ey fellas Carbon Fiber Hood

[Infidel67]

Hope ya'll doin ok
I just purchased the VIS Racing Terminator GT Style Carbon Fiber Hood and wonder if ya'll give me some tips about under hood heat protection, Pins maybe and clear coat protections. Pretty much the ins and outs, do or don't, any tips. I would appreciated.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

Hey there, good to see you back in action!! My suggestion is to keep a good coating of wax or ceramic coating on it so the sun UV's don't eat of the clear coat on it. I hear, and saw where it isn't done very well. Under hood the only thing I can suggest is to remove the rubber strip along the back cowl area of the hood to let some air flow through and keep the temps down. I have had mine removed for many years, no issues. And for hood pins, I never installed any on my custom hood. Oh, and keep the under side of the hood waxed as well, if it has a show finish on the under side. Mine does.

[Arogg]

My VIS hood went to crap after 4 months. They wrote me off and were horrible when speaking with me. I LOVE the way my hood looks but id never give them another dime. Recently I had the hood refinished by a reputable shop at my own cost. Ive been looking into more carbon but as i said, Id pay more at this point just to not give them my business

* Edit * just before people blame me or whatever, those 4 months the hood was on the car it spent most of its time under a cover. Barely saw sunlight and the hood was WHITE in 4-5 months.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

Originally Posted by Arogg

My VIS hood went to crap after 4 months. They wrote me off and were horrible when speaking with me. I LOVE the way my hood looks but id never give them another dime. Recently I had the hood refinished by a reputable shop at my own cost. Ive been looking into more carbon but as i said, Id pay more at this point just to not give them my business

* Edit * just before people blame me or whatever, those 4 months the hood was on the car it spent most of its time under a cover. Barely saw sunlight and the hood was WHITE in 4-5 months.

Yeah, one of my friends had this hood and it did the same thing, heck his even cracked! And it was a garage queen, and only saw car shows, no daily driver. He did eventually did have it refinished, but couldn't get the cracks fixed, but you can barely see them if you aren't looking for them. Glad I didn't get one back when I was looking.

[Arogg]

Originally Posted by 1JEWLDSSRS

Yeah, one of my friends had this hood and it did the same thing, heck his even cracked! And it was a garage queen, and only saw car shows, no daily driver. He did eventually did have it refinished, but couldn't get the cracks fixed, but you can barely see them if you aren't looking for them. Glad I didn't get one back when I was looking.

Mine looks perfect now but cost me. I was so disappointed with them and how they treated me after spending 2k on a hood. I wanted that hood for YEARS and then the whole experience was ruined. Its all good now but i will forever bash them.

[hesster]

My VIS has been flawless, although it is not a DD. And it has seen some serious heat conditions on very hot summer days over the 10 years I have had it. No hood pins, and no issues at 130 MPH when I was Data Logging
I did remove some of the underside vent covers (on the side's if I remember), and painted the underside. Just good old wax and detail spray on the finish, which was - and still is - excellent.

[Arogg]

This was mine after 4 months, 90% of the time under a cover.. I was furious. Ill find a pic of it now looking flawless

[hesster]

Originally Posted by Arogg

This was mine after 4 months, 90% of the time under a cover.. I was furious. Ill find a pic of it now looking flawless

That sucks - it looks like solvent pop or water vapor contamination in the CC. Having done my share of painting with almost every kind of paint, I suspect it is just crap Clear Coat, improper spray out application, or the Gel Coat out gassed into the CC. Even VIS or Anderson can have problems if they don't mix and spray out the high UV resistant CC properly, or sanded/buffed it out too soon or improperly.

Usually fixed (as you probably know with your refinishing) by wet sanding all of it off down to the Gel Coat and respraying.

[Arogg]

Exactly. This is her now. Yes, I know my pics are always sideways :(

[hesster]

Yeah - that looks more like it should. I am assuming that in making a VIS CF Part that they Clear Coat it, but I may be wrong. It may be just that they just polish out the Gel Coat. Did they sand and apply CC as a fix?

AI can be our friend:
"Yes, most high-quality carbon fiber hoods are clear-coated as part of their finishing process to protect the resin, enhance durability, and provide UV resistance, though some budget or custom pieces might skip this or use an integrated gel coat, requiring extra UV sealant or paint. The clear coat (often a durable urethane) is applied after molding, sanding, and prep, sometimes multiple layers, and is crucial for preventing the carbon fabric from yellowing or fading in the sun. "

[Arogg]

Originally Posted by hesster

Yeah - that looks more like it should. I am assuming that in making a VIS CF Part that they Clear Coat it, but I may be wrong. It may be just that they just polish out the Gel Coat. Did they sand and apply CC as a fix?

AI can be our friend:
"Yes, most high-quality carbon fiber hoods are clear-coated as part of their finishing process to protect the resin, enhance durability, and provide UV resistance, though some budget or custom pieces might skip this or use an integrated gel coat, requiring extra UV sealant or paint. The clear coat (often a durable urethane) is applied after molding, sanding, and prep, sometimes multiple layers, and is crucial for preventing the carbon fabric from yellowing or fading in the sun. "

Yep, Sanded down to the carbon and cleared. Looks fantastic and I love the hood, I just will never endorse VIS after the way they handled the issue.

[hesster]

"I just will never endorse VIS after the way they handled the issue."

Don't blame you. My other concern was getting and receiving the CF Parts w/o damage. They are coming from California, so that is a long way to MI for me. My Hood, Rockers, and other parts were well packaged and OK. The process on these expensive parts is to hold the Driver and unpackage, inspect, and take some pics - cause once they leave you own them and can't prove anything. Had to argue with one driver that wanted to leave, so I said go but take the part with you. He stayed because then it is on him.

My CF Deck Lid from Siebon had a tiny crack I found afterwards, but the fix was to mix some Black Urethane into some thinned out Clear as a tint, dab it into the crack, sand, and polish. Now it is really hard to see, and only I know it. Last pic is the crack before I fixed it.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

Originally Posted by Arogg

Mine looks perfect now but cost me. I was so disappointed with them and how they treated me after spending 2k on a hood. I wanted that hood for YEARS and then the whole experience was ruined. Its all good now but i will forever bash them.

I'm glad you got it all fixed up, but yeah, that was a raw deal to do to someone for that kind of money!!. Sell a product and not stand behind it sucks!! Just sad you had to have it happen. It is a nice looking hood though.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

Originally Posted by Arogg

Exactly. This is her now. Yes, I know my pics are always sideways :(

Flipped them for ya.. You did a great job! Looks nice..