I bought a VIS carbon fiber hood for my 1997, and installed it last week. I'm having several issues with it, and was wondering if someone can tell me if I got a 'lemon' or if these are typical:
1. Hood doesn't latch. I have moved the car's latch receiver through the range of adjustment and can't get it to latch. I compared the hood latch hook to the OEM hood -- and the OEM latch hook seems to be quite a bit heavier gauge steel than the VIS hood latch hook. It seems like the new one just isn't thick enough to get the latch mechanism to trip. I'm going to have to modify the car's latch mechanism if I have any hope of getting this hood to latch.
2. The hood was severely warped. It sat flush with the fender on the right side, but the left side was sitting up about 1.5" (huge gap). This was with the under-hood rubber bump stops removed, to eliminate them as part of the problem. I had to weigh the hood down with bricks and leave the car out in the sun (95 degrees) for two days just to get the hood to reform and lay flat.
3. After being in the sun for two days, there's now a BB sized bump in the middle of the hood. I thought it might be from something on the engine poking up into the hood, but no way -- nothing in that spot comes even close to touching the hood. It's almost as if the hood is 'swelling' in that one spot. It looks awful. I'm going to try a flat piece of wood with bricks on it, again out in the sun, to see if I can get it to flatten out.
4. The CF hood seems a bit 'thicker' near the hinge mounting points. This is causing the hood to sit up too high about 1/4", up near the windshield. To fix this I'm going to have to sand/grind down the inside of the hood at the hinge points, to thin it out and get it to lay down and match the height of the top of the fenders.
Anyway, this has been a nightmare from the minute I put the hood on the car. Is this experience typical with these hoods? I'm probably stuck with this hood since even if they give me a refund/replacement shipping costs are $150 each way...I don't want to invest over $800 now on this hood (!)
It's got the VIS badge on it, and it came wrapped in VIS-marked plastic wrap (which means nothing, I know). From a 'big' seller. Other than than I can't tell for sure.
Your hood doesn't sound like a normal CF hood at all. I got mine off of ebay for $450.00 (shipping included), it's a VIS OEM hood, super simple installation. Four bolts and it fit just as good as the stock hood, It doesn't shake as I have heard some do, I didn't even have to adjust the latch. The company I got it from is located in California. You should be able to click on the pictures for more information on the hood.
Carbon_Innovation97 98 99 00 01 02 PRELUDE VIS OEM CARBON FIBER HOOD. Click Images to Enlarge
Same seller. Same hood. I must just have gotten a bad one.
I figured out what the bump is now sticking up about 1/16" out of the hood. There's a piece of plastic rattling around inside the hood up near the cowl area. It got wedged between the skin of the hood and the underlying support structure. In the direct sun, the hood flattened out and the bump materialized. I was able to shake the piece of plastic free (it's now settled someplace else in there), so I'm trying to flatten out the bump with bricks on top of a piece of wood.
I hope I can get it to latch. I'm not thrilled about having to modify the latch mechanism on my car.
This really sucks.
P.S. That third picture which shows the hood latch hook -- mine looks totally different. Thinner gauge steel, and the underside of the hood is painted black, it doesn't show any carbon fiber weave, like in that photo. I'm wondering now exactly what I've got here.
Last edited by string void() : 06-09-2008 at 03:29 PM.
is becoming more common now, on pp.com we've had alot of guys with seibon hoods also have similar problems, call them up and get a replacement, they only kinda modification you would want to do on putting on an oem style cf hood is moving the latch down to catch less wind, but even that isnt really necessary on most
Wow!, sorry about all the trouble you have had with your hood, I would email them and let them know about the problems and see what they are willing to do for you. I am real meticulous about the items I purchase off of ebay and I am telling you the hood I purchased meets all my expectations for a quality seller.
Thanks...well, I've been in contact with the place that sold me the hood. I have to say, so far they seem like a good crew. Listened very carefully to my story, understood everything I was telling them, and seemed genuinely interested in helping me out. Last night I sent them photos of all the issues, and they said that they would take care of the problem -- which may mean VIS drop ships me a new hood at no cost.
We'll see what happens, but I really hope they follow through and make this right.
Thanks...well, I've been in contact with the place that sold me the hood. I have to say, so far they seem like a good crew. Listened very carefully to my story, understood everything I was telling them, and seemed genuinely interested in helping me out. Last night I sent them photos of all the issues, and they said that they would take care of the problem -- which may mean VIS drop ships me a new hood at no cost.
We'll see what happens, but I really hope they follow through and make this right.
Sounds good, keep us posted of the outcome in case others are looking for a good carbon fiber hood from Carbon Innovation. According to their ebay feedback, looks like they back up their products.
After going back and forth on this for a few days, we finally reached an agreement. I was given two options: I pay $125 to cover shipping and they send me any VIS hood I want -- and I keep the defective hood. Or, they refund $250 and I keep the defective hood.
I took the refund, and will try to get the hood to fit. It'll never be perfect but I can probably get it close enough for this daily driver.
The seller was very good to deal with, however one thing did bother me. They made it sound like I was the first person ever to have this issue, but when you read through their feedback on eBay it looks like approximately a third of their bodykit customers have issues with fitment, and about 10% of their VIS hood customers have issues (from what I can tell...could actually be higher).
