I'm planning to fabricate CF hood but I don't know the legality behind this. My plan is have a 3 layers of carbon fiber and no back frame. I think this is thick enough, so back frame may not be needed. Could you please give me your thoughts on this.

Sounds very very cool, but will be so very very illegal. The hoops that manufacturer's of legal aftermarket bonnets have to jump through to get ADR approvals will blow your mind. No frame is the first thing that jumps up but there's crumple testing and such aswell. Still, very very cool though :D

It needs crumple zones, 2-3. There was a photo here a while back of an import with a carbon bonnet that hit another car. the bonnet went straight through the windscreen. Extremely dangerous as it's alot stronger than steel/glass. I would recommend against it.

Just did some research, they're 100% illegal and can't be engineered.

Its sounds BIG NO:cry:
For the sake of aesthetics, If I just overlay the existing hood with 1 layer of CF would it make it illegal as well?

Its sounds BIG NO:cry:
For the sake of aesthetics, If I just overlay the existing hood with 1 layer of CF would it make it illegal as well?

dunno for sure but i would say it would.

huge cf vynil? for the need for speed effect

huge cf vynil? for the need for speed effect
Ha ha yeah need for speed effect, but not vinyl but real cf. Too rice you reckon?

Ha ha yeah need for speed effect, but not vinyl but real cf. Too rice you reckon?
Probably too rice either way... But real CF bonnet would be VERY awesome.

Probably too rice either way... But real CF bonnet would be VERY awesome.
lucifier said it would be awesome so it definately would be awesome!

I'm planning to fabricate CF hood but I don't know the legality behind this. My plan is have a 3 layers of carbon fiber and no back frame. I think this is thick enough, so back frame may not be needed. Could you please give me your thoughts on this.

How much would a cf hood cost?

How much would a cf hood cost?
good to see that you actually read the rest of the thread b4 posting...:nuts:

How much would a cf hood cost?

$800+

$800+

Or more and thats usually if its mass produced. (i.e civic's and lancers etc)
For a magna, which would be a one off, haha, would be freeken real expensive

good to see that you actually read the rest of the thread b4 posting...:nuts:
Would you like to show us then where his question was already answered?...

I do think this has the potential to look really good, but the rest of the car would have to suit, couldn't just throw it on a stock magna and expect it to look decent, you'll need a custom kit and so on to go with it I reckon. Boys in blue would not be happy though if they found out what it was exactly, which probably wouldn't take them long to work out.

IMO forget it...dangerous in an accident, defectable and you'll look like a tool with it:P

p.s its a bonnet by the way not a hood :) kthxbai!

Would you like to show us then where his question was already answered?...

I do think this has the potential to look really good, but the rest of the car would have to suit, couldn't just throw it on a stock magna and expect it to look decent, you'll need a custom kit and so on to go with it I reckon. Boys in blue would not be happy though if they found out what it was exactly, which probably wouldn't take them long to work out.

Yeah, I know... The master plan is full ralliart kit, respray the car with matte black paint and carbon fiber hood/bonnet.


p.s its a bonnet by the way not a hood :) kthxbai!
Hood/bonnet they are the same as far as I know.:D

Yeah, I know... The master plan is full ralliart kit, respray the car with matte black paint and carbon fiber hood/bonnet.


Hood/bonnet they are the same as far as I know.:D

Mate, I am not sure that these are illegal in the ACT where you and I are. There are plenty of my mates in the Brindabella Rally Club who have road registered rally cars with fibreglass bonnetts and/or guards. But call Dickson Motor Registry to be sure.

Regarding how you would go about making the bonnet. My son works at Red Bull F1 Racing Team as an aerodynamicist. He works constantly with the fabrication guys in determining load paths though aero devices he designs. So he knows a bit about CF. He says using 2-3 layers of CF in the profile of the bonnet will not give you enough stiffness in the bonnet for it to not flex chronically. The easy way to get the stiffness back is to mould in bracing into the back of the CF. But even that will require careful design re load paths.

In F1 Stephen says they get away without bracing stuff in mouldings by paying enormous attention to the type of mat you use (lots of different types), the direction you lay the weaves in the layers, the resin type you use, amount of vaccum applied in the autoclave, how long you cook it for etc etc. It's a very complex thing to get right. With all this in mind, IMO best give it a miss as a self supporting all CF structure. If you were going to do it for looks then the easy thing to do is use a stock Magna bonnet back brace simply with a CF bonnet skin.

Thanks Schnell for the info, the plan before was to use 2 layers of 650gsm 12K 2x2 twill CF for reinforcement and 200gsm 3k 2x2 twill for the skin. These will be vacuum infused using low viscosity epoxy resin. With these, I'm expecting about 2mm thickness of CF. But safety and legality is a big question, it's a good plan though.