[kc_skyrider]

Hey guys just wanted to share a little information on a project I started and might offer to the community. I decided to design a "Powerdome" into my hood. The prototype was made with a polyester resin and heatcycled causing less than beautiful results. Recently I fixed this and in the process made a mold of the hood. I've decided to produce a full composite hood. Right now I'm looking at a dry carbon fiber hood made using vacuum infusion. According to my math the maximum weight for the finished product would be 15lbs with a standard roll on layup. The vacuum infusion will likely knock a considerable amount off this number. The hood will be a 4 layer construction two 11oz biaxial layers and 2 5.7oz twill layers and include the full support structure underneath the actual hood. The total thickness of the skin will be 1MM. Overall this project should provide the lightest possible hood with maximum strength. I can say that my much thicker mold with ALOT more epoxy and wood frame already weighs about half of what the OEM hood does. Over all cost of materials is about 300euro from my current sources. If this project yeilds the results I am looking for I might consider producing more hoods for the local community. Please feel free to share opinions or comment. And I'm always open for suggestions.