vis carbon fiber hood, is this legit ?
 

2014 z, is this legit hood ? fitment etc ? any opinions


https://www.octanemotorsports.com/20...FcJkhgodIBYH5Q

thank youuuuuuuuuuuuu x 1000, ordering this now hahah

Remember to keep up on re-clearing the Carbon when it starts to yellow

What? dont they have a protective coat?

This came in really well packed, i was blown away...

They do have a protective coat, but a single layer that is of not the greatest quality clear coat
There are regular clear coats that do not last as long and do not give as much protection to the Carbon Fiber and then there is the gel base clear coat. I know plenty that when they have their hood, fenders, bumper, etc re-cleared they will end up doing 3-4 layers of the gel clear coat. That will last a daily driver that leaves their car outside close to 2 years.

Seibon and VIS have a history with yellowing and happens usually within a year. Aesthetically the carbon fiber looks great from them as long as you keep up on the maintenance and don't allow it to yellow. Performance wise, Seibon and VIS weigh just as much as OEM, so there isn't a huge reduction of weight.

These processes are with all Carbon Fiber parts in general.
With better quality brands they use better quality materials, ex. ZELE, Top Secret and VARIS use a higher quality gel base clear coat.

There was a friend of mine that bought a Varis CF Cooling Hood from another Z person and the other person had the hood for about 2 years and then my friend bought it. Only reason he stripped and re-cleared the hood was due to tiny rock chip in the protective layers.
Hood still looks brand friggin new.

can any joe do clear coat work or do I have to take mine to a qualified body shop???

Bodyshops that do paint, and panel work etc. Most of the time those places dont do any mechanical work.
If you know how to do custom bodywork yourself then by all means save yourself the $$$$ on labor haha.. The clear coat isn't the really expensive part, labor is as usual :ughdance:


If you have any doubts or concerns about doing it right then I would not risk it at all. Take it to a custom body shop and pay the couple hundred to have them do it. Less headache for you and no liability if it gets messed up.

Just always remember to take pictures or a video walk around of the car before and after the work at the shop. :tiphat:

Mine is starting to look cloudy. Is this the same thing you mean by yellowing?

The Clouding/Fading of the clear coat is the initial steps of the yellowing, yes.

The yellowing itself is when there is a gold/yellow tint all across the carbon. Usually when you have yellowing it has been long enough to where the whole piece of carbon will Yellow.

In the picture below you can see that the carbon is faded and even after sanding down the clear and buffing it this is the condition that you will find.
The resin itself will yellow.

Think of it like the sun's UV radiation waves coming to earth and sunburn our skin after so long in the sun. The earth's ozone layer (or what is left) is like the clear coat and our skin being the carbon fiber. Except when the Carbon Fiber starts to yellow the resin, it is like 3rd degree burns for our skin, Permanent damage.

Honestly this should be done to all major carbon piece, ie. hood, spoiler etc. every year