I know I know, you guys are probably tired of seeing these threads. But please know from the start, I searched these forums up and down and still have questions that haven't been answered.

I'm looking into getting a carbon fiber hood for my MINI. The hood I have now is getting chipped and has a sizable dent just past the headlamp on the passenger side, so I figured this is as good a time as any to consider it.

Unlike 99% of the people on the web, fitment isn't my main concern, because after doing searches here of member's CF hoods, I'm happy enough with what I saw.

What DOES concern me though is longevity. I refused to get a VIS hood, because of this very reason. They are made very cheaply and with no UV protection, and I'm not playing that game. So I figured I'd go with Seibon. Plus, their carbon fiber work is much better, and also provide a higher quality under the hood "skeleton", ect.

Here's my question. How long, realistically, is this going to last? I have a cool idea in mind for a color scheme for my LY MINI, and it would require me to not paint the CF hood. This obviously leaves it up to the sun and wear and tear. While it has UV protection in the resin, and while it's not a cheapo polyester resin... it's also not epoxy resin, which means over time it will probably get damaged. Then again, no one really knows because when you call Seibon... they have no clue themselves as it's assembled by a totally different team overseas. Whoopi!

I know I can get a clear coat to eliminate this problem, but I'm wondering how far I can go until this needs to be done. I'm not the type of guy to wax my car every day. I love it, but I don't have the time. The best I could do is once a month or two. Would this alone be suitable protection for the hood?


Also, does anyone have a tutorial on how to take off/put back on the lamps, tire well trim, ect? I can do the grille, as I've done that.. but everything else is a bit of a mystery.

While I really want to do this to complete the vision in my head I had for this car, I'm very afraid of pouring hundreds of dollars into a part that could look like bantha fodder in a matter of months. I've owned a VIS CF hood in the last, but I had that painted to match the car color right after I purchased it, so I have never had to deal with the elements before on a hood like this.



Any help would be very welcome. If I'm to avoid it .. so be it. It would be a shame, but at the same time, I expect to get what I pay for. If there was a dry carbon fiber option, I'd take it.. but unfortunately these are my only two choices.

Thanks everyone. If you've had either hood, and had it for a while.. please let me know how it's held up, and what you did to keep it that way.

 

They will last if you take extremely good car of them= wax it a lot. A good way to is have someone add an extra layer of clear coat will help. I would not wait too long to have an extra layer of clear coat added. I would do it with in the 1st 3 months to prevent any kind of fade or damage.

 

Waxing it once a week would be the least of your problem with ether one of them. They are made by the same contractor for a number of brand names. Each car brand ,in turn, has different brand name. Vis /Seibon for Mini, Subaru etc and another name for VW, Audi, Mercs etc. All in all :SAME GARBAGE (voluntary caps): One layer of "wall paper" carbon over clear polyester gel coat, followed by two layers of 1 1/2 oz fiberglass CSM, in the cheapest polyester resin available, no vacuum , not heat cure or post cure, no re-design to take advantage of composites properties over metal. = Fragile, short lived, ill fitted, overweight GARBAGE! I have had a Seibon hood in my shop for over two years and I cant bring miself to put it on my Mini. I just can't do this to my car!

 

X2...

Fitment won't be an issue if you buy a quality piece. As of now, I know of no quality pieces for the mini.

Expect to pay 900-1300 bucks for a good quality hood and not only will it last, fitment should be great.

I promise any cheap hood may look good at first but after a few months, it'll look like a fat chick did a lap dance with high heels on it.

Mark

 

Something I thought of... what about doing maybe a dry carbon wrap? From what I heard, the CF hoods aren't that much lighter anyway, and then I'd get the fitment and the quality I'd want for probably not too much more.

Thoughts?



And thanks guys.. you reassured what I feared. Why they haven't made a quality CF hood for the MINI yet is beyond me. Thanks!

 

Ugh. I hate my CF Hood (VIS). I only got it because it was cheaper than buying an oem hood and painting it, and it was lighter. I refuse to paint it body color because that's obnoxious - it's a black car, and the CF is pretty.

Fitment is meh - but the fact that you have to handle the thing like fine china pisses me off. I installed one hood strut - the side I left it on cracked the interior support. I swapped it to the other side, the side that cracked got worse. The latches had to be moved around a lot to catch the hood and close it. I need two people to open the hood - one on either side, and one pushing down on the cowl panel between the wipers to keep from hitting the hood. I put 8 layers of clear coat on - the thing looks amazing. Just don't try to open it

If I had it all to do over, stock hood = teh win. Don't waste your dough. Seibon has been said to be marginally better, but it's still CF.

The MINI bonnet is just too big and too encompassing (headlights, etc) to make it work right. R56 - maybe better, since the headlights stay mounted.

 

^^I have all the same problems with my ViS hood. I dont run struts on it, and the latches CANT be lined up any better than they are. I do have a pretty good technique for opening and closing it tho.

I do have to say, the finish is holding up much better than I thought it would in the South Florida heat. I've had it for a little over a year, and the only thing that's faded/yellowed is the scoop. The car lives outside, I dont wash it as much as I should, and I NEVER wax it.

So in my experience, ViS fitment sucks big time, but the finish isn't so bad.

 

Just the fact that you need a "technique" to open it sucks.

I put about 8 layers of clearcoat, and wax it every 6 months. Looks awesome closed.

Can't get the washer nozzles to fit. Gonna have to find aftermarket ones that fit the hole. Awesome.

I want my stock hood back.

 

lol true about the technique to open

My nozzles fit, but I dont use em. I ditched the bottle a long time ago. I just keep the nozzles to fill the holes.