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Purchased the TruFiber GT4 GT350 Carbon Fiber hood for 2021 use (lets see how this goes)

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57
22
Exp. Type
HPDE
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3-5 Years
Virginia
I was able to secure one of a few GT4 carbon fiber hoods now being released by Trufiber.
Initial impressions are that the hood is exceptionally lightweight, I had initial contemplated going with the fiberglass unit, but the weight appeared to be substantially more over stock given information on the website and figured well why not.
Fitment as well has been pretty good. Just normal shimming and small mods needed.
Still contemplating whether to paint the unit or possibly clear vinyl the whole thing for minor-moderate road rock protection.
Will require relocating the windshield wiper squirters onto the arms.

I have a couple of "minor observations" but waiting for TF to follow up to see what they say.
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57
22
Exp. Type
HPDE
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3-5 Years
Virginia
I've been seriously considering getting GT4 hood vents but with this as an option now....This seems like a better route than just adding GT4 vents to the stock hood.
I'd agree its an option but need a little bit of road time to see how it shapes up. Still need things like hood pins. From a weight perspective its about 10-12lbs lighter then stock.
 
57
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Exp. Type
HPDE
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3-5 Years
Virginia
Install is pretty straight forward. Its really all just shimming around the attachment points including the front bracket. Blue Loctite on the bolts. Reuse the oem hood bracket. If you determine you want to leave the CF exposed, then really not to much more to do after that. I've determined I'm going to remove the vents Vinyl wrap the hood in the same yellow then reinstall the exposed CF vents.

SO
Here is the issue I've held onto till I received a follow up. Its not massive issue but poses some questions. So the vents are installed leveraging a thin 3M double sided sticky tape. 2 weeks ago after getting the hood when we still had a 90 plus day out east here with the vehicle idling for 30 minutes in the drive way the adhesive came undone. And the driver vent essentially came out. Feedback from TF was their was no other engineered way to keep the vents in. This pretty much means anyone buying this hood or I guess any other similar model could potentially experience a vent fly out with the right amount of heat and then subsequent air flow over the hood. TF response was to ask me if I wanted the SAME tape that failed. Sure might as well shot myself in the foot again.

So I'll see what type of engineering mitigation I can come up with. My ongoing thought is after I wrap the hood and reinstall the vehicle potentially with a better thin double sided tape is to apply an additional clear vinyl over the boundary/seem of the vent areas to hopefully keep air flow away from the area where the vent could start to come out.

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At the end of the day the product is still far superior then the AC stuff I gave up on and sold off . Don't see it as a massive issue just additional thinking has to come into place.
 
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TX
Not sure why you guys are suprised - $3K for a fully CF part like a hood is pretty cheap! Hood looks great for the price, IMHO.

OP - get some of that black sealant used to glue CF parts together - it won't separate then. IMHO, anything else outside of hardware is going to fail given the heat of the engine.
 
57
22
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Virginia
Not sure why you guys are suprised - $3K for a fully CF part like a hood is pretty cheap! Hood looks great for the price, IMHO.

OP - get some of that black sealant used to glue CF parts together - it won't separate then. IMHO, anything else outside of hardware is going to fail given the heat of the engine.
I'd agree with this observation.
I don't see this as a massive issue. More of an annoyance. I purchased $3200 in uninstallable Anderson Composites parts, that to me, is actual disappointment.
While the ability to install the GT4 is an option, I've never been very impressed with the deployment of these vents on a OEM hood. The TF unit is a great deal more seamless even given this potential issue.
So I'll work to get the hood wrapped, then re implement some potentially stronger 3M tape and then layer some clear transparent vinyl over the seem of the vents. We'll see how it goes.
 
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303
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25 min. to 1½ hrs. from Sonoma (ugh... traffic!)
Are rivets an option on carbon fiber pieces like this?
Most common rivets are not suitable here, aluminum & steel will corrode when in contact with carbon fiber, and the swelling and clamping forces can cause delamination/cracking. There are specialty rivets for this, usually titanium with a solid shank and a hollow end that gets flared to achieve retention, but specific tools are required. Proper tools and procedures should be used if drilling carbon fiber too, to prevent fraying on both sides of holes. These rivets install relatively easily but are extremely difficult to drill out without spinning and damaging the hole, so it's critical to use the right grip length and installation procedures. (Ask me how I know ;))
 
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57
22
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Virginia
Small update on the Trufiber GT4 TC10026-A88KR-A hood install. So I discovered over the weekend if you don't shim the front hole on the hood mounting brackets with the supplied bolts will be slightly too long and start pushing up through the top layer of the CF. The rear hole has more space even without a washer/shim. But if you don't' shim the front hole you will get a upward dent that won't come out. I'm assuming this is the same situation with the fiberglass hoods as well. Not a huge issue but again since no information was previously supplied someone had to be the Ginny pig to uncover some of the nuances of the product install.

Also further validated the foam tape supplied WITH the vents WILL NOT, repeat WILL NOT stand up to any heat. Recommendation is to immediately remove the supplied tape, clean area, and replace with a 3M VFB tape. otherwise the vents WILL fly out. I had removed the one vent as it was popping out day one just sitting in the garage. The other 2 vents appeared to be holding with the tape so I left it as a test, over the weekend drove 10 minutes up the road to a vinyl wrapping shop and you could tell the supplied foam tape was quickly failing and I was able to easily pull with one finger the vents off the hood with really no effort. Shoved them in the trunk and went home.

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Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,420
8,346
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
I know I am really pleased with the Anderson Composites pure Carbon Fiber hood on my car ( the temps stay low on track and it definitely took off some weight ) and at less than half the price of this hood , you really should look into it as an alternative, imho.
 
57
22
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Virginia
@Bill Pemberton I'm happy Anderson products have worked out for YOU, but when you've been screwed out as as much much money as I have by Anderson then told their manufacturing problems are your fault.. yea not much of a repeat buyer or evangelist for their products.

@Tonymustang302 Had several track days this year and they hood as held up very nicely. Top speeds of 145MPH. Drilling for the hood pins was nerve racking and purchasing every hood pin option on Amazon to figure out what would work best.
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I couldn't find another recent picture but yes I cleaned up the tape and and installed some scuff pads under the Hoodpins to prevent too much scrapping and rubbing.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,420
8,346
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
My car came with the hood already installed, so no issues for me, but I respect hearing the issues you have had and good to know for future reference. Will admit the looks of the hood you are installing is better looking, in my opinion, and I just tossed out the cost difference because I had checked for a friend who wanted one like mine. Always tough to hear about lack of service from companies who supposedly cater to the performance car market.
 

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