Drilling Carbon Fiber

[Little G]

I just got my cf hood + trunk and I was just wondering if you can just use regular drill bits in cf or does it have to be special ones???? Cause I heard before that it cracks really easily and its hard to do.....Is that true?

[Vypurr]

I would use a brand new, very sharp tip. What are you drilling for? Hood pins? Washer nozzels? Key hole?

[07BlackSS]

Originally Posted by Little G

I just got my cf hood + trunk and I was just wondering if you can just use regular drill bits in cf or does it have to be special ones???? Cause I heard before that it cracks really easily and its hard to do.....Is that true?

Trust me, dont do it yourself....take it to a shop cause if it cracks then they have to replace it. Don't do it yourself.

[Little G]

I'm going to put hood pins in ,and the spoiler on the trunk..

[HatchSurfer3]

screw the hood pins and leave it wingless! And does ur trunk line up right???

[Vypurr]

Here are some guides I found! I would use a dremel or a drill like they suggested!

http://www.macqc.com/raceplates/rigid.htm

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.s...6eaa3b2613c356

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.a...8e3b7c2fb98bae

We do this almost daily in the race shop.


Best advise I can give you is to put several layers of masking tape on the
top surface and drill through that. It can save you a lot of heartache from
scratches, driving the drill chuck into the surface and so on.


Also on jobs were the hole will be exposed without a collar, pre-drill the
hole undersize and use a proper size diameter grinding stone in the drill to
ream or finish up the hole. It will give you a very clean hole with no
chaffing or ravels.


And be careful. Exposed carbon threads are just like needles, or worse.


Wayne

[WrxJC]

Everytime me or matt had to make a hole in carbon fiber we used a dremel. If its a good enough quality, you shoudlnt have any problems. We drilled washer hoses into a 3 year old VIS hood with no problems...and matt just did his seibon trunk, also with no problems. BUT if you ARE worried, I wouldn't do it yourself.

[HatchSurfer3]

Matt i have a dremel if ya need it

[Little G]

Originally Posted by HatchSurfer3

screw the hood pins and leave it wingless! And does ur trunk line up right???

The trunk lines up perfect...And I'm putting that wing back on, thats my shopping cart handle....

[05Accent]

Originally Posted by Little G

The trunk lines up perfect...And I'm putting that wing back on, thats my shopping cart handle....

the OEM **** haha

[Vypurr]

Just do what those guides suggested, place a block of wood under where you are drilling, so that once you get through the CF, you continue to drill rather than slamming the drill against the hood!. You could also put masking tape on the top to prevent it from scratching.

Just make sure that you wear a mask while you do this because much like Fiber glass, you don't want to breathe it in!

*PS, it also conducts electricity, so steer clear of open outlets too!

[96s14]

I have a carbon fiber hood and i am not using pins because 1. It doesnt flow with my car, 2. The hood is painted. I have drilled into it, just wear GLOVES!! If you ever did exhaust rap imagine that but like 1000000 times worse.

[D Money]

What brand carbon hood and trunk you get. I say put the wing on, but no hoodpins. That is going to look super hot on your color too. Damn money, wheels, hood, trunk, you get a turbo too?? lol

[07BlackSS]

I can't wait to see it finished matt.

[05Accent]

Originally Posted by Greddy2000Civic

I can't wait to see it finished matt.

x2 its going to look sweet

[US_R33]

you can go w/o hood pins sure.....but i can promise you that i sure as hell won't be driving anywhere behind you on the highway

put some masking tape around where you're going to drill, use a thinner bit as a pilot hole, then move up 1 size at a time until the hole is the desired diameter

i've used all of these types of bit before; Cobalt Steel bits, Titanium Coated bits, and Masonry bits. I have the older version of this Dewalt 14.4v except that my drill has 550 in-lbs of forward torque and 650 in-lbs in reverse

use any of those drill bit sets and the masking tape and you'll be perfectly fine

Late,
Daniel

[2point4DSM]

Start off with the hood taped and using a very small bit to help prevent teh bit from wandering and scratching the hood. Afterwards , this is the drill bit you want to use:

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...id=00920923000

Just mark it so when you know when to stop or keep checking the hole. It will cut clean and make a nice hole. And you won't end up banging up the hood with your drill and cracking it.

[Gorilla Unit 33]

Originally Posted by Little G

I just got my cf hood + trunk

ok #1 your an asshole you knew i was going to buy that trunk **** face
#2 your a child molestor (have fun with your 16yr old minor)
#3 pick the ****ing phone up ASSHOLE

[slavetothemuzic]

Originally Posted by US_R33

you can go w/o hood pins sure.....but i can promise you that i sure as hell won't be driving anywhere behind you on the highway

I've seen the effects of not using hood pins on CF. At the very least, the hood is destroyed. Worse, is when the windshield and part of the roof eats it too. If you don't put hood pins on there, you're

[WrxJC]

why do people always suggest hood pins. I don't get it, the latch is the latch, i NEVER used hood pins and i had a CF hoof on every car i've owned. Please explain this to me. Cause, a lot of times, ur re-using the stock latch and bolting it onto the carbon fiber, how can that fail?