Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Hey guys,

well I have done a decent amount of mods to the engine, brakes and soon suspension wise... now I am thinking about getting some nice new body panels... but I have a few questions, in particular about bonnets at the moment because I have a few stone chips on my current one.

1. are fiberglass panels illegal?in particular bonnets? ;)

2. I know people say they are lighter and you can go faster etc... but I want an honest answer.. would the weight of replacing a metal panel with a CF/fibreglass panel be a large difference or is a couple kg negligible?

3. I would assume it gets sprayed the same as every other panel in 2pac paint etc... but would a fiberglass bonnet's paint chip/warp due to engine/turbo heat?or do you have to attach the blanket thing to the bottom of it or something else?

finally guess I am asking.... do both an aftermarket and standard bonnet function identically? or is one a better option for stuff like strength, weight, warping paint...etc?

if it makes a diff... my car is a street car... only been to the track once...probably not for a few years again...

Thanks,

Adam :)

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/238813-fibreglass-bonnets/
Share on other sites

Check out HPI mag. There's a QLD company that makes ADR approved (read legal!!) fibreglass bonnets. Lighter than steel ones and keep things cooler with the venting.

It's a looks thing, functional, less weight and legal. 2 pac painted would blend in sweet.

You're on the right track with temps.

If you run a high mount turbo that's the only time you might want to look at say a turbo blanket to cover the turbine housing, to protect the bonnet etc.

Hope I'm not babbling on. Good night and good luck with your choice ;) .

Thanks for the advice felas,

dw, turbo is low mounted... had that much trouble getting it in tho I almost went highmount...

ok... so it may be a better option repairing the stock one by the sounds of it... just for strength and legality reasons... will post up more questions in the morn after they pop into my head overnight ;)

cheers guys.

99% of fibreglass bonnets are defectable/illegal

stock = stronger

FG = lighter and vented

neither will warp in teh heat if made correctly. weight you wont really feel any difference.

ever lifted a r32 gtst bonnet, that thing probably made of cast iron ;)

It's funny watching the gtr owners struggle with it due to being used to their fancy aluminum bonnets :)

ever lifted a r32 gtst bonnet, that thing probably made of cast iron :merli:

It's funny watching the gtr owners struggle with it due to being used to their fancy aluminum bonnets :D

hahhaha ofcourse you feel it when you open it, there is a major difference in the gtst V GTR bonnt

but not worth much when driving

99% of fibreglass bonnets are defectable/illegal

I would really like to know where you got your figures from? I don't mean to be rude, however you might be surprised once you approach your state authorities and seek clarification. As my understanding is that the bonnet itself only plays a small role in crumple zone testing.

I would really like to know where you got your figures from? I don't mean to be rude, however you might be surprised once you approach your state authorities and seek clarification. As my understanding is that the bonnet itself only plays a small role in crumple zone testing.

i pulled the figure out of the air,, simply since in NSW "any modification that would affect these crashworthiness safety standards should only be made on the advise of the vehicles original manufacturer or an engineering signatory"

so unless you get it engineered - it is illegal.

I'm in talks with several state transport authorities, at the moment trying to seek explicit clarification on these rulings, and so far they have been somewhat helpful. At this stage I'm not going to rule out all fibreglass/carbon bonnets to be illegal. Hopefully will have more on this soon, along with supporting documentation :(

  • 4 weeks later...
hahhaha ofcourse you feel it when you open it, there is a major difference in the gtst V GTR bonnt

but not worth much when driving

Not worth much if done on it's own but for someone that is watching their weight, a steady step in the right direction. Lightening a vehicles weight would have to be the most affective mod you can carry out.

  • 2 years later...

whoa... 2008 called.. ;)

yeah blits bodykits do an "ADR approved" bonnet.. But my understanding from some talk is that it is QLD Transport approved.. So just check with any local authorites/state transport to ensure.. Although i'm sure most won't even know the rules and will get a different answer to everyone you speak to.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Just had this happen to me too.  R32 GTR.   Also broke "just before going out onto the track" - someone up there is looking out for us... Very scary since I was about to do a narrow street course with zero run-off and curbs everywhere. Many people on here upgrading to billet uprights and R35 bearings?   Or buying new OEM knuckles?  I am not keen to replace with another s/h 30 year old fatigued part.
    • Top off with distilled water and see what happens. If you keep losing coolant then you know to start looking.
    • Nope.    Grab a varex and turn it down as you get close to home, win win? 
    • So, I've had my V36 for about a month now and have already copped an "excessive exhaust noise" notification from QLD TMR, reported by someone in my local area. It's a twin as per the original, and can have a bit of a throaty note to it when idling cold 😄 and if I do get up it a bit, it can be noisy, but it did pass a roadworthy inspection before sale, so.... ... but in the interest of being a good neighbour, I do want to quieten it down a bit. Is anyone here running a quiet aftermarket cat-back on their V36 or 370Z? And the big, bold question: does an aftermarket cat-back really make much of a performance difference on these cars?
    • The wiring diagram for the R33 RB25 is freely available, and is essentially the same same as most other RBs (just with differences as to which pin # does which job). To get the ECU to power up, you just need to provide power to the ECCS relay, and have the other power feeds that come in from the top left of the wiring diagram (wrt the ECU) that give perma power to the fuel pump relay, the ECU itself, etc etc, all connected. When you put power on all these it will just come to life. It's pretty clear from the diagram what needs to happen. Just follow the lines from the 12V + supply stuff in the top left over towards the ECU. I've even posted snips of such diagrams (not for vanilla 25, I think for Neo and 26) to various threads here in the last few months, talking about what it takes to get the fuel pump and FPCM up and going. Search these up and they will help get you started on doing the same with the vanilla 25 diagram. Hell, for all I know, I've done the same with that one in years past and have forgotten.
×
×
  • Create New...