jfairladyz

Anyone who has been reading the Carbon Fiber thread has no doubt heard that I will be making Carbon Fiber ZX parts, starting with hoods.

I received an email from a member that piqued my interest which is the reason I am starting a new thread seperate from the other.

He mentioned putting a deposit on a carbon fiber hood.

How many of you would be willing to put a deposit, if the conditions were right, for a carbon fiber hood, in order to speed up the process of getting the hoods out to you guys?

How much would you be willing to put as a deposit?

Here's the deal. I would provide all my information on my business and myself before actually accepting deposits, for you guys to chew on.

I would give receipts to each and every person who places a deposit.

I will post pics of the first hood to roll off the press for you to review and decide whether or not you want your deposit back or if you want a hood shipped to you.

As the responses for who wants to give a deposit roll in, I will use the number of responses to determine a time frame for the hoods to be done.

If for any reason you don't want to leave a deposit, please let me know why. But not if it's just because you don't have the money. I mean a reason I may be able to fix to make you feel more secure about making a deposit.

If I decide to go ahead with the deposit thing, hoods will be distributed in the order that I receive the deposits.

Detail on the hoods will be posted before I actually accept deposits.

Expect total price to be around $400. If I get enough preorders, the price gets lower because I can get materials cheaper if I order them in larger bulks. The hoods [B]will not, however, be more than $400.

If I've left anything out, ask.

The hoods will be released whether this works out or not. But this could definitely get them done much, much sooner if I get a good response. If you know ZX owners off of this site, ask them too. The more I get, the cheaper and sooner you guys can get your hoods, and the sooner I can get to making you other trick Carbon parts.

If you'd be interested in Carbon/Kevlar, let me know. It comes in red, blue, yellow, or orange. These will be around $400 also, I don't expect the price on these to drop too much, as I don't expect too many orders, just those that want to be really different.

Thanks, and sorry about the long read.
Please respond,
Thanks
Jason Williams
Zspec Garage
jfairladyz@yahoo.com

s/cL3.0

Like I said I will put down at LEAST 200.00 but if you need more I can do it.. And I am extremly interested cmon guys you know you want some carbon fiber for your heavy Z forgot to mentuion I want the C/K in red..

jfairladyz

That's one. Anybody else interested?

s/cL3.0

cmon guys dont mess this up for me.. You know you want some carbon..

DynamicJ

you know I'm down... Consider me the new Brian Spilner of ZDriver

jfairladyz

There's two.

s/cL3.0

Theres gotta be more than just me and lessthanjabo.. Cmon you know you want it.

280gty

I hate to damper any enthusiasm but not all carbon fiber work is equal...it might be a good idea to post some Hi definition photos of your carbon work.

I have quite a bit of CF work done inside my Probe...Real Carbon Fiber crafted parts and some overlaid CF...damn expensive...
But I've seen alot of crappy 'custom' work done by others.

Mass market exterior hoods are usually not pure CF but a combo of CF & Kevlar or something...$400 is reasonable price for that but again, I'm sure that not all CF hoods are equal.

Besides, I'd be interested in seeing your work!

Some pics of my Probe...

jfairladyz

Yeah I will definitely have pics up before I sell anything. You're absolutely right. Not all carbon fiber work is the same. And it's true. Most of the hoods you see on the market are not pure carbon fiber. There laid over Glass or Kevlar. These hoods weigh in the neighborhood of 16+ lbs. Not bad. But a true Carbon Hood can weigh in the neighborhood of 6 lbs. Pretty big difference. Especially from stock. I will not be offering CF overlayed hoods.

I just asking to see who would be interested in putting a deposit. Interested being the key word. Everybody will have all the information they need, including pics, before I take anyones money. Good post. Like I said I'm happy to answer all questions.

dr. buddha

im intresed in a cf hood for my 240 z. with a scoop on the pasnger side on the back of the hood for my inercooler i can send you a pic and some of the guys in my club would be intrested maby

jfairladyz

My first run will be for the 280zx. I will be following up for the earlier Z's in the future. The zx doesn't have the aftermarket support that the other Z's have, so that's why I'm starting with them. It's an open market that needs to be filled.

jfairladyz

You can send me that pic though. If I happen across a hood for a 240 then I'd be more than willing to make hoods.

A question for anyone who reads this: I know the ZX hoods aren't interchangeable with the earlier ones. But how interchangable are the hoods amongs the 240,260, and 280Z?

280gty

Are you crafting pure carbon fiber hoods for $400???

Wow, I said $400 was a reasonable price for the CF/kevlar hoods!

There are Genuine Carbon Fiber Hardtops made for the Honda S2000 which ranges from 4,000-6,000 Dollars!

Your hoods would be a huge bargain...!
Well, I'm definately interested in seeing what you can do!

