Should I get a carbon fiber hood?

[jm2628]

so i just bought my car (2017 fiesta st) and it has the shadow black paint. The paint looks really good for a 6 year old black car, except of course the hood. It is absolutely COVERED in small rock chips. The front bumper isnt so bad, maybe one or two. I'm not really worried about the bumper though, what really worries me is the possibility of rust forming on the hood because of the chips.

So my idea is this: throw a carbon fiber hood on because #1 it will look good and not stand out like crazy with my paint. #2 its really only slightly more than having the hood repainted. #3 If i do get chips in the carbon fiber hood i will never have to worry about rust, and i can just have it clear coated in the future (possibly?)

I know a lot of people get the clear bra, but that is out of my price range atm. I would have to first spend $650 on the re-paint and then over $1000 for the clear bra.

I'm basically looking for opinions or ideas of more experienced FiST owners, because i know a lot of people have dealt with rock chips in the hood

 

[dhminer]

I have a black car and my hood is chipped all to hell. I’m just letting it do what it does and will go for a carbon hood when I see rust or paint flakes off. We have crap paint. Comes with the territory of inexpensive lunch box cars.

 

[green_henry]

How much would a faux carbon fiber wrap cost? Is that in the realm of a DIY project for a relatively small surface?

I had a carbon fiber trunk lid (Seibon?) on my Acura TSX, and it was great at first but quickly developed deep cracks in the clear coat and the clear coat also got very cloudy.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

How much would a faux carbon fiber wrap cost? Is that in the realm of a DIY project for a relatively small surface?

I had a carbon fiber trunk lid (Seibon?) on my Acura TSX, and it was great at first but quickly developed deep cracks in the clear coat and the clear coat also got very cloudy.

The clear coat thing is one of the only things Holding me back from buying carbon fiber stuff! There must be a way to get a good clear coat that will last.

 

[Intuit]

Might be able to negotiate the price down if you take off the hood and/or perform the stripping yourself.
Paint matching is a difficult sport but you can ask if it might be possible to match while getting a more durable finish.

View: https://youtu.be/pSdl_FNij9s

 

[Dpro]

The clear coat thing is one of the only things Holding me back from buying carbon fiber stuff! There must be a way to get a good clear coat that will last.

Well most people with Carbon roofs do PPF so I would do the same with a Carbon hood. Ya big discussions going on about this in the GRC world.

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Well most people with Carbon roofs do PPF so I would do the same with a Carbon hood. Ya big discussions going on about this in the GRC world.

ill bet the Whole hood in PPF isn't cheap either*

 

[WannabeST]

How much would a faux carbon fiber wrap cost? Is that in the realm of a DIY project for a relatively small surface?

I had a carbon fiber trunk lid (Seibon?) on my Acura TSX, and it was great at first but quickly developed deep cracks in the clear coat and the clear coat also got very cloudy.

That's because seibon carbon fiber is pretty crap. The marketing is great tho. Most of Seibons products are one single layer of carbon and then everything else is fiberglass. They spray a pretty generic clear coat too.

 

[WannabeST]

If i do get chips in the carbon fiber hood i will never have to worry about rust, and i can just have it clear coated in the future (possibly?)

Assuming the chips don't go past the clear coat yes. Just like with paint if enough of the clear coat gets damaged then the carbon under will get blemished too. This is why good carbon products will usually have thick layers of clear coat.

 

[akiraproject24]

Ive had 2 hoods repainted one was done cheap no fender blend and the other was done correctly with fender blend. Ill say could totally tell on the cheaper method paint didnt match. On the fender blend couldn't tell at all.