
Once upon a time a couple years ago there were some repro Mazdaspeed hoods offered here on the forum for quite cheap (~400) for fiberglass. I eventually got one and found the fit to be what you'd expect for a 400 dollar hood. Not only that, but the material was made with a resin that got really flimsy when exposed to the underhood heat of a rotary. So much so that the whole hood would tweak when propped up after normal driving. (I think Attila still has a pic of this somewhere). So I went to a Fiberglass shop to see if they could "fix" my hood, before I got it painted. I come to find that there would be considerable cost to make the lines on the edges of the hood even, and the heat/flex issue would still occur. Then when it was painted the waviness of the (as delivered) matte surface would be quite noticable. The cheaper option to get a quality product was to literally sacrifice my stock hood (for the correct lines) and have the shop graft in the Mazdaspeed duct. That's how we did the last group buy, and still offer Mazdaspeed hoods to the nmembers of the forum, but we're off in the rarely seen group buy forum. Here's a link:
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...hreadid=146611
it has info for what we currently have made, and the whole oredeal of making the hoods in the first place is linked in the original thread. It also has all the fit and finish pix from many of the folks who got our hoods. Yes the shop does work for Saleen, and they are very good, but I really didn't write this to advertise, just to warn you how you can spend a year of your life, a stock hood, and a ton of time and effort to get the hood you really want, but you save a couple hundred when you first buy it. All this and you'll still need to pay quite a bit just for a body shop to smooth and prep most, if not all cheap hoods. Often this cost is more than the initial cost of the hood. I have dropped off our hoods to body shops and they said they were good enough to clear coat as delivered, most of the "original" hoods from japan aren't even like that. I've never seen an original mazdaspeed hood, but have been told by a couple people that bought ours that the quality of ours is much better. You really need to see and experience the difference to really understand. I have, and I much prefer to drive my car now, rather than spend months working on a sub-par hood, trying to make it presentable. I think I need a beer.... Sorry for the rant.
BTW: if you saw a mazdaspeed replica hood a sevenstock it was one of ours more than likely... I counted~5 there on cars of happy customers.
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...hreadid=146611
it has info for what we currently have made, and the whole oredeal of making the hoods in the first place is linked in the original thread. It also has all the fit and finish pix from many of the folks who got our hoods. Yes the shop does work for Saleen, and they are very good, but I really didn't write this to advertise, just to warn you how you can spend a year of your life, a stock hood, and a ton of time and effort to get the hood you really want, but you save a couple hundred when you first buy it. All this and you'll still need to pay quite a bit just for a body shop to smooth and prep most, if not all cheap hoods. Often this cost is more than the initial cost of the hood. I have dropped off our hoods to body shops and they said they were good enough to clear coat as delivered, most of the "original" hoods from japan aren't even like that. I've never seen an original mazdaspeed hood, but have been told by a couple people that bought ours that the quality of ours is much better. You really need to see and experience the difference to really understand. I have, and I much prefer to drive my car now, rather than spend months working on a sub-par hood, trying to make it presentable. I think I need a beer.... Sorry for the rant.
BTW: if you saw a mazdaspeed replica hood a sevenstock it was one of ours more than likely... I counted~5 there on cars of happy customers.
01-25-03, 02:25 AM
#27
I'm a CF and poop smith
Originally posted by keynote22
I emailed the buyer to see what he thought.
I have heard that carbon fiber will blacken/warp under heat and sun. can anyone confirm or deny this?
I emailed the buyer to see what he thought.
I have heard that carbon fiber will blacken/warp under heat and sun. can anyone confirm or deny this?
Lastly, I would say, stay away from this hood, if the guy does not let you take a look at the hood and try it out before buying it and your that close to him, there is soemthing very fishy about it!
Last edited by skunks; 01-25-03 at 02:38 AM.
01-25-03, 03:45 AM
#28
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i was at SS5 and let me just put it this way - I have not seen even one hood with a smooth finish to it. I doubt that this one is better than the other more well known ones. That's why I'm sticking with my stock hood.
01-25-03, 06:56 PM
#29
The 7 can't lose!
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I've got a replica... paid about $350 US for it...
Fit is quite good apart from having to adjust the bonnet catch a little.
Finish is OK, but not show quality.. couple small imperfections and runs....
But it looks great and attracts lots of attention
Dropped the engine temps about 10 degrees (F) on the street and 30 degrees on the track.
Fit is quite good apart from having to adjust the bonnet catch a little.
Finish is OK, but not show quality.. couple small imperfections and runs....
But it looks great and attracts lots of attention
Dropped the engine temps about 10 degrees (F) on the street and 30 degrees on the track.
Last edited by gotorx7; 01-25-03 at 06:59 PM.
01-26-03, 12:02 PM
#30
Rotary Enthusiast
Not smooth? The hood above is without ANY prepwork; stratight out of the mold. (We are still offering these).
I will post some images of the hoods at SS5.
01-26-03, 02:34 PM
#32
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Originally posted by jeff48
Here's something to think about. I emailed the seller to see if I could pick up the hood. Here is his response
"sorry. no pick up."
Here's something to think about. I emailed the seller to see if I could pick up the hood. Here is his response
"sorry. no pick up."
Some people(probably most online sellers) don't stock the actual product or probably even have a store front. They simply have wholesale accounts with another store or the maker and get it drop shipped from there. Usually it saves them from having to pay shipping on the item to them(which would be money out of their pocket), that away you pay shipping right from the source and they don't have to worry about it.
02-12-03, 03:07 PM
#35
i have the hood from ebay. harleyproduct (i think is his name) is a great guy to do business with. i just got my hood a week ago, and its badass. it tooke me 5 mins to install. bolted right up with no problems. i had to raise my latch catch up a little to close, but that was easy. the hood is very smooth and has a great finish. even with the shipping price its a great deal 120 or 140? i cant remember. the hood is regid yet superlight. i can try to get pics of it on my car if anyone is curious. but its a great deal, u can even see the feedback i left him. oh he shipped it to me quickly, and answered all my questions usually the same day.
02-12-03, 06:21 PM
#37
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Originally posted by Team 4R
the non-turbo style hood looks the same but is mounted upside down for a ram-air effect....
and you know damn well we haven't seen a new rx-7 in the last few years...
the non-turbo style hood looks the same but is mounted upside down for a ram-air effect....
and you know damn well we haven't seen a new rx-7 in the last few years...
02-12-03, 09:39 PM
#38
i don't know about buying a hood from a guy who also sells led "HKS style" exhaust tips
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2402682592
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2402682592
02-13-03, 09:03 PM
#44
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I bought them from a guy in Virginia. I remember there was a guy selling the same kind on the forum before i bought mine... I think his name on the forum was Nathen. Here is a link to some pics.
http://www.rx7club.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=136107
http://www.rx7club.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=136107