Madd Motorsports Time Attack and Autocross Build
- Thread starter B.mad
- Start date
Got my MMD hood shocks in today. They seem a little stiff, so i am going to install them on my factory hood to "loosen" them up before installing my fiberglass hood. Also, i am waiting for my satin black wrap to come in to wrap the hood.
1996GTKB
Member
Hey man good progress. And I'm glad you had fun on your ride along. I am a police officer myself, and I can say the more people we can get the better.
Thank you sir. I had a blast, even if there was not much "action". Just getting a good glimpse of what i will be going on a day to day basis is good. Currently the CHP is hiring non-stop for about 2 years, so you are right, the more the better.
More like the hours spent responding to accidents. Amazing how many accidents there are in a day.
So i installed my hood shocks today. The instructions suck for the most part, but they hood pretty good. I will post some pictures tomorrow. I also unwrapped the plastic from the hood today. Going to clean the hood and wrap it with satin black vinyl tomorrow morning after my training. Let it sit for a while and put on the hood in the afternoon.
Im interested in the vinyl wrap. Curious if wrapping is favorable over painting?
Driven by a tiny bore and more stroke than a 514cuin
Driven by a tiny bore and more stroke than a 514cuin
CC'S95GT
Post Whore
I wrapped my roof because the clearcoat was dieing. I knew going in that it was going to be a temperary fix until the whole car could be repainted. It's been 3 years and it's help up very well.
Personally I prefer wrapping over plasticoating unless you have some tight radius's.
Since the hood was off, i decided to paint the cowl since it was a nasty yellow ish color. Found some flat black plastidip laying around in the garage, maybe it was my dad's? Well anyway, i taped up the window and fender and sprayed away. Looks reallly good now. It had just enough for one coat. Later i will go over it since the hood scraped some off, and will paint the wiper arms well i am add it. Before is on top, after is bottom.
So my thoughts on the trufiber hood? It fits very nicely. It lined up the same way as the oem hood. At first the hood didnt want to close, but after adjusting the rubber stopper a little, i got it to close. However, i caution you, if you adjust the stopper to much, the hood will sit to low relative to the fender, and also hit your headlight housing. It look me awhile to adjust it perfectly, but i have it lined up with the fender, clearing the housing, and closes pretty good. Next thing that was wrong was i couldnt flip the passenger wiper arm, it will make changing blades a little harder to do now. It should not interfere with the function. Next thing is when the hood is lifted, you are limited to how far you can go up because of the crowl hits the wiper arms. It might be because of the blades i have but just a heads up. And also, because the hood cant be lifted up fully, the hood prop will not work whatsoever. See photos below.
Now here is what some people wanted to see, the vinyl wrap. First, this is my first time doing this. Tools you will need is a blade or knifeless tape thing, a heat gun, and an extra pair of hands. Since this is our first time, it came out not so perfect. The vinyl creased and there was some air bubbles trapped in the vinyl. If you are plan on DIY wrapping, definitely get someone to help you. Start from the bottom up and use the heat gun to stretch and prevent creases. Be careful with the heat gun because you can melt the vinyl and tear it or make holes. Overall, happy how it came out.
Wrapping is somewhat cheaper (depending which paint quality you get), it is more durable (it doesnt chip or scratch too easily), and if you get tired of it just ripped it off and get a different color. Cons, it is usually one big piece for most of the car, so if you get a tear or something, you basically have to rewrap the whole car. Also it is a biotch to install if you have little to no experience wrapping.
For me it is a temporary fix until i save some money and spray the whole car. It does look really nice and it is easier on maintenance. Also, it may last longer than paint because paint is so water-downed. I am thinking of wrapping over stuff later in the future, but with the carbon fiber look.
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