I know that many poeple like CF hoods. I am not a big fan. If you read the fine print they will tell you that hood pins are necessary. Why? Because at high speed the hood could (but most likely will not) fly off. The CF has a chance of not holding the bolts. Aluminum and steel will hold.

My advice would be to find an alumnum fabricator and have him modify your existing hood. That way all hood brackets and latches stay stock and in tact.

I think this is the best way to modify the hood. Besides, anyone can go buy a CF hood but very few will take the time to have one fabricated.

My .02

 

Glowone,

I am definetly leaning in the direction of fabrication. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I can get a already fabricated stock hood from a shop that has one leftover. The price complete w/o paint should be in the 1k range. Since I already need to have several rock chips repaired on my current hood, I though this might be a good time to make the swap. Thanks again to everyone for all the input. If I make the move I will post pics before and after paint.

erubin

 

Jstrat: I see...

 

erubin, I've modded a 997 hood to look like gemballa hood... a TON of work. I'm sure the 996 is the same. $1K is really good price. Do you know how they grafted the recessed area onto the stock hood? I used a 3M epoxy... the hood can get pretty flimsy once the area is cut away to accept the recessed area. Support areas underneath the hood need to also be cut away for the needed clearance. Tough job. Jump on that $1K hood if it looks nice.

 

The hood was cut and had a welded in fabricated metal insert. The job looked very clean and professional but still needed some final finish work. I am going to call him to talk about what it would take to sand and prime for paint.

erubin

 

I had a ducted hood made for my NSX.

To complete the finished look be sure that they spend as much time under the hood. It costs a few extra bucks but when you pop the hood it looks like a clean custom job.