[simplemind7]

what is the weight of a stock hood and trunk for a GT and Manta?

found out i can get custom made carbon fiber hoods that weigh 3-4lbs, and trunks that are a bit lighter than that for a decent price... wondering if it would be worth it... i like light cars, and have always been a fan of carbon fiber body parts...

i can also get custom fenders, bumpers, etc. as long as i can provide one in good enough shape to get a mold of, but fenders aren't very thick and heavy, so i don't think it would be worth it

 

[jtodd]

Manta trunk lid - 17# (w/o hinges or hardware)
Manta Hood - 30# (w/o hinges or hardware)
Manta front fender - 15#

Weights are approximate, your results may vary.

 

[mark1]

what is the weight of a stock hood and trunk for a GT and Manta?

found out i can get custom made carbon fiber hoods that weigh 3-4lbs, and trunks that are a bit lighter than that for a decent price... wondering if it would be worth it... i like light cars, and have always been a fan of carbon fiber body parts...

i can also get custom fenders, bumpers, etc. as long as i can provide one in good enough shape to get a mold of, but fenders aren't very thick and heavy, so i don't think it would be worth it

Can you post a link the the place where you can get the 3-4# carbon fiber hoods?

 

[kwilford]

Can you post a link the the place where you can get the 3-4# carbon fiber hoods?

This thread is over ten years old, and the author hasn't posted in almost nine years, so I am not very confident that you'll get a reply

 

[mark1]

This thread is over ten years old, and the author hasn't posted in almost nine years, so I am not very confident that you'll get a reply

I thought getting a reply was pretty unlikely, too. And I also thought that it was unlikely that a custom CFR hood would be cost-effective for me, compared to a glass hood. BUT, you never know, maybe the original poster is still out there, by now with his own custom CFR shop; plus some other folks might chime in with some new information.

 

[Yellow73GT]

I thought getting a reply was pretty unlikely, too. And I also thought that it was unlikely that a custom CFR hood would be cost-effective for me, compared to a glass hood. BUT, you never know, maybe the original poster is still out there, by now with his own custom CFR shop; plus some other folks might chime in with some new information.

Yeah, what happened to being "polite"? It was a legitimate question, in regards to the original topic. You reprimanded me for saying something very similar in another thread that was even older yet, http://www.opelgt.com/forums/mechanical/3520-weight-bias.html sounds pretty hypocritical to me.

 

[Vincent]

Yeah, what happened to being "polite"? It was a legitimate question, in regards to the original topic. You reprimanded me for saying something very similar in another thread that was even older yet, http://www.opelgt.com/forums/mechanical/3520-weight-bias.html sounds pretty hypocritical to me.

No offence. But you were rude in that thread.

 

[Yellow73GT]

No offence. But you were rude in that thread.

No offenSe but thats your "opinion". You know what they say about opinions. :sigh:

I was in no way rude.
Rude would have been "Are you stupid or what, this thread is mega old, these people are probably dead and don't care anymore and bringing this up after its been answered is moronic" or something along that line.

I asked a question of the individual who brought it back from the dead. I even included a smiley to denote that it was just a little ribbing and included the statement that the info may be useful/helpful. If you think thats rude, there are 2 of you here that need to step away from the keyboard and take a vacation from the internet, your skin is getting to thin.
And I stand by my point, it's hypocritical (a person who claims or pretends to have certain beliefs about what is right but who behaves in a way that disagrees with those beliefs) to post what he posted here, after saying that to me.

 

[slracer]

No offenSe but thats your "opinion". You know what they say about opinions. :sigh:

I was in no way rude.
Rude would have been "Are you stupid or what, this thread is mega old, these people are probably dead and don't care anymore and bringing this up after its been answered is moronic" or something along that line.

I asked a question of the individual who brought it back from the dead. I even included a smiley to denote that it was just a little ribbing and included the statement that the info may be useful/helpful. If you think thats rude, there are 2 of you here that need to step away from the keyboard and take a vacation from the internet, your skin is getting to thin.
And I stand by my point, it's hypocritical (a person who claims or pretends to have certain beliefs about what is right but who behaves in a way that disagrees with those beliefs) to post what he posted here, after saying that to me.

Just making an observation that's too obvious to let go. :veryhappy

Doug

 

[The Scifi Guy]

Getting back to mark1's info request......


Could I ask why you want a lighter hood? Are you racing? Will you be using hood pins and laying your hood on the ground when you want to play in the engine compartment? I've been using the fiberglass hoods for 8 years now, one reinforced with the oem underhood hardware and latching and one that's all fiberglass with my own stiffening and latching idea, and I can tell you that they are difficult to fit and flimsy without reinforcement. An even lighter carbon fiber hood using the oem hinges may end up even flimsier.

:veryhappy

 

[RallyBob]

. An even lighter carbon fiber hood using the oem hinges may end up even flimsier.

