Most liked posts in thread: DIY R53 Composite Hood

Sorry, haven't been able to post much lately. Work on the hood is almost done.
I've learned a heck of a lot in making this part. It's been one of the most complex pieces I've ever made.

The compound curves make vacuum bagging very difficult but it was do-able!

Here is the final result from my first pressing and doing some trimming.



It's not perfect. I'll need to change up my bagging film to a more flexible type.
Overall I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Weight?
The stock hood without the lights weighed about 35 lbs. The carbon hood weighs just 8 lbs.

Here is a picture of the underside with made with the second mold. Pic taken before trimming or epoxying it in.



Without it the top portion would be pretty saggy. This holds it all together and provides the support for the OE hood hings and light supports.

I'm still working (slowly) on this and will post pictures of the hood on the car as soon as I can. It's been a hoot working on it!

 

Little update.
With the holidays over I've started traveling for work again. Means I only get to work on this over the weekends.

Lots of adjusting still needed.






zip ties on for safety :biggrin5:

 

I'm not the best documentor.
Today I finished the bottom half of the mold.

Here is the bottom mold.


Top and Bottom together.


Moving right along.

Once I've got a couple blemishes in the gel coat fixed and the surface buffed I can start molding a hood! :cornut:

 

Test fitting the hood to the car. Just checking to see where I need to do more trimming. It needs a little more.



I haven't bonded the two halves together again to see how well I can utilize the OE mounting hardware.
I cut the holes for the hinges and even bolted up the strut.
The OE struts are too strong for this hood. I'm not sure how many pounds of pressure they are but I'll need something closer to 15 lbs than whatever they are.

Here are a few more pictures:









Still have some work on trimming the excess carbon, getting the lights mounted and those struts. It's looking pretty good so far.

 

Thanks for the comments!

This hood has been a challenge to make. Lots of compound curves and overhangs that make mold making a pain. Lots of filleting, hole filling etc. But it's looking pretty good now.

I've got the following materials into the mold:
Top half, 32 oz of orange gel coat, 2 layers of 3oz fiberglass fabric, 2 layers of 1.5oz fiberglass mat. Over all there is about 4lbs of polyester resin.

Bottom half is 32 oz of orange gel coat, 2 layers of 3oz fiberglass fabric and 2 layers of 1.5oz fiberglass mat. Same amount of polyester resin.

With good size flanges vacuum bagging this thing should be easy. I've never made a part this big though so I'm learning a lot about how different resin flows across long sections under vacuum.

Also I've learned a lot about getting the hardener mixtures right so that it doesn't catalyze too fast. And since I'm in the north and my shop doesn't have the best heater, not being able to keep temperatures right does mess with pot and cure times.

As for making a R56 hood; I'd love to try it. I think it would be about the same amount of work. Will take a couple weeks to make the molds. All I'd need is a donor hood to work with! Anyone want to volunteer?

I'll have more pictures after I pop the plug out of the bottom mold. Then next steps will be to fix any blemishes in the mold, polish it, and start making a hood! Can't wait.

I'm curious about how heavy the final hood will be too. I'm expecting it to be about 12 lbs. The stock R53 hood, without lights, weighs about 38 lbs.

 

Just getting back here...work sucks! But it pays the bills.

Thanks for the comments guys...

Not sure where the scoop came from. I think Dr Phil made it or at the least, covered some other scoop with carbon and some other stuff. I've been wanting to replace it with a better, lighter one. That thing weights like 5-6 lbs! Might just make another hood with an integrated scoop.

Been driving around a bit with the prototype hood and it's been holding up really well. I was afraid that it being so light and thin that it would deform at speed and stuff like that. Has been doing really well.

Next one will have a OEM fit. This one doesn't line up perfectly. Most likely because of how I bonded the bottom and top halves together. I pushed the top out just a hair and that was enough show. Drives me crazy!

In any case, I'll have the second one done here soon.