I really believe that the VIS products are crap. I'll never recommend one, and never buy one again. The feedback I got from this dealer was that VIS couldn't care less about this issue and basically didn't believe me. I provided detailed photos, clearly showing every issue with the hood. Here's just one (out of about 10 photos) showing how badly the hood latch was aligned -- it's crooked and off center by over a half inch (!) You can see the centerline of the hood, right below it -- how crappy is that?
I'm going to have to modify the car's latch mounting points to get this to lock.
Oh well, maybe you can get it to fit right. I am extremely pleased with mine, lots of comments. Here's a big photo so you can check it out. Good luck with yours.
You've set a goal for me now to get this hood to look the same. I may have to use pins.
If you could do me a huge favor sometime and measure the thickness of your hood at the front of the hinge mounting point, I would appreciate it. Here's another photo showing what I mean. The hood I got is 1.33" thick and the OEM Honda hood is 1.11" thick -- almost a 1/4" difference! This is the reason why my hood is not lining up with the fenders -- it sits up 1/4" too high . I'm going to have to shave it, but I was wondering if this was really a mfg defect. If your hood is also 1.33" thick then something else is going on.
This is right where the front edge of the hinge meets the hood:
If you don't have calipers you might be able to do it with a ruler and a block of wood or a book as a guide...if not don't worry about it...I'm just curious that's all...
Wish I had some calipers to get a better reading. I have some good woodworking tools and straight edges, my hood looks to be real close to the 1.11 reading. Maybe another reader out there can give you a reading also with some calipers. Also make sure your edge cushions over the lights are adjusted properly (I'm sure you have done this), I had to lower mine for the CF hood.
Thanks...if you used a straightedge and ruler you probably nailed it. 1.11" (or thereabouts) is where it should be.
So, what I have here is either a gross mfg defect, or a knock-off with a VIS badge slapped on it.
Does the underside of your hood, especially in the latch area, show carbon weave or is it all painted glossy black? Also, see my prior photo of the latch -- does yours look like that? Does your VIS badge look like mine? (a bit blurry but you can see it)...
Thanks...if you used a straightedge and ruler you probably nailed it. 1.11" (or thereabouts) is where it should be.
So, what I have here is either a gross mfg defect, or a knock-off with a VIS badge slapped on it.
Does the underside of your hood, especially in the latch area, show carbon weave or is it all painted glossy black? Also, see my prior photo of the latch -- does yours look like that? Does your VIS badge look like mine? (a bit blurry but you can see it)...
Thanks again.
The underside of my hood is all carbon weave, unlike the one in your photo. My latch does look similar to yours. The VIS Racing Sports badge looks like yours but it is located one inch just under the latch, it has a small 2008 engraved on the lower right corner.
Interesting...The top of my hood doesn't look as nice as yours either; there are several 'knots' of poorly laid down fiber weave here and there.
You and I bought from the same seller, which is even more bizarre.
If you'd be willing, I sure would appreciate some additional photos of your hood. The VIS badge, the overall underside of it, and one of the edges (my edges are 'rough', not smooth and rolled like I thought they should be). Also, if your hood has any part numbers or id numbers stamped on it anyplace, I'd like to see that.
Now I'm very curious as to exactly what I was sent.
Interesting...The top of my hood doesn't look as nice as yours either; there are several 'knots' of poorly laid down fiber weave here and there.
You and I bought from the same seller, which is even more bizarre.
If you'd be willing, I sure would appreciate some additional photos of your hood. The VIS badge, the overall underside of it, and one of the edges (my edges are 'rough', not smooth and rolled like I thought they should be). Also, if your hood has any part numbers or id numbers stamped on it anyplace, I'd like to see that.
Now I'm very curious as to exactly what I was sent.
Interesting...The top of my hood doesn't look as nice as yours either; there are several 'knots' of poorly laid down fiber weave here and there.
You and I bought from the same seller, which is even more bizarre.
If you'd be willing, I sure would appreciate some additional photos of your hood. The VIS badge, the overall underside of it, and one of the edges (my edges are 'rough', not smooth and rolled like I thought they should be). Also, if your hood has any part numbers or id numbers stamped on it anyplace, I'd like to see that.
Now I'm very curious as to exactly what I was sent.
My email is furtherside (at) yahoo.com
Thanks...
Check your email, hope these help. The first set of photo's were way too big, I sent the smaller ones also.
Your hood is probably an authentic VIS. Mine is like yours where the underside is black and the top is carbon fiber. I believe it's what is called a "wet" carbon fiber hood. Meaning the base is fiberglass and there is carbon fiber wrapped around it giving you the look of authentic carbon fiber while keeping the price bearable. My fit is good tho, I'm very happy with it and I've gotten many compliments on the aggressive new look ok the car I would HIGHLY recommend getting the clear coat that prevents the "yellowing." It will benefit you in the long run ESPECIALLY if the car is always in the sun
Bro, I'm not sure about that. The pics that golfradict sent me have basically zero resemblance to the hood I purchased from the same dealer. Both hoods are purportedly VIS OEM for the 5th gen Prelude.
Even the underside bracing structure layout on my hood doesn't match his.
I think I'm going to have VIS explain to me exactly what is going on here.
97 98 99 00 01 02 PRELUDE VIS OEM CARBON FIBER HOOD. Click Images to Enlarge
. I'm going to have to shave it, but I was wondering if this was really a mfg defect. If your hood is also 1.33" thick then something else is going on. 
I would HIGHLY recommend getting the clear coat that prevents the "yellowing." It will benefit you in the long run ESPECIALLY if the car is always in the sun 
