here another pic of that splitter.

 

everything has its place and a purpose....you don't alwasy need the strongest and the best. Most of these hoods are going on daily drivers no pro race cars...maybe its good that they don't shatter and have a bit more memory to them. They are 1/3 the price of what you propose. I have never seen the resin go bad on one, but even if it did and you replaced the hood every 2-3 years, you would still spend less than on the worlds greatest CF hood using all the best. Vaccuum bagging is usefull to prevent airbubbles in the resin, which hels both rigidity and with looks...but anybody with decent skills can make a good hood with out it. another price difference comes with the width of the cloth used. Wider sheets cost more and make more waste...narrow ones leave seams.

On the other hand I absolutely would NOT use ony CF hood without hood pins. NO way no how. I have seem way too many of them pull the latch hardare right out of the hood and fly open. I have also seen them seperate from the frames and come right off. Its only epoxy and resin holdiong them together. at 190mph I'd like some insurance that my hood isn't coming up in my face...

dave w

 

Dave, you see, you preception of CF is tainted by the low standards. My CF parts would never require hood pins. Period. The fact is the industry is full of people who have no idea what they are really doing.

Quality is a whole different issue. You want to spend less thats you deal. I target the guys who want the best for no better reason than egotistical satisfaction. You own a porsche right? Lets be honest. Quality does matter to you.

 

I never said quality doesn't matter...I want good quality in everything I buy. But there is also overkill. My point was that for a daily driver one might not quitre need the strongest ande most rigid DF on the planet. One might just need CF that will stand up to daily p-car use. I have been involved in building and maintaining professional race cars for many years now and I have learned a few things about composites along the way....

my comment about hood pins was specifiaccly aimed at the posts that said they were buying the $400 hoods and would not be using pins with them. Though I wouldn't run any hood that is glued with epoxy without pins, yours, theirs, or anybodies...no matter how perfect you think your work is, at high speed I like to know my hood can't come up under any circumstances. There is a reason that pins are mandated by every race sanction body on the planet.

that all said, I wouldn't even put a CF hood on my turbo...they look ghetto in my opinion. but to each his own...

dw