Installing Carbon Fiber Hoods: A Quick Guide

There many reasons that carbon fiber has taken off in the past few years: it is lightweight, rigid, and visually appealing with a unique textured look and a smooth finish. A lot of tuners like to add a carbon fiber hood on their cars because these carbon fiber hoods can reduce the weight of the vehicle by as much as 40 or 50 pounds compared to steel hoods.

Carbon fiber hoods, along with other weight reducing modifications, can improve 0-60 times and handling and acceleration. Another reason is the cool looking finish. Adding a few carbon fiber touches as a theme all along a car can score some major style points. Although carbon fiber hoods are fairly expensive, they add a lot of style for the money.

Now that you have purchased the hood you want, you need to install it. Because the factory hood will be heavy you should get a few friends to help you. But once the factory hood is off, you should be able to handle the much lighter carbon fiber hood. Here is a quick guide to help you install it.

Your installation begins by removing the windshield washer jets from the factory hood. Unclip or unscrew their tubing to remove them. If there is a light attached to the hood, remove it to use on your new hood. With washer jets and the light removed, prop the hood up with the hood prop if you have one. If you bought one of those carbon fiber hoods with gas shocks, remove them before removing the four bolts that hold hood to the hinges. Be careful to support the hood when removing the hinge bolts so you don't damage the fenders or the windshield.

Carefully remove the factory carbon fiber hood from the hinges by pulling it away from the windshield. Place the new carbon fiber hood by lining up the bolts on the hinges and tightening them down. Reattach the gas shocks or set the hood prop in place and reattach your windshield washer jets. You can now reattach your saved light using some 3M adhesive double sided tape, or carefully screwing it into place, as long as the screws are small enough to not come up through the top of the hood.

Now, put the hood down to check for alignment. If the alignment needs to be adjusted, lift the hood and loosen the hinge bolts just enough to make small adjustments. Congratulations, carbon fiber hood owner, your car is now equipped with one of the most treasured of carbon fiber hoods!