Well, came home tonight and installed my Carbon Fibre CW Style hood from Seibon. It sure looked purdy in the box.

note-Before you flame, know that I am aware that there is no real weight savings to be had from a CF hood on our cars. In fact, I'd say that both the hoods are within about 1lb of each other in weight. However, my hood has been scratched up for months and I've been super sick of it. I've tried to get the scratches out numerous times with various high quality polishes and even mild rubbing compound to no avail so I bought a hood cause I didn't want to see scratches any more.

Here's how it went.

Removal- Took me forever to figure out how to get out the stupid washer sprayers, but thanks to search function on here, finally got it, but no way they were gonna fit into the new hood.

Install- Well, it took only a few minutes to actually put the hood on, but i was a bit disappointed/surprised that the washer sprayers wouldn't even come close to fitting. Some 15 minutes of careful work with a file got them to go in, but I would have to epoxy them in from the back. From there, bolt on was a snap. However, there was another fitment problem when it came to closing the hood. The part where the latch is was not lined up correctly and had to be filed again to allow the locking mechanism to close correctly. 6/10 (though worth it if you are comfortable with some small corrections on your own.)

Fitment- Well, the gaps are a tad larger on both left and right side, but it's even so it's not too noticeable. Also, there was the latch problem as indicated, but again, a few mins with a file fixed that up. The driver side is slightly higher than the passenger side when closed. 8/10

Finish- Top notch in my garage lighting (hell, it IS 2am now, so have to check it in the sun tomorrow). The clear coat looks stunning, the lines of the weave are straight, the mesh fits very well. Even the edges are clean- 10/10

Overall Quality- Well, the center mesh opening was going to be a vented opening, or so I thought. It turns out there is nothing but a cheap fibreglass, fake splash guard under it, so it doesn't vent at all. It even has fake Louvers, rofl. It's held in by 6 small screws, and after noticing this wasn't even a real vent, i quickly removed the screws and the fake splash guard. I was told that I could fit my stock splash guard with actual louvers with no problems, but the fitment isn't even close, so no joy. I guess I'll ride around with the fake guard out during summer, and toss it in during winter =/ All of the other vents are actual vents with no splash guard. This may just be a "summer" hood. With the splash guard completely removed, it looks like this hood will vent really well, and it's kinda cool to see the valve cover and other cf bits under the hood through the big vent. Overall: 7/10


No pics today, will try to have some tomorrow evening from daytime shots if i can.

Ok, photos of the hood, Also added Titek Carbon Fibre Hood Dampeners just now so they are in the pics too:










And the parts I had to file down to get it to fit. This section was hitting the latch at the front of the car. The Hood was adjusted forward as far as it could go and it would still hit it:


Here is my ghetto epoxy job on windshield washer sprayer, had to file out both holes to fit the sprayers, then epoxy them both.

 

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You need to post pics, I got the same hood, and I would like to better see what you are talking about... I got to find more info since I got a month before I can install mines..

 

yes as of right now this thread is not delivering......needs pics, but good write up

 

you need some PICS badly

 

i know, i know, I took photos, but came to work so will have to wait till i get home, sorry. heh.

 

get some extra coats of clear on it pronto. haha. I have a seibon evo style for my lancer. in 3 months of daily driving it. It is yellow, clear is lifting in one spot and the clear is uneven. I also have a seibon evo CF trunk. The clear has cracked all over all of a sudden. Just a heads up. Im very happy with my weave and fitment with seibon but the clear sucks.

 

bump for photos

 

can u take some side shots of the hood closed on both sides?

I want to see if theres any gap at all w/the hood dampers.

I used to have the TEIN ones on my old setup, but they left a little gap wen the hood was closed hehe.

 

I'll see if i can get some time tomorrow. There was no added gap when i added the dampeners however. It was the same as when I had just the stock support rod (Added the hood dampeners the day after installing the hood). The Right side (looking at the car from the front) does stick up about 1/8-1/4 of an inch high. Hopefully, some hood pins will take care of that.

 

aNY UPDATES ON PIX?

 

You do realize that this thread is over 4 years old right???

 

pix plsssss!

 

why do you guys bring up threads from 4+ years ago..?

 

Cause some new users considering about buying hoods, and would like to see how it looks before its purchased...sounds pretty common or sensible?

 

Hello! I have the same issue. The washer does not fit. and the gaps on both sides are indeed short. Also I can't get the hood to close all the way. Can you please advise how you got it to close? Thank you so much! Just barely purchased the CW hood, I have a 2011 MR. I thought I was the only one w/ this issue.