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Hood lightening

3K views 20 replies 7 participants last post by  raygun 
#1 ·
Hey folks,

I'm curious what the hive-mind thinks about the prospect of reducing the hood weight by grinding/cutting the bracing off of the underside of the hood? I'd really like to cut weight from my car (track-only) and the aftermarket hoods seem awfully expensive. I bet I could chop 5-10 lbs out of the hood with a grinder, but I'm curious if anyone else has been crazy enough to attempt something like this?

Thanks!

Dave
 
#3 ·
I haven't done it to a solstice, but things might get interesting when you try and open it. It'll be a flexy-flyer with the bracing gone. Everyone one I've gutted has been not only a much more conventional size but was removed completely via hood pins when it was opened. You could practically roll them up and set them aside. Depending on how much work you want to put in, it might be a better idea to add some sort of louvers or venting that would allow you to completely remove the underlying hood in those areas and extract some heat/air pressure in the process.

Curious how your test goes Larry. I'm with you on everything but the shroud. These cars aren't known for their thermal robustness and there's a lot of stuff blocking the flow in and out of the radiator.
 
#4 ·
Larry - that's a lot of weight! It should go really fast. I'm also interested in how the cooling goes since the last time I saw a GXP at the track it went into limp mode after three laps. I am considering pulling the AC as well...but what a pain!

Phil - yes, I would imagine hood pins would be necessary, and I'd pull the hood struts out as well.

Thanks guys!
 
#5 ·
Not to hijack your thread but I think I will be OK with the temps. I have ran the car several days at the track with stock cooling system and never over around 222 deg. I think a lot of guys have some trapped air in the coolant system causing higher temps.

On the track I run at I will only be under 55 to 60 mph for one turn only and then only for 1 or 2 sec. Several straights were I will be 115 give or take. My theory is with the AC condenser removed I will get a little more air and the fan will be out if the way and the shroud gone will open up the entire rad. surface area, But I been wrong before.

Larry.
 
#7 ·
I mostly run it at Barber Motorsports track in Birmingham Al. It is a beautiful track and they have a Porshe driving school there. I go several times a year with the local PCA club. I love running with those Caymans. They just ran an Indy race there a couple of weeks ago.

Larry
 
#8 ·
I reduced weight on a Fiat race car hood by removing the cross brace.

Sand blasted the underside of the hood to clean and reduce metal weight.

I bonded rigid styrofoam sheets to the underside, cut to fit between the cross braces. Once adhesive cures, cut the crossbrace out. The foam bonded to the hood will help retain the shape. I cut additional foam and filled in the void where the crossbrace was.

The Fiat hood was not as big as the Solstice's. The Fiat hood was probably a thicker, softer steel since it was not hydroformed. It was done in the early 70's.

If I did that today, I'd use a double cut structural foam core material (it's knife cut into small squares to conform to non flat surfaces), epoxied to the hood underside. You could press it down with weights but vacuum bagging would be best. Then cut out the crossbrace and fill in void. I'm not sure how much steel could be removed from the hood safely by sandblasting.

If the hood is still flexible, you could laminate a thin layer of graphite or carbon fiber over the foam and it would still be light and stiff and protect the foam.

That is a simple description and there are much more detail to the project but someone building racecars should have the resources and skill to tackle such an undertaking.
 
#11 ·
Interesting topic

Personally I would not reduce the structural integrity of the hood as a safety concern. Its already pretty shaky.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Sorry, I was imagining you were removing the ducting on the front of the radiator that scoops air into it, but after re-reading I think what you're actually doing is removing the piece from around the fan on the back side of the radiator.

I don't think that shouldn't cause any difference in cooling.

I'm not entirely sure what John is talking about. Keep it to sub-sonic, in-compressible flow and you'll be alright.
 
#15 ·
I was imagining you were removing the ducting on the front of the radiator that scoops air into it, but after re-reading I think what you're actually doing is removing the piece from around the fan on the back side of the radiator.

I don't think that shouldn't cause any difference in cooling.

Yes, that is correct. I'm removing it to save a little weight but I believe more so to make the car easier to work on. Can't wait to get it removed. I removed so much at the rear of the engine on the firewall you can look down and see the top 2 tranny bolts to the engine

Larry
 
#16 ·
I wish I could do the same, but I still do too much street driving to go crazy.
 
#19 ·
If you're anywhere near Dallas, I have a hail-damaged hood you can have to try this out.
 
#21 ·
New ones seem to go for around $750-$800 ish. I'd guess around 550-600 for a used hood with no damage. Obviously, shipping will be expensive and complex. When Norm's parts arrive, they're typically surrounded by expanding foam (in bags so the foam doesn't touch the fiberglass) so that the part can't move within the box.

The fiberglass RK Sport hood is significantly lighter than the OEM steel hood and looks great on the car, and their easy to find in stock. In my experience it's not a perfect unit, though. Two of the threaded inserts for the headlights were installed in the wrong place. I wound up using the headlights to mark the correct position for the inserts on the hood, drilling holes and epoxying inserts in the correct place. It worked fine, but it was a little annoying to have to take a power tool to a brand new part.

If you go with the RK hood, be prepared to do a little bit of trimming to get it to fit properly.
 
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