Carbon Fiber Engine Shrouds
09-14-2005, 11:09 AM
#1
Carbon Fiber Engine Shrouds
Hey....I have used this guy before for carbon fiber parts for my Honda TRX400EX Quad that I play around with (and ride very little and spend WAY too much $ on) and was wondering if he could do our stock plastic engine shrouds under the hood in nice looking carbon fiber panels.(he even offers colors too) This is not a sales gimmick here....not trying to hide anything at all....the guy is at http://www.feathercarbon.com - guy named Thomas - talked to him yesterday about making some parts for me (the large plastic engine covers/shrouds you see when you open the hood re-made in carbon fiber) and the first thing he asked was "how many of these things do you think people would want?" Bottom line....if there is enough interest....we can get the mold made to make these panels for little or no charge to us (all us Acura owners) and just pay for the panels themselves from him. Has anybody else thought of this idea or might be interested in pursuing this with me....please give a shout out here in this post. Hopefully we can show him that there would be PLENTY of people willing/interested in this type of modification/upgraded look and he will hook us up and make them for us. If I am the only one....he said that I probably wouldnt even want to know the cost of the molds alone....but if enough people would be interested and he could sell more than just one set....this might be something he might be interested in investing in molds for and just sell them to us (not me or anything....so again....I am not trying to sell you on anything other than the idea to try to get a small mfg/parts producer to get interested in our cause!) Mod....please dont lock me out or anything....I just want this vendor to produce something for us and thought it would be a cool idea/upgrade. I tried to look into how to make the parts myself, but damn....THAT STUFF AINT EASY! Need more skills than I have! Maybe if we can show in this post alone that there is enough interest in this....he will make molds for us!
09-14-2005, 04:43 PM
#3
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I like the idea a lot. As it is, I tend to ignore that part of my car too much, but my old Prelude had very nice engine dressing and I loved showing it off...gave me a good reason to keep it clean too. Any way you could hazard a guess at pricing? Can he tell you if he sells X amount he will charge Y amount? Are we talking real carbon fiber?
09-14-2005, 05:09 PM
#4
The Group Buy Rules
OK, here are the rules as I understand them at this time.
It is all right for you to find out how many people will be interested in this.
You should contact the vendor and find out how many people he would need in order to establish prices and specifications.
When you reach that minimum, you can let him know and he would have to contact soopa at adam at acurazine dot com to make arrangements to become a vendor and post in the Sponsored Sales & Group Buys forum.
That would start the ball rolling, and each interested member could contact him directly to arrange for purchase and delivery.
It is all right for you to find out how many people will be interested in this.
You should contact the vendor and find out how many people he would need in order to establish prices and specifications.
When you reach that minimum, you can let him know and he would have to contact soopa at adam at acurazine dot com to make arrangements to become a vendor and post in the Sponsored Sales & Group Buys forum.
That would start the ball rolling, and each interested member could contact him directly to arrange for purchase and delivery.
09-14-2005, 05:57 PM
#5
Originally Posted by Ron A
OK, here are the rules as I understand them at this time.
It is all right for you to find out how many people will be interested in this.
You should contact the vendor and find out how many people he would need in order to establish prices and specifications.
When you reach that minimum, you can let him know and he would have to contact Astroboy at to make arrangements to become a vendor and post in the Sponsored Sales & Group Buys forum.
That would start the ball rolling, and each interested member could contact him directly to arrange for purchase and delivery.
It is all right for you to find out how many people will be interested in this.
You should contact the vendor and find out how many people he would need in order to establish prices and specifications.
When you reach that minimum, you can let him know and he would have to contact Astroboy at to make arrangements to become a vendor and post in the Sponsored Sales & Group Buys forum.
That would start the ball rolling, and each interested member could contact him directly to arrange for purchase and delivery.
For the other question...yes....this is real carbon fiber parts. Check his site for more info listed above. He already does car and motorcycle and quad parts to order. I have a 400EX honda quad and have CF tank cover,headlight cover/bezel, side plates, all in carbon fiber and they really set it off. They are not total chinsey CF parts either....my sideplates and tank cover are fairly substantial! Anyway...feel free to call the guy or whatever just to let him know you want TL parts made or definately post here that you would buy something like that if it was available and not friggin $995 or something! He has to notice us if there are enough of us! As for how many he would have to run...still working out the details there. Taking pics of parts so he can check them out and give us an educated guess.
09-18-2005, 06:20 AM
#7
Sound cool. And would look just as cool. Defintely all show. I figure if the price didn't go to far out side the range people pay for hoods then it should be too hard to sale. I know just interior A pillars would just run 120 in my 01 civic. for all six of the upper ones. the interior was well over 600 shipped. I think it would be a nicd addition seeing as though I already have the CF trim inside too
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09-23-2005, 08:20 AM
#9
Another option i would definitely purchase as long as it wasn't more than 250- to 300 would be a CF intake. Might not do too much but the look would be so HOT!!. I always love the way BMW's engine bays look. If you could ask him how much he think it would cost to produce some of those, I ( and i think others too) would appreciated it. I just think a CF intake would look better than some polished red or blue intake.
