Repairing the underside of a CF hatch
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From: The 808 state
Repairing the underside of a CF hatch
I purchased struts from a vendor here who specified struts were made for CF hatch, long story short they didn't work out well for me. Throughout time the strength of the struts pushed my hatch back. What I mean by that, it created a gap between roof and hatch. As result the hatch is damaged near the hinges and mounting points. I read a while back of someone creating a brace to evenly distribute weight. So my question is.....
Can the underside (not top cf) be repaired by simply reglassing? Does anybody have info to link of the brace created? Any suggestions? I really don't want to trash this hatch. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Can the underside (not top cf) be repaired by simply reglassing? Does anybody have info to link of the brace created? Any suggestions? I really don't want to trash this hatch. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
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From: Eastern NC
Since you started a thread about this, I'll re-post this email for future reference to hopefully avoid future occurrences:
"as for insight on any Carbon hatch, i recommend you run to home depot and purchase some skinny fender washers. They are thin wide washers that you can install the on the HATCH side when installing the ball stud.
this i recommend to help distribute the weight transfer of the hatch shock force to the carbon hatch.
see all the carbon fiber hatches use a threaded insert that is simply glued in during the manufacturing process of the carbon fiber hatch. the factory hatch has a welded nut inside the hatch, any carbon hatch uses a glued in threaded insert...
so adding a large washer i feel helps distribute the load a bit better. I cant say its needed, but if anything its a good precaution.
i have friends and customers that have gone with and with out it and been fine."
this i recommend to help distribute the weight transfer of the hatch shock force to the carbon hatch.
see all the carbon fiber hatches use a threaded insert that is simply glued in during the manufacturing process of the carbon fiber hatch. the factory hatch has a welded nut inside the hatch, any carbon hatch uses a glued in threaded insert...
so adding a large washer i feel helps distribute the load a bit better. I cant say its needed, but if anything its a good precaution.
i have friends and customers that have gone with and with out it and been fine."
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From: Eastern NC
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From: The 808 state
All good bro. I will keep doing research. Apparently, the email you posted up still would not have been able to prevent this from happening. All damaged caused by struts was while hatch was close. I'm guessing the strength in the struts would push hatch back,cracking/ separating from mounting points. So pretty much washers or no washers, because of the struts used, damage was bound to happen. I hope you have a better experience with them.
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From: Eastern NC
Of all the the CF hatch threads I've read on here (which is probably all of them) people say the Mastergrade hatch is much lighter than all the rest but there's a reason for that - less material. One member had the same issue as you and just took the shocks off afterwards.
^-tried it with shocks that needed help lifting my oem hatch... and only on one side. It was strong enough to lift it fine but when closed if was too strong to seal evenly.
Its a little tedious but now i just lift by hand and use something to prop it up. Then again its not a daily.
Its a little tedious but now i just lift by hand and use something to prop it up. Then again its not a daily.
Last edited by Voboy; Nov 1, 2012 at 06:23 AM.
Op, to answer ur question. Yes a body shop could fix it back up for you.
I found this though:
http://www.350zhatchshocksandmore.com/CARBONFIBER.htm
Did you use that?
I found this though:
http://www.350zhatchshocksandmore.com/CARBONFIBER.htm
Did you use that?
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From: The 808 state
Thanks for the info guys. I definitely plan on getting rid of the struts and just find something to prop the hatch up. I'm waiting for a few more parts to get here before I go back to the shop, but from the information I found on here and other forums, I have peace knowing this CAN be replaced. From what I gathered, damaged area needs to be cut out, bracket or sheet metal used to connect hatch and mounting points, then reglass the area. I'm gonna have him glass the hell out of that area, not to concerned on the presentation just as long as it works lol
Last edited by puertorican; Nov 1, 2012 at 11:53 AM.
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