Finally got rid of the ricer look

[clex2]

It took me a while to find the right shop to paint my CF hood. Most shops didn't want to touch it or gave excuses why it would come out less than perfect. I even contemplated selling my VIS CF hood and going back to metal just so I could have my hood match my car. Luckily, my friend Jon Sibal, clued me into a shop that was doing some work on his car and was willing to paint my CF hood. In fact, the shop (A-One Auto Body in Huntington Beach) does all the Hamman USA cars and if Jon trust them to work on his car, that was good enough for me.

Even better was the fact that he quoted me less than half of what other reluctant shops quoted and gave no lame excuses. He said he could do it and do it right.

Now that it's done, I have to say that it's amazing how closely matching the paint is. I literally just dropped off my hood, the paint code, and my fuel door, and a week later it was done. The other shops were talking about spraying the fenders to get the paint to match. In fact, the paint on the hood is nicer than the rest of the car, by a little bit.

I love the look and I am happy I could still keep the weight off.

[cooljess76]

Your car is so nice, the last thing that comes to mind is ricer. I remember listening to your motor in the video you posted a few months ago and wishing I had the money to do the swap on mine. You could put a 10ft wing, a fartcan and a type R sticker with JDM graphics on your car and it still wouldn't be rice. Good on you for color matching though. Most people who rock carbon hoods do it mostly for looks. I personally think it looks sorta tacky, but to each their own. IMO it doesn't look as bad on a black car but still looks so so. I know you did it with weight savings in mind, but have you noticed any improvements with heat dissapation? I've always wondered if carbon hoods helped cool the engine bay down. When I was in a Tomcat Squadron(VF-2 Bounty Hunters) we used a lot of carbon fiber on our jets. Sure there were lighter materials out there but carbon was stronger and more resistant to heat than say aluminum and fiberglass.

[StealthBimmer]

Any more bigger size pics for us to check out? It looks very good from the teaser.

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by StealthBimmer

Any more bigger size pics for us to check out? It looks very good from the teaser.

Click on it

[StealthBimmer]

Originally Posted by cooljess76

Click on it

I did silly he knows better than that to tease us with a ONE small pic of that beautiful bimmer.

[marko]

very nice car, indeed!

was wondering, though... you have a sun screen attached to the rear deck.

is that an OEM item? if so, do you have a part # maybe?

thx!

Originally Posted by clex2

It took me a while to find the right shop to paint my CF hood. Most shops didn't want to touch it or gave excuses why it would come out less than perfect. I even contemplated selling my VIS CF hood and going back to metal just so I could have my hood match my car. Luckily, my friend Jon Sibal, clued me into a shop that was doing some work on his car and was willing to paint my CF hood. In fact, the shop (A-One Auto Body in Huntington Beach) does all the Hamman USA cars and if Jon trust them to work on his car, that was good enough for me.

Even better was the fact that he quoted me less than half of what other reluctant shops quoted and gave no lame excuses. He said he could do it and do it right.

Now that it's done, I have to say that it's amazing how closely matching the paint is. I literally just dropped off my hood, the paint code, and my fuel door, and a week later it was done. The other shops were talking about spraying the fenders to get the paint to match. In fact, the paint on the hood is nicer than the rest of the car, by a little bit.

I love the look and I am happy I could still keep the weight off.

[snwbrdrbum10]

I'm so used to seeing your car with the CF hood, it doesnt even look like your car anymore.looks good thought

[StealthBimmer]

Originally Posted by marko

very nice car, indeed!

was wondering, though... you have a sun screen attached to the rear deck.

is that an OEM item? if so, do you have a part # maybe?

thx!

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...=51&fg=60&hl=1

Little pricey for the screen itself.

[clex2]

Hey guys, thanks for the kind words.

CoolJess, as far as heat is concerned, I can't see how the CF hood would help with heat compared to the steel hood. It's not insulating the engine heat from anything else but the atmosphere. The hood gets warm like the stocker does on my other daily 318ti. I run the stock hood insulation with the CF hood. If you want to lose heat from the engine compartment, you need to go to a vented hood, either CF or metal. MA shaw makes a CF vented hood. It does, however, save 25-30 lbs up front.

StealthBimmer, I will get more pics up after I take them at Bimmerfest. And thanks for getting marko the part # for the OEM sunshade.

Marko, here is more info from the 318ti notebook on the sunshade:
http://www.318ti.org/notebook/sunshade/index.html

[marko]

wow.. you ain't kidding! $210!!

great addition, but not right now I guess... LOL

thx though..

Originally Posted by StealthBimmer

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...=51&fg=60&hl=1

Little pricey for the screen itself.

[clex2]

Here are some shots of the new hood from this past weekends bimmerfest.

For more pics of the event, take a look at Jon Sibals BosstJunky site

http://boostjunky.com/gallery/album23

[newagecustoms]

Originally Posted by clex2

The other shops were talking about spraying the fenders to get the paint to match. In fact, the paint on the hood is nicer than the rest of the car, by a little bit.

The other shops were going to paint the tops of the fenders and re-clear the whole fenders, it's called blending, this is what shops do to make an undetectable repair or repaint (like the difference in the finish of the hood compared to the rest of the car.) That is why they were more expensive than the shop that just painted your hood.
Just a little info for anyone wondering they would have done that. I work with bodyshops all day long.

[PettitWC]

pics look awesome, where'd you get the french fogs or is it lamin-x?

[Micaoct]

Originally Posted by PettitWC

pics look awesome, where'd you get the french fogs or is it lamin-x?

It says "French ZKW Fogs", so I guess they are not Lamin-X.

[clex2]

Originally Posted by newagecustoms

The other shops were going to paint the tops of the fenders and re-clear the whole fenders, it's called blending, this is what shops do to make an undetectable repair or repaint (like the difference in the finish of the hood compared to the rest of the car.) That is why they were more expensive than the shop that just painted your hood.
Just a little info for anyone wondering they would have done that. I work with bodyshops all day long.

Your point is well taken. I have had a few other cars sprayed and they did "blend" the paint to the other adjacent panels like you said. I was just somewhat amazed that he was able to do it his way and match the paint as well as he did. You are right that the only guaranteed way to match the paint color and texture is to blend the panels, but at least this time, it was worth the significant cost savings.

BTW, Jon Sibal's black e36 hood was painted by the same shop in the same off the car tecnique. It too, looked amazing.