I remember buying the half carbon fiber vented hood on 16th March and I left it in the hands of my mechanic. The good thing is I realized the design is a favorite, the C-ONE Ver.2 hood and it is half carbon. I asked him to find a shop to repair the hood and get it painted since the place where I bought the hood is near my mechanic's place and I did not want to transport it too much. However, after 34 days at the workshop with no news, I decided not to wait anymore and start looking for contacts to get it done. I got a recommendation from my friend of a shop that could fix the broken structure of the hood. I sent the hood for repair and it took 5 days. I was disappointed with the service as the hood was not completely fixed. The structure was not totally strong and still flimsy. I took the hood anyway because I did not want to leave it there anymore.
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| Transporting the Hood |
After collecting the hood, I went to a painter that my another friend highly recommended where the workmanship is good and is cheap. That place already painted 2 other Celicas so I was sure of the workmanship. I negotiated for some time regarding the price because my budget was very tight. At the end, I got a sweet deal for a 2 tone paint job (body color for hood and grey for vents) and matt black for the bottom part. It took quite some time for the hood to be painted (6 days) because the first color was off, the paint cracked due to the soft structure and polishing. I had to go visit several time just to check the progress. Finally, it is done I had it installed today.
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Lightweight Hood that Bends, Matt Black on the bottom
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Below are the stages of the changes done to my hood. When finally installed, I was concerned about the difference in color as there is no 100% similarity in a paint job. I was also concerned about the effect of weight on my car because the hood is really really light. When I first drive with it, I felt my steering wheel lighter and accelerates better but before I could try anything, I noticed that the hood is moving. At only 80 kph, the hood starts to move because of the lightweight and the super big intake bulge. Plus, my hood pin is not installed yet. So, tomorrow I have to get the hood aligned and the hood pin installed and then I can finally try the reduce weight effect on my car's performance.
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