I got rear ended a week or two ago and need to replace my hatch. It looks like Seibon makes a carbon fiber boot lid. Does anyone have on installed and can speak to the quality and fitment of it? In the past I know such carbon fiber part's gel coat doesn't seem to hold up well to the sun vs normal paint, but I am not super worried about that being in the north west where we don't get a lot of sun.
The trunk lid itself is 35 pounds before the glass. So if anyone knows the weight of the stock hatch, that is the difference haha.. I work and sell these all the time!
It's from Seibon and it is the latter. Weighs like <5lbs IIRC. You have to drill out or grind all the spot welds for the original then install and bond in the CF one. @neox.286 can describe more if he has time in his mad, mad world
Yeah the CF roof is ridiculously light - I could hold it up with one finger. But there are pros and cons to going with the new roof:
- You are taking some structural rigidity vs leaving the stock roof on. For me that's fine because I'm caged, so I've got plenty of rigidity gains to offset that small loss - but in an uncaged car you might be losing a bit of rigidity and the weight savings may not offset that.
- If I recall correctly I believe I dropped 45-50 lbs (INCLUDING losing the moonroof assembly, I believe 30lbs just from the sheet metal) by going with the CF roof - which being so high on the car was a huge gain for me.
- It is not an quick or easy install. If you have no fear like me, it's not a big deal - but if you want it done by someone else it's gonna be a few DAYS (not hours) of labor cost minimum. There are between 50-100 spot welds that you have to drill out, then sand all of them down, then repaint the affected areas for rust prevention, then mount the new roof and glue it down, and then reattach the windshield. Most shops charge around $100 an hour and while it took me a week to get it done, that was at a leisurely pace - I'd say a pro shop can do it in three days, which would be around $2400 in labor costs. If they are wise with their time management two days so $1600, but that is still a lot of money relative to the cost of the roof itself
Sorry it was just for the hood and fenders. This is from Anderson composites:
You save about 2 lbs per fenders and about 10 lbs on the hood. We are about to re-weigh the stock hood this week, we may have updated numbers.
Regards
Anderson Composites
Hmm....those Anderson parts, like the hatch, look identical to the Seibon parts down to the same product photos. Are they Seibon parts, or just bought from the same composite supplier in Asia?
I just ordered the hatch, so we will see how the fitment goes. It doesn't look like it has a spot for the OEM Ford badge. Do you have any recommendations on an aftermarket alternative?
I think I might just paint it all the OEM color, but what do you think would be a cooler paint scheme for a CF hatch?
Try one of those emblem overlay stickers in place. As for a color, maybe a single stripe down the middle, with accompanying CF vinyl decal going over the roof and to the hood?
I think the idea I asked them to do is to paint above this red line to match the body paint color (the highlighted part). Below the red line, I will leave carbon. I think that does the best job not breaking the body lines.
As for an update, apparently it takes forever to get body parts from Ford. Ford doesn't stock them in the US. They ship from Germany...if available. When they come, they often aren't packaged well and can't be used. Just as a heads up, a fender bender can leave your car in the body shop for months.
For the Siebon part, we seem to have a fitment issue. It looks like the hatch wants to hit the quarter panel. If the gaps are correct, then the hatch doesn't seal. Also as a note, the mounting points for the trim, etc. are not the same same as OEM, but we haven't checked to see if it causes a problem yet. Something of a concern is that all of the hardware mount points are flimsy composet instead of steel like OEM. That means the latch and wiper, for example, are affixed to 1/4" of floppy composite which makes me a little worried about durability and longevity opening and closing the hatch. I don't think you would want to slam it shut like you could with the OEM hatch. On the plus side, the weave and clear finish looks nice.
I am in the same boat. Waiting on liftgate drom Germany. I considered the carbon lid, but am very hesitant. How has your experience with it been? Did you ever get it to seal? Pa le gaps still look like ass?
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