EDIT: oops, I think I misread...you said you won't be making 'overlaid' CF on the hoods... but not necessarily pure CF hoods... which would definately be too expensive!

s/cL3.0

They are the same cause MSA only makes one style for all 3 models.

lww

Actually, MSA buys their CF hoods from someone else...

jfairladyz

That's good to know. That will make it easier to get that hood into production since I'll only have one type of hood to worry about for all the earlier Z's.

As far as the debate on whether it's pure carbon fiber. Yes, it's pure Carbon Fiber. For additional heat resistance and even more stiffness, I can add a Nomex honeycomb panel to the underside for additional cost. This adds practically no weight at all,far-less than a pound. And eliminates much of the bracing necessary under the hood. The carbon hoods will stand up to everyday driving and racing. If you got an extreme turbo engine that produces insane amounts of heat under the hood, I would suggest the nomex. The only drawback to this is the price. Still be around $450 though. As less Carbon is needed.

I don't cut any corners in production. I use a single layer of extemely strong (though slightly more expensive than the cosmetic stuff) Carbon for the outer skin of the hood. The inner structure is made from a less dense, lighter Carbon (also less expensive) since the frame is structuraly designed and isn't as prone to flex.
With the nomex, the frame doesn't span the whole hood, just the areas that support weight like the hinge and latch areas. Nomex is the stuff airplanes and NASA uses to strengthen their products without adding weight. It allows less material to be used.

Hope this answers any questions on materials used.

RodMoyes

I'd pay top dollar for any good CF body parts for my Z's... what I won't do, is give a depsosit to someone I don't know... for work that I can't verify the quality of and for a product that thus far doesn't exist. Like I said before, "if you build it, they will come.". I'm sure you're a great guy, and I don't doubt your intentions... but, before I "Show you the money", you need to show us the goods.



Rod.

jfairladyz

That's another thing guys, I'm not not only the producer, I'm the retailer. No middle man to jack up the prices. No Pacific Ocean to ship over (for those in the states). I don't have 20,000 employees to pay. Just one, and their not even paid well.

jfairladyz

No doubt. I'm pretty sure I already posted this. But just incase, here it goes. I'm not asking for your guys' money now. I'll be a little more specific this time. Let me reiterate my question.


This is long, but I think everyone should read it.
I'm going to produce a few Carbon Fiber parts from the start up capital I do have. It's not much, so I can't make 20 hoods and not leave anyone out in the cold. I am a small operation and parts take time to design and produce. To keep up with demand, which is what I was feeling for in the other thread I posted on, I'm going to have to be pulling parts from several molds at one time. Then I have to factor in all the parts that don't come out perfect, as all that time and money was wasted. I have to have enough material on hand to keep parts flowing out of the molds to keep everyone happy.

So what I was thinking about doing, as opposed to waiting until I have enough money to mass produce a lot of parts, was take deposits from everyone who wanted a hood sooner than later. Now, of course I wouldn't be taking any money from anybody, until I atleast had some finished products available to atest to the quality of my parts. I even planned to donate parts to certain individuals to test fit on their cars, and spread the word, be it good or bad, about my products. Word of mouth is everything in this business. I will have several pictures on my website of my products before any of you put so much as a dime down, displaying the fit and finish of everything I sell.

I hope this cleared somethings up for those of you who were questioning my ethics as far as asking you to blindly give your money away to a stranger who just registered with this site a few days ago and may have no intention what so ever to do as he said he was going to.

I'm glad this point was brought up, as it may put a lot more minds at ease who just blew by this thread thinking it could be scam.

My Name is Jason Williams. I am doing business as Zspec Garage out of South Dakota, USA. My DBA is registered and my License is still pending. I'm originally out of California. If you have the resources, feel free to check up on me. I'm just a regular guy who got tired of parts being to expensive or not available for my Z and decided to do something about it and make it available to everyone else who felt the same way I did.

Thanks to those who took the time to read.

Zskyline79

Hey J if you can get me the hood from that pic i sent you from mid knight Z put me down for one.

RodMoyes

I hope you're stuff will be as good as you are hoping it will be... I'll be the first in line when it's all ready. For now, welcome to the cost of starting a business.


Rod.

BigBirdsZ

you are a great man *I praise you* once you get your stuff started i will be buyin parts from you

jfairladyz

Thanks for the support guys.

I promise you I will do everything in my power not to disappoint you. And I thank you for every response, positive or negative. They all help. And I hope to be a big help to all of you looking to make your rides something to be proud of and enjoy.

Hey Z79, I'll take a closer look at it, I'm sure it won't be a problem. As long as a part can be pulled from a mold, it can be done. Time is all I need.

81 Black L28E

will these hood have turbo style vents ????? and yes i would be willing to put $100 bill down if you had a few made that we could see and and if they came with stock style turbo vents set up....

s/cL3.0

I would blindly pay up front, I trust Z owners, to be the first and take a pic so everone can drool