i just received my VIS carbon fiber bonnet. i plan on having the bonnet painted royal grey, leaving cf "bonnet stripes". my question: is it worth the effort and down time required to prefit the part prior to sending it to the paint shop? if others, who have installed this hood would comment on the fit, i would appreciate it....

A few questions if I may:
1. is the scoop integrated, or do you fit a stock/aftermarket scoop of your own choice?
2. Does it use the stock bonnet clips, or do you have to fab. some sort of closure?
3. Do the fenders just screw/bolt on like the stock unit?

Anyway, I like your plan for the CF stripes--my plan also. I am thinking of fabbing an exit scoop into the bonnet for my DFIC before painting it though.

cheers,

dr. phil:
1. the hood scoop provided is a separate cf piece. it looks identical to the oem scoop. i will probably add a little 'glass reinforcement on the top edge to make the alignment w/ the bonnet perfect. it currently flexes a bit. i would guess that any aftermarket scoop will fit fine (although you might have to modify the way that it attatches to the bonnet).
2. Stock appearing bonnet clips are already mounted on the new piece. it looks to be a direct replacement. others on this forum have fabricated custom hood pins. i'll wait until install to determine if this is necessary. i'd hate for the bonnet to come off at 130 mph going into turn 17 at sebring!
3. the wheel arches are a direct bolt in using oem attachment clips. i checked this w/ my spare unpainted arches.

there are also integrated attachment points for the stock lifting struts.
this is a good looking and apparently well made piece. i don't anticipate any install/fitment issues. i just wanted to check w/ those who have gone before me.....

bean,
Can't wait to see the finished product. It sounds like you are doing some good mods with your MINI.

I'd test fit it first. All you need is to get it painted and find out that its warped or needs additional finishing to fit.

anyone out there who has installed one care to chime in?

where did you get this bad boy from? I have seen only like 2 on ebay. pretty pricy but hey if its real CF then it would be expensive.

i got it here: eBay Link
call them to negotiate your best deal...shipped air freight and arrived quickly and intact. painless transaction. i'll post some pics before and after paint/install...warning: there are "counterfeit" VIS parts out there on e-bay. make sure you get an authentic one!

I just got mine straight from ViS for $674 shipped. I could have gotten a better deal but was worried about the packaging. It came flawless from them. I will be trying to put mine on today since I already took the hood and parts off the Mini. It is a royal PITA. No hinge mount holes, missing a mount hole for the headlights, the grill base has to be cut since the grill doesnt fit and is warped and my aftermarket scoop nowhere near fits. I might put the scoop that came with it back on for now. Everybody that I know won't touch the install... P.S. - Don't try and just snap the trim on cause I spider cracked mine a hair. The holes were too small and when a pushed on the trim I heard a not-so-cool crack. Wish me luck!:impatient BTW, test fit and drill everything FIRST. Your crazy not too cause you can see why~!

i installed one.

the only issue i had with the install was you have to re-drill most of the inserts holes for the barrier piece. oh, and sand down some spots to put the grill back on...thats it though. other wise mine was a perfect fit and went on real quick with 2 people.

Hey guys could we see some pictures of your cars with the install? Thank you.

Do you really drive this car in Manhattan? I live in Tribeca and do drive very slowly around here.
Also, do you plan on painting the hood or not?

thanks UKSUV and DOPAMINE: that is exactly the info i needed......i'll bite the bullet and pre-fit before painting. i just hate to drive my work vehicles....no fun...

Installing this thing sucks. 3 people, a drill and no cautions...lol.....and its only half way done...If someone wants my help ever doing another one...I'll tell them to take a hike.

UKSUV: i prefit mine w/ minimal effort. i make custom furniture for a living, so drilling accurately w/ significant repercussions isn't foreign to me. it's at the paint shop now, along w/ a few other custom touches that will be revealed shortly. i hope to get the pieces tomorrow and get them installed this weekend. pics to follow.....

i'm thinking about doing the "joey mod" at the same time. has anyone done this w/ factory paint w/out heat issues? i posted this elsewhere, but haven't gotten much response......

yes it is.... fit it first... you will be happy you did... I have done 3 or so now... and it's worth it..

ooOOOoooo but I work on f-16s... ooOOOOoo I am so special... yeah... special alright... LOL

funny, i live in Tribeca too.
you notice how many MINIs there are in our hood?

no, the MINI never sees the city...unless its straight down the west side hwy, left on canal, right on greenwich and park. thats it.

Tuls: thanks for the tardy reply! j/k. i decided from two mixed reviews to pre-fit. it all went well. it's at the paint shop now. i''m a USNA guy, so i don't know about F16's! we don't whine in the Navy! pics to follow...how many hp is this thing worth? it looks very fast.......

Us AF guys whine alot...how do you think we get all the good hotel rooms... BTW, they are sending me to Hawaii for 2 weeks next Saturday... Anyways, I blame Kalbone for just standing around while we massacre the hood.. I'll fix it later...

[quote=DOPAMINE;1483125]funny, i live in Tribeca too.
you notice how many MINIs there are in our hood?

Ha! That's great! We should go for a ride sometime in the summer...perhaps a meet up around Bubby’s with other neighbors? (Just because it’s a wide St., don’t really eat there)
* I just decided to store my car for a couple of weeks in the garage with the cover on because don't need to drive these days *...I take my car for service to Morristown and to Helix just for the excuse of "open road" : )

I keep seeing on the VIS website that the carbon fiber hood is about $850. Yet on some websites i see the same brand hood for only about $550. Could the cheaper hoods be seconds or damaged hoods?

My ViS hood was shipped with a total of $674 directly from ViS. Now, you can find cheaper listings of ViS hoods on ebay but when you factor in the $150 shipping charge it turns out to be more. The hood from ViS was packaged like Ft. Knox and arrived in perfect condition. You need to prefit everything, drill, cut and shave alot to get everything to fit right. I STILL havent got the side moldings and grill on. I will have to cut the whole grill support out because the sheet metal bows. I will probably tackle everything tomorrow. The side moldings are going to have bolts instead of clips because those clips are a frickin nightmare and I cracked the gel coat on the hood in a few spots. Be careful! Luckily you cant see it (the molding covers it). After all that I am going to spoiler glue the moldings and grill in...................:impatient

How much of a weight savings?

Soemone should do a write up because damn do i want one....So on a scale of 1-10 how hard was it ??? 10 being almost impossible....