UPDATED: The Droptop from Hell - America's first....

[squonk]

Yep.

Drilled me and Amanda at 80mph. Shattered the windshield, bent the windshield header frame, knocked us both out for a sec, and I still managed (miracle) to get us to the side of the road safely.

Drivers behind us said it looked like an explosion (white *poof*). I thought I'd been shot. Very, very surreal.

About a month ago , I went to a 240 meet and the hood came off of this dudes car... Why does this seem to happen to the kids who make it turbo?

I'm glad you survived because the car looks really nice.

[onosqv]

About a month ago , I went to a 240 meet and the hood came off of this dudes car... Why does this seem to happen to the kids who make it turbo?

I'm glad you survived because the car looks really nice.

I'm guessing in both cases there were no hood pins installed?

ouch, hood hitting you @ 80mph, sorry to hear that Greg.

[biggie]

Not sure why I hadn't heard that story. But does seem kind of 'Bond-ish", instead of ejector seat, hood comes and hits your date on the head, you needed to be sitting lower though.

Have known a few people with CF hoods and no pins to have them fly up, including my coupe (to the previous owner). Definately hood pins for me.

[AZhitman]

I'm guessing in both cases there were no hood pins installed?

ouch, hood hitting you @ 80mph, sorry to hear that Greg.

I was using the OEM latch, which is sufficient for a good CF hood like the VIS.

However, during a photoshoot (the "famous" one, you've seen it), the photographers popped the hood (I didn't know) and they didn't latch it.

The downforce kept it in place up to 80. Apparently, beyond that, the air pressure underhood from the front bumper ducting is sufficient to overcome that force.

[AZhitman]

Last week, Brandon from KSport came out and did some tweaking on the system...

There was some unevenness from left to right, and the drop wasn't as much as I'd like.

So, here she is now, at ALMOST full-drop. I need to do some trimming of the wheelwells in the rear to get the complete drop.

[onosqv]

that is sexayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

my car looks like a 4x4 now compared to that, haha.

[S133P3R]

needs moar low!

[AZ89two4Tsx]

Wow, looks awesome. Especially with the Weds.

[madcowvert]

looking good it even fixed the camber a little bit

[AZhitman]

Yeah, I wasn't too cool with the radical camber.

I still need to fine-tune the spacing... I'm running some 15mm in the rear and 10mm in front (to get the wheel away from the coilover).

Need to cut the fenders more in the rear, and do some hammering in the upper inner fenderwell up front, and she'll drop another 1.5"... Which puts the skidplate and the exhaust on the pavement.

[BRosa]

Looking Ill Greg! If you need a hand dumping it or cutting the wells hit me up and I'll cruise out.

[TIMELSS_vert]

I knew you'd man up Greg. Lookin good man!

[AZhitman]

Looking Ill Greg! If you need a hand dumping it or cutting the wells hit me up and I'll cruise out.

Will do. Might get cracking on it this weekend.

[madcowvert]

Will do. Might get cracking on it this weekend.

is it because the bag is t big and is giving you back spacing problems?

[streetstarspride]

wow

that camber is gorgeous i think

car is gorgeous

what motor do you have in there?

[Ajax]

Hey Greg, with the Origin hood- Type II isn't it?- did you have to do any cutting underneath to clear the TB with the Xcessive manifold? I went with the Q45 TB and am going to use Xcessive lowering brackets for the engine, but I"m betting I'll still need to cut a bit.If you did cut, could you shoot some pics in here? Car looks great.

[AZhitman]

No cutting, but I dropped the motor pretty low in the cradle with my homemade motor mounts... You can see it all in the Project Vert build article series.

[Ajax]

Thanks Greg! Hopefully I won't need to cut much to get this monster throttle body to fit.

[AZhitman]

Thanks Greg! Hopefully I won't need to cut much to get this monster throttle body to fit.

Well, with a stock hood, my TB was ABOVE the level of the hood. I cut a hole THROUGH the hood to clear it... Miserable process.

The current hood does NOT offer more clearance, even tho it looks like it should - The bracing is in the same location.

Dropping the engine deeper in the cradle presented other problems, namely oil pan clearance. I fabbed a beefy skidplate that should take a direct hit pretty well... Either way, the engine sits LOW.

[Ajax]

Yup, I've got a skidplate on the way with my Xcessive motor mounts. I won't mind cutting into the bracing underneath a bit. Mind you, I'm using the Q45 throttle body; I'm still hopeful I won't need to cut much.Any pics of 4x4 mode with the airbags?

[onosqv]

New one is Origin.

Greg, is there a 2nd "vent" behind the hood allowing air to escape. I notice it's flared up, but for the life of me cannot find any good pictures showing how much venting there is w/ the hood down. Ambient temps are particular ridiculous in my car after some hard laps - been looking for something w/ a rear flare that's not "too" crazy.

does the origin have a similar rear vent like this (or bigger) - very rear vent:

[AZhitman]

Ajax - No pics lifted, but I'll shoot some. It looks like a damn 85 Monte Carlo sitting up high, LOL.

QV - The Origin does have that vent.

[mmm240]

Ajax - No pics lifted, but I'll shoot some. It looks like a damn 85 Monte Carlo sitting up high, LOL.

Donk!

[Ajax]

Sorry for continuing the threadjack, but here's what the back of the hood looks like (from when mine was at the body shop).

[thematz]

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead but I also have a hood question. I have a seibon carbon hood on my car and I'm trying to figure out the placement of my aerotech latches. I like where you put yours. Are your hood pins in a factory hole or did you have to cut some? Some pictures would really help. I searched but all the write ups seem to be for the silvia front end. Thanks in advance.

[a_ahmed]

I want something like that:



Fully vented going ALL the way back venting wise for maximum lift reduction... and cooling.

I got a BN blister kit a while back (still not fitted just test fitted) and I need a vented hood... the BN blister hood is pretty nice how it fits the original kit though:



Except I'd want more vents for more lift reduction... some of these things have super tiny holes and just have the elevated vent look/'style'.

[Roginooo]

where did order that bodykit?

[irax]

Have a cookie.

Not to impress anyone with non-functional kit-scraping, frame-laying altitude.

I have this ALTITUDE

but I still really like your setup! Air Ride better be an excuse to drive at a lower ride height and not to just park really low and drive only kinda sorta 1 inch lower than stock...

[AZhitman]

ahmed, I LOVE that kit!!!

irax, as soon as I get the camber adjustment sorted, and re-cut my fenderwells the right way, I will be able to drive at ALMOST full-drop.

Not that I would, but it's nice to have the option.

[irax]

this is perfectly acceptable ride height.