tC on a Diet

[Jay666]

Got ya.

Do you think the VIS brand ones are any better than the Siebon ones? Only reason I ask is because you have the experience and knowledge, and I want to save myself as much headache as possible. It sounded like you mentioned earlier that you were not too familiar with Seibon or their product. It does seem that VIS and Seibon are the more common premier names out though. I had my eye on the Seibon one, but based on your recomendation, I would lean towards the VIS.

I like the look of the hood without the vents, so as long as there's no tremendous advantage to having the vents, I'm leaning that way.

With the hood pins, I get what you're saying. It makes sense. One question though, I found the VIS CF hood on the same site that I put up before where I was looking at the Seibon one, and they make the same discalimer for the VIS hood stating "We recommend the usage of hood pins for all hoods."
Octane Motorsports

Do you think they just do this to cover their A**? You really don't think the hood pin on this hood is necessary? I just want to be really sure because had you not said anything, I would have went ahead and purchased hood pins when I get this hood.

You're saying the hood pins can actually CAUSE MORE problems, or are they just not necessary with a quality hood? Want to make sure I understand the difference.

Thanx again, as always.

PS, looks like the VIS is lower in price that Seibon as well. Quality product though, huh?

[navylife59]

The whole aspect of hood pins is because you have no hood latch mechanism, it's broke, or entirely inadequate. Most believe that the hood will flyoff at high speeds and the OEM will not. Well if this was a '57 Chevy BelAire with a heavy duty hood, you could pop the hood at 100MPH and it would not budge. That is why those hoods had heafty springs to "assist" lifting them. If you were to pop the tC OEM hood at 100MPH, you are going to see that hood fly right off, even though, there is a secondary catch mechanism. Now why aren't hood pins required there? A CF hood should be no different on a street car. Of course, some sanctioned racing events require hood pins for certain brackets.

I have seen more Seibon than VIS hoods on the road. The first CF hood on a tC was on a Seibon and I was not impressed. The fitment was terrible, alot of imperfections in the CF, the edges were not rolled (sharp) and the fiberglass backshell (underlayment) was separating. Maybe that was why they required hood pins. I have since seen much better quality in the Seibon hoods but stilldon't get a warm fuzzy with them.

The VIS hoods are/were sourced out of country (China) so I did not trust that. When I sadly discovered this when they announced the release of the EVO style hood. I looked at possible altering a USA made fat hood to fit my needs. My mind was changed when I saw this hood, firsthand, on the revitalized Nitto Tire tC. Tony at Jotech let me play around with it to check it's strength and quality (no, I did not drive it). I was sold and quickly set to work out a special buy-in deal for my peeps back here Club-tC.

One thing that you have to understand about CF parts. They are hand produced in molds. There will always by subtle differences and/or blemishes in them. The only perfect hood would on a top-of-the-line show car. That hood would have been selected out of many in-stock ones to find the best one.

[Jay666]

Makes sense. I think I am changing my plan to get the Seibon to getting the VIS then. They were listed as a bit cheaper anyways.

Still not sure why they say they recommend hood pins for both, but maybe it's just a disclaimer in case your hood pops off.

These CF hoods do include a latch and SHOULD theoretically latch like an OEM hood though, correct? Hence what you're saying about not needing hood pins...

[navylife59]

True. It is a disclaimer. I don't remember it stating that when I bought it from Jotech. What makes a CF hood "off-road use only"? Does that mean all of those Cali cars are riding illegal with all of those CF hood.

[Jay666]

Technically, it probably does I guess.

Of course, technically, those of us with a performance header are illegal, despite the CEL eliminator. It's all very silly.

It's illegal to drive on the road with a CF hood because it "might" fly off, but you can drive down the highway at 60 MPH holding a mattress to your roof with your hands...

So stupid. I only say that BC I was nearly killed by one once, so I think some of these other silly laws that make mods to our cars illegal are so lame.

[TcforLIFE]

what hood do you have navylife? and what do u mean by your enlarged the driver side?

and,
Leave out the ICE[*]Remove counter weight located behind 3rd brake light inside of hatch[*]Counter-balance weight on manual transmission shift quadrant[*]Front/Rear Marine Tie-Down Hooks[*]Weights on motor mounts
what are all of those?

[iAsian]

Street Trim[*]Nitrogen in your tires, instead, of heavier air[*]Leave out the ICE[*]Remove counter weight located behind 3rd brake light inside of hatch[*]Counter-balance weight on manual transmission shift quadrant[*]Front/Rear Marine Tie-Down Hooks[*]Weights on motor mounts

Hi, I have some questions about the weight saving thing. How do i bleed out all the air in my tires? and where can i get Nitrogen to fill them back up?

