[alfa] Carbon fiber Spider hoods

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Bob Ehman with an upward ding in his '91 Spider's hood asks: "Carbon 
fiber sounds like an interesting proposition what will happen when it 
does get one of those upward bumps (shatter?). Also most of the ones I 
have seen are not painted, can they be painted?"

********

Yes and yes. Yes they most likely will shatter and yes they can be painted.

I am not a fan of sump guards. I'm sure many sometimes look at their 
guards and see deep scratches and even dings, figuring their sump has 
been saved numerous times by having the guard. That is possible. I'd 
prefer to have a spare oil pan - at least the bottom portion - and 
gasket handy. Have the car flatbedded home and replace.

While that is of course is not the reason they are there, the fins do a 
pretty good job of acting as sacrificial wear points. If one hits a 
large enough rock, pothole, etc. it is common for the guard to bend 
enough to push the engine up and is the main reason for the upward dings 
in the hood. It is not unusual for the sump to break also.

By not installing a guard you have roughly another inch or more of 
ground clearance. Which comes to lowering your Spider. I think they look 
neat lowered - but you're asking for it - especially if you are an 
aggressive driver.

I've been talking about fairly tall tires to go on modified (wider) 15" 
Duetto rims for my '69 which will have springs about 1" lower than 
stock. I'm more interested in filling the wheel wells than to see how 
low I can go.

The carbon fiber hood can be repaired (within reason). I would take it 
to a bodyshop which specializes in Corvettes. They would also be the 
ones to paint it for you.

The reason you don't see carbon fiber hoods painted is because they look 
so cool unpainted. And if they were painted, no one would know the 
difference.

Biba
Irwindale, CA USA
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