09-25-2005, 09:51 AM
#10
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i was thinkin bout it too... my friends a4 engine covers is clean and flat so he juss bought carbon fiber stickers by the foot and cut it up to fit the covers and looks official i was thinkin bout doin it too its a cheap 10 dollar mod?? i think its worth it
10-03-2005, 11:28 AM
#13
Sorry for the delay....had a few trade shows that we had to attend. I have not had time to take the pics and send the parts to him for quotes. Something tells me that the cost of the mold is going to be huge though.....we need more people to spread the cost across to justify him "throwing" the mold charges in!
10-10-2005, 10:23 PM
#14
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Originally Posted by MichaelBenz
Sorry for the delay....had a few trade shows that we had to attend. I have not had time to take the pics and send the parts to him for quotes. Something tells me that the cost of the mold is going to be huge though.....we need more people to spread the cost across to justify him "throwing" the mold charges in!
depending on cost I maybe in.
10-13-2005, 06:54 PM
#16
the trim on the door and the around the shift plate are enough excuse to buy something else CF. I was lookin for a CF shifter to replace my auto one but reconsidering now. Thinking just other little simple stuff or engine stuff. If anyone has pics and dimesions of AEM or INJEN intake, please post. I dont have one and couldn't send him dimesions for the intake.
03-23-2006, 01:08 AM
#22
I am working on having some developed here in Indianapolis at a friends shop near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and more information should be forthcoming soon! We will be doing a starting run soon....so just keep posting here if your interested and you will be updated here on AZ as it develops. We still have to get product in hand....but shouldnt be too far off! A mold is in the works now.
03-23-2006, 09:43 AM
#28
Originally Posted by Meek32v6
Glad to see this back in the works. Those with the SC, engine bay should be super sexy with these in.
Again...right now we are talking the main engine cover. Surrounds to be developed later.
03-23-2006, 09:43 AM
#29
Ryan Christopher
Originally Posted by MichaelBenz
Sorry for the delay....had a few trade shows that we had to attend. I have not had time to take the pics and send the parts to him for quotes. Something tells me that the cost of the mold is going to be huge though.....we need more people to spread the cost across to justify him "throwing" the mold charges in!
Jason
03-23-2006, 09:48 AM
#30
Originally Posted by Black_05_TL_6SP
The problem is not going to be creating a mold, the part that is going to be very expensive if at all possible, is getting the CF. I myself work with CF and I am unable to buy it from any vendor do to a worldwide shortage. Do to the production of the new Boeing Jumbo Linear. They purchased up most of the worlds CF supply. It is hard to get raw fiber at this time. You can use the silver CF, which would look really cool, and is alot less expensive then CF. I have thought about doing this myself, and just haven't had the time to do it. Also, at this time I don't have a vacuum bag setup. I will be getting one.
Jason
Jason
03-23-2006, 10:09 AM
#31
The engine cover is fine..that is actually all I would really need. As far as those with the SC's they could just trim/ dremel them themselves or have a shop cut them out. Shouldn't be too hard. But yeh I think the Engine cover is more marketable then the shrouds anyway. If you dont have the HP to back up a fully decked out CF engine bay, what's the point
..either way/ one..still excited
..either way/ one..still excited
03-23-2006, 11:41 AM
#33
Ryan Christopher
I would have to agree with just doing the engine cover and not the filler panels around the engine compartment. As the would look cool, but if you wanted to save weight you could just remove them. Also, when you have the SC, you have to mod the passenger side one and either not use or mod the one on the drivers side. 
But I would be interested in the one for the engine.
Jason
But I would be interested in the one for the engine.
Jason
03-23-2006, 02:44 PM
#36
em....dont think thats gonna cover it.....and I dont want to get into pricing before I get the cost back from the fabricator. doesnt this make sense? I would expect them to be around $250 roughly.....and as they mention.....thats if he has/can get CF materials.....I know there is some there....but how much and how many peices can be made with what is there is another story. He will also test this out on my car for a small while to make sure they work as designed also. Nobody wants to be passing out problems! The only issues will be making sure the "nubs" or "tabs" that stick into the rubber grommets on the back side work...or making a system that will. These are always problematic areas...even in plastic (I have actually already broken one off of the side panel tabs on the OEM plastic ones from taking it off in cold weather). The other option is to make a hole there and put a mounting plug into the grommet through the cover...instead of the cover having it (the nub) attached to the bottom side where it would have a propensity to break off. Again...all issues that are being explored!