:veryhappy

That's the beauty of carbon fiber. Extremely high stiffness-to-weight ratio. Better than steel by far.

 

[norbertone.gt371 (R.I.P.)]

Okay,
I ask my self,what will bring the big difference by a Opel GT hood:ugh:

When the driver eat this portions of "Rubens" or "Spare rips" :lmao:

 

[P.J. Romano (R.I.P.)]

Getting back to mark1's info request......


Could I ask why you want a lighter hood? Are you racing? Will you be using hood pins and laying your hood on the ground when you want to play in the engine compartment? I've been using the fiberglass hoods for 8 years now, one reinforced with the oem underhood hardware and latching and one that's all fiberglass with my own stiffening and latching idea, and I can tell you that they are difficult to fit and flimsy without reinforcement. An even lighter carbon fiber hood using the oem hinges may end up even flimsier.

:veryhappy

Difference between fiberglass and carbon fiber is like day and night. Carbon fiber is stronger than steel and lighter than aluminum. The videos shows Nissan GTR made of carbon fiber and the process of making carbon fiber Koenigsegg.

If I would be rich, I would have the GT made of carbon fiber. Think about that: No rust, stronger body, much lighter car.

Group buy? Anybody? :veryhappy

 

[The Scifi Guy]

I'm sure all that has been said is true. Also keep in mind this is an 11 year old thread from a dude we never heard from again. And contemplate that you don't see nobody driving around with home made carbon fiber hoods and I've never heard of any place near me offering custom carbon fiber work.

I have experience with fiberglass panels from two cars: The primitively made, non-compressed at manufacture, 1/4+ thick, Opel panels we get and the exact oppositely manufactured thin panels that make up my Solstice's body kit. My Solstice's panels are flexible where they are flat and unreinforced by underlying support pieces, the Opel panels are like rock and will crack before bending.

As I understand it, when it comes to fiberglass and, I presume, carbon fiber, it's all about squeezing the surplus resin out of the conglomeration if you want to achieve lightness+strength+reasonable flexibility. The less resin the better, but that also comes with the caveat that all the bubbles must be squeezed out. Too much resin and too many air pockets make for a heavy, too rigid, crack-prone, assemblage.

My experience with the two fiberglass hoods I've had, one with the rigidifying oem hood support metal underneath and one with just some slender metal bars to unify the hood and form hood latch points, has taught me that it ain't no simple job to make an artificial GT hood. If all you want is some carbon fiber to cover the engine compartment and some hood pins for racing purposes, then, yeah, I guess you could make something that will get the job done. But if you want it to have the performance and of an oem steel hood, I doubt there would be much difference between a home made fiberglass or carbon fiber hood.

Of course, this is all conjecture until someone of us actually makes a carbon hood and tells us how it turned out.

:veryhappy

 

[ubernoob51]

I still want an answer to the original question: what is the weight of a stock GT trunk lid?

 

[Yellow73GT]

I still want an answer to the original question: what is the weight of a stock GT trunk lid?

You show me a GT with a trunk lid, I will get you a weight.

 

[Knorm65]

I still want an answer to the original question: what is the weight of a stock GT trunk lid?

You show me a GT with a trunk lid, I will get you a weight.

The one in Get Smart had a trunk I think.
That would make vent line and gas tank repairs a breeze!

 

[Yellow73GT]

The one in Get Smart had a trunk I think.
That would make vent line and gas tank repairs a breeze!

I have seen every episode. I do not recall ever seeing a trunk lid on a GT, in any of them. If you have, please enlighten us all as to which episode

 

[mark1]

Getting back to mark1's info request......


Could I ask why you want a lighter hood? Are you racing? Will you be using hood pins and laying your hood on the ground when you want to play in the engine compartment? I've been using the fiberglass hoods for 8 years now, one reinforced with the oem underhood hardware and latching and one that's all fiberglass with my own stiffening and latching idea, and I can tell you that they are difficult to fit and flimsy without reinforcement. An even lighter carbon fiber hood using the oem hinges may end up even flimsier.

:veryhappy

The reason I was interested in a lighter hood is that it seems like the GTs are a bit nose-heavy, and I thought getting a lighter hood might be a cost-effective way to at least move in the direction of better F/R balance. But what really intrigued me was the statement from simplemind7 that he could get custom carbon fiber hoods... at a decent price. I haven't seen anything like that now, more than 10 years later, so I thought I'd follow up, and see if there was something I missed.

I hadn't decided yet whether to pin it, or try and use the stock hinges. I had a glass hood on a Chevy Monza a while back using the hinges and it worked well and was convenient, but it was fairly heavy for glass.

And I haven't started racing the GT yet.

 

[Swiftus]

A friend of mine has a company that does this. Velocity Carbon. If we had him do it, I think he would want at least 10 orders plus a hood to use as a template. After that, it looks like the going price would be $850-$900 for a carbon fiber (CFRP) hood.