BRZ/FR-S Hood Struts - Any Interest?

[sbxjap]

Yea, I want in on this lol

[Vicious LED]

Haven't read through every post and didn't see it on the OP, I apologize for being lazy right now. Are these compatible with CF hoods? I have the Seibon CF hood for my FR-S. Let me know, if so put me down for these and PM me with payment instructions!

[CircuitJerk]

Originally Posted by Concept-Three-LED's

Haven't read through every post and didn't see it on the OP, I apologize for being lazy right now. Are these compatible with CF hoods? I have the Seibon CF hood for my FR-S. Let me know, if so put me down for these and PM me with payment instructions!

Found it.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...&postcount=104

Originally Posted by GrimmSpeed

Should be looking for them around January.



We're not 100% sure yet, as the weights of these other hoods havent been released yet, BUT I do know a few things:

The stock hood is aluminum, and VERY light at just a shade over 15lbs. It will be hard to beat that sort of weight in FRP or CFRP. The Seibon carbon hood weighs almost exactly what the aluminum piece does, so it will function nearly identical.

When I say "it will be hard to beat that sort of weight in FRP and CFRP" I am speaking from experience. I spent over a year making FRP and CFRP body pieces including hoods, so I know how difficult it is to make a cosmetically beautiful (read: smooth) as well as functional (read: has a working, durable hood latch) and still be able to remove weight when compared to an aluminum hood.

Time will tell as these hoods start coming out and the weights of them are released, but for now it looks like these might be just fine. So knowing the weights of these new hoods coming out will answer most of this question. The only other variable being: How faithfully does the company producing the hood reproduce the "skeleton structure" under the top skin of the hood.

-Chase
Engineering

[Vicious LED]

Originally Posted by CircuitJerk

Found it.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...&postcount=104

I appreciate it bro!

[driver01]

please count me in

[CJB]

Interested, please add me to the list.

[L3P47]

Put me down. Got to get rid of that pop rod.

[GrimmSpeed]

Happy almost New years folks!

Originally Posted by sbxjap

Yea, I want in on this lol

Perfect, you are in!

Originally Posted by Concept-Three-LED's

Haven't read through every post and didn't see it on the OP, I apologize for being lazy right now. Are these compatible with CF hoods? I have the Seibon CF hood for my FR-S. Let me know, if so put me down for these and PM me with payment instructions!

Yep, they'll be fine because the weight difference is so slight. I'll put you down! Thank you very much for getting that post for me too CircuitJerk.

Originally Posted by driver01

please count me in

Will do, you've been added!

Originally Posted by CJB

Interested, please add me to the list.

Absolutely, you're in!

Originally Posted by L3P47

Put me down. Got to get rid of that pop rod.

I could not agree more, so I added you!

Chase
Engineering

[Cade01]

I didn't see it anywhere, but what are the odds of the sheet metal at the mounting point getting bent due to the single mounting bolt? I would like to get a set but am concerned about them bending the lightweight body panels after repeated opening and closing. Is this a possibility?

[GrimmSpeed]

Originally Posted by Cade01

I didn't see it anywhere, but what are the odds of the sheet metal at the mounting point getting bent due to the single mounting bolt? I would like to get a set but am concerned about them bending the lightweight body panels after repeated opening and closing. Is this a possibility?

That is a great question. I can say with confidence that there should be no possibility of that section bending. It is actually VERY thick in that area (.18in thick). Also, the area with the mounting hole is a fully boxed structure, not just a sheet metal overhang. This portion of the car is actually a contributor to the chassis rigidity as opposed to being a body panel. I encourage you to go out to your car and check it out for yourself. I grabbed that area by hand and tried to bend the area. You could just about lift the car from here. In fact, our of our employees just got a vasectomy and was wincing in pain just watching me trying to bend that area.

Also, the design of our bracket defends against any sort of bending at that bolt hole. The gas strut will almost always be trying to push the bracket down. Since the bracket directly contacts the sheet metal it is not possible for it to deflect, and thus not possible to create a bending moment at the bolt hole. Also, the BRZ hood is extremely light, so the force that the gas struts need to have is relatively low, which makes the force at these joints very low as well.

I appreciate you bringing this up, because this is an area of design that I put a fair amount of work in and never thought to mention.

The "Other Guys" design is poor in this area for a few reasons. Their bracket is TWICE as long as our bracket. Twice the length means twice the lever arm, which means twice the torque, which means its twice as likely to bend. Its why you use a breaker bar when your ratchet can't get the job done. But wait, didn't I just say that the area there was plenty thick, structural, and that I wasn't the least bit worried about it? I said that for OUR bracket because our bracket is in direct contact with the sheet metal structure below it. Since their design orients the bracket in a different direction it actually goes over a step immediately behind the bolt hole. Thus, it is not in contact with the sheetmetal below it, it CAN deflect, so it does introduce a bending moment at that bolt hole. I understand why they did it the way that they did, but for us, it was completely unacceptable, and poorly "designed."

Again, great question, thanks for bringing it up because it is important.

Chase
Engineering

[Cade01]

Originally Posted by GrimmSpeed

That is a great question. I can say with confidence that there should be no possibility of that section bending. It is actually VERY thick in that area (.18in thick). Also, the area with the mounting hole is a fully boxed structure, not just a sheet metal overhang. This portion of the car is actually a contributor to the chassis rigidity as opposed to being a body panel. I encourage you to go out to your car and check it out for yourself. I grabbed that area by hand and tried to bend the area. You could just about lift the car from here. In fact, our of our employees just got a vasectomy and was wincing in pain just watching me trying to bend that area.

Also, the design of our bracket defends against any sort of bending at that bolt hole. The gas strut will almost always be trying to push the bracket down. Since the bracket directly contacts the sheet metal it is not possible for it to deflect, and thus not possible to create a bending moment at the bolt hole. Also, the BRZ hood is extremely light, so the force that the gas struts need to have is relatively low, which makes the force at these joints very low as well.

I appreciate you bringing this up, because this is an area of design that I put a fair amount of work in and never thought to mention.

The "Other Guys" design is poor in this area for a few reasons. Their bracket is TWICE as long as our bracket. Twice the length means twice the lever arm, which means twice the torque, which means its twice as likely to bend. Its why you use a breaker bar when your ratchet can't get the job done. But wait, didn't I just say that the area there was plenty thick, structural, and that I wasn't the least bit worried about it? I said that for OUR bracket because our bracket is in direct contact with the sheet metal structure below it. Since their design orients the bracket in a different direction it actually goes over a step immediately behind the bolt hole. Thus, it is not in contact with the sheetmetal below it, it CAN deflect, so it does introduce a bending moment at that bolt hole. I understand why they did it the way that they did, but for us, it was completely unacceptable, and poorly "designed."

Again, great question, thanks for bringing it up because it is important.

Chase
Engineering

Thanks for your quick response, that definitely answered my question. I will now calmly wait to see the finished product and if there are any options.

[Jive Turkey]

dont know if i'm in that list, but throw me in...now to get rid of the hood dampeners i bought months ago that are still in box...

[BRZranger]

Please add me to the list!

[whiteradam]

Add me to the list.

Thanks