What is the ICE you are talking about?

How do i get to the counterweights and how do i remove them?

Where are the marine tie-down hooks and how do i remove them?

And same for the weights on the motor mounts?

Do any of these products have any use in every day life? Because i'm wondering why they are there if they have no use? And how much do those weights and counter weights weigh? And would it affect the handling in a bad way?

Sorry, I have so many quesitons, but i'm new to this whole car modding thing. Thanks

edit: just realized i asked the same questions as TcforLIFE did.

[TcforLIFE]

lol its ok iAsian, it happens alot

[navylife59]

• ICE (Integrated Consumer Electronics) Aftermarket gear like amps, subwoofer, large enclosures, video screens, carputer, games consoles, alarms, etc.
• Marine hooks (Marine tiedowns) are located (1) on transmission cross-brace and (1) located on the lefthand-side, rear most frame rail
• Counter-balance weight was added to the rear hatch to aid in petite persons to close the hatch. It is assumed that this weight would be removed to balance out weight when a pedestal mount spoiler is installed. It is located inside the hatch. Follow same directions for access to 3rd brake light.
• Circle weights on Front Engine and Transmission mounts are held on by a 10mm hex bolt.
• Weight on transmission shift quadrant is on the transmission underneath the stock air box.
• Removing weight from a car is 95% a good thing for performance. The 5% issue would be if you altered the CG (Center of Gravity) of the car such that it is no longer in balance. On RWD vehicles, if you take too much weight from the rear then you will begin to affect traction of the drive wheels.
• The only way to get all of the air out of you tire is by pulling a vacuum but will break the bead. Suffice to say, you will never have 100% of atmospheric gases removed from your tire. There is 2 types of Nitrogen; Gaseous Nitrogen and Dry Nitrogen. The difference is water content with Dry Nitrogen having 0% water content. What is available to you at some tires shops and dealers is standard gaseous Nitrogen. This company actually makes a dry Nitrogen setup for big rigs. AirCel N2Cel Dry Nitrogen Inflation Systems. You can get Gaseous Nitrogen at any major welding supply house that deals in compressed gases. They may also carry dry Nitrogen.

I have a VIS Evo Style CF hood. It has 2 small v-shaped ducts that intake air. They set just in front of the strut towers. I enlarged the driver's side to flow more air into my air filter. It is to be mounted in a sealed box to take advantage of Ram Air.

[08scion]

i want to get a CF hood. I'm lookin at the Raiden series like you mentioned. As far as hood pins go, i think they look cool, but i dono if its worth all the work and danger of drilling into my CF hood to put them in, and all that jazz. I've heard good and bad things about hood pins.

[navylife59]

Some hoods need them, some do not. Go with what the manufacturer suggests. If it states that hood pins are required, it probably is not just a CYA. Most hoods are just fiberglass backshells with thin CF skins. They tend to flex and some have inferior hood latch plates. I have had a hood latch fail on a stock metal hood on a car and it was not a pretty sight.

These AeroCatch hood locks are a bit more to install than simple hood pins but look killer.

[mtnbk]

Navylife, I've been reading your posts and these threads for some time now and you really know your stuff. Thus, I pose to you a question regarding weight reduction. I was considering at one point replacing that gawd-awful heavy hood with a fiberglass or even CF one, but I seem to recall seeing when rummaging through the TIJIP site once that the hood is designated as a "special high strength steel" (spec not identified on drawing) component on a Toyota design drawing that identifies crash inertia absorbing panels. I've searched for the drawing since, but have been unable to find it. Can you confirm this? I'd hate to reduce crash protection that significantly if it is, in fact, designed specifically as an inertia absorbing panel.

[mtnbk]

Be aware folks that when you replace the hood with CF or fiberglass, you compromise the crashworthyness of the car. As can be seen in the Toyota document attached, the hood is designed to absorb energy.
http://tijil.org/Scion_Docs/Scion_06...r/bodystru.pdf

[navylife59]

Thanks but you had me on this one. I, like most everyone else, have not put much thought into how the OEM hood plays in the frontal crash crumple zone design. People have been replacing heavy hoods with fiberglass since the earliest days of hot rodding. I see your point. Something that should weigh in the decision process when choosing this type mod. Though the document does not state high strength steel for the hatch, I would suspect that it plays a part in rear collisions to a degree though rear collisions tend to be of less energy.

Great work pulling up that info. I like the cut of your jib. Now I know what the true purpose of the plastic ribs in the headliner are for. Many people have removed them because they rattle when cold. This information is worthy of a Tech Article. PM me when you get the chance so that we can discuss this.

I apologize for taking so long to answer your post. My health and my life has been poor as of late.