Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

I've installed some bonnet pins on my 33. Part of me getting towards track days venture.

to do this i carefully drilled through my carbonfibre bonnet, what i need to know is what should I use the seal the edges of the hole so moisture doenst get into my bonnet.

any suggestions?

Berin

So what's the problem? Scared of moisture ingress??

Your bonnet is not really a proper structural element so moisture absorption affecting the glass transition temperature is not relevant, nor is sudden snap freezing of the interlaminate moisture going to crack the material apart unless you take it from +20 to -30 in a matter of minutes.

I would expect a little top coat clear sprayed into a container and brushed on gently would see you clear.

goto clark's rubber, get little rubber grommets that fit nicely over the rods, may have to widen the holes in the bonnet. then get some bathroom towelrack mounting ends, circle thin metal (once you see em youll know what i mean) to fit around the hole on the bonnet, makes it all look a lot neater, also stops the pins stratching the bonnet although you might have got these when you bought the pins

N.b. to all beginners ... put you pins in lengthways to push in and pull out towards front of car .... circle end towards front of car pointing towards rear (if that makes any sence), so that if you crash you can still pull your pins out

If your just worried about moisture getting into the carbon fibre, then worry no longer it will not be a problem. The epoxy that the carbon is imbeded in will not take on water and the carbon cant because it *should* be completly encased in the epoxy.

If your worried about water getting into the engine bay... some of the above ideas sound ok.

Yeah I'm just a red neck, so I didn't even bother about this.

Drilled my bonnet pins in about a year ago and it seems there has been no warping or expanind in the layers from moisture. But I have got some slight fractures in the top layer from the pressure I have placed on the pins.

However, Don't be a c0ck like me and drill holes in places they aren't required. But if you find yourself in this predicament, you can just as easily pass them off to your friends as 'speed holes', and you will find that the following week everyone will have random speed holes drilled into their bonnets.

If your just worried about moisture getting into the carbon fibre, then worry no longer it will not be a problem. The epoxy that the carbon is imbeded in will not take on water and the carbon cant because it *should* be completly encased in the epoxy.

This was my main concern, it's not gaskets I need as the area I want to seal is the sidewalls of the hole through the bonnet, something a flat gasket wont fix. I paid near $2K for the bonnet so I really am very cautious of what I do to it. (look in my gallery if you wanna see it).

Might get a small tube of epoxy and smear it round the inside of the hole, just to be on the safe side.

Thanks heaps everyone. all good advise as per usual :P

As far as the direction of the pins, I looked at as many race cars as possible to see how the pro's have em, an yeah, put em that way (same as V8 Supercars)

Not sure if this got suggested as I cbf'd reading all the replies.. But you could easily just get a little rubber grommet and then seal it. It would look much nicer and if you have ever tried to do a 'clean' seal with any type of sealant, you'll know its easier said than done.

Also, if its proper carbon and/or proper fibre glass then moisture wont really harm it. It would need to be submerged for a long time for any damage to occur.

C

Fat looking bonnet mate... who made it / where from etc etc :spank:

Thanks, I'm damn happy with it. It was made my customcarbon in Virginia QLD, its a customised version of one of there off the shelf ones. Top Quality!! would recomend them to anyone.

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

    • Doing a refresh of my 33 and can see a few websites stating they sell the entire main carpet for our cars, but they all have generic photos which is fine, i understand they are custom made to order.  Just seeing if anyone has got it done or had any experience with this, as i would only want to do it if the fit and finish was as good as oem https://carmatsdirect.com.au/products/moulded-carpet-or-vinyl-for-nissan-skyline-r33-1993-1998-coupe https://knoxautocarpets.com.au/moulded-carpets/nissan/skyline/skyline-r-33-1993-1998/
    • Any plans for E85? If so, add flex fuel sensor.   I'd probably add in the sensors I mentioned above if the Link will support using them for engine protection. With water pressure, you need to be able to effectively set it that "If temp > X, and pressure = atmospheric, shutdown" as at running temp, you should be able to read pressure in the cooling system. If pressure suddenly disappears, it means the water went some where, and this is a quicker reaction than waiting on water temp to go up (Which, can take a little longer than you'd like, considering it now has to wait for hot air to heat it up) Oil pressure, Oil temp, both would be on my list too if you're looking to add sensors. Wideband O2. And at least one EGT sensor. If you're feeling deluxe, put in individual runner EGTs. Single EGT sensor is more so forget about a specific number, get used to "What is normal EGTs", and then keep an eye on it, if it starts going away from "normal" it's a sign something is wrong (Also, things like the tune can still start going out of spec, but EGTs may not show it, for example one injector starts running leaning, so ECU richens everything up, now 5 out of 6 cylinders are rich, and running cool, with one cylinder lean and running hotter, so it's not perfect) Then there is your other things to look at non sensor related, but you may have already done, or have underway, and that would be things like building a sump for more oil, and better oil control under high G-Forces (Cornering, brakes, acceleration). Basically, the above is worth looking/thinking about, if the ECU can do protective stuff with it, and you continue to use it how you are (Drive it to the track, thrash it, drive home, repeat once every 3 to 4 months)
    • Can also confirm these work a treat for most balljoints and bushes. If you have access to a big rattle gun, they make the job so much easier and quicker, compared to using a socket wrench or shifter on the c-clamp 馃憤
    • Its sort of street but got used for circuit sprints on account of I never drive it on the road because I dont have the time to spare. So it usage was sits around for months at a time then gets driven either 50 or 250 kms to the track followed by 20 laps followed by 50 or 250kms home followed by stuck in the shed until next time. So yeah neither fish nor fowl. Just dont want to break it on the track as a preference. Hence the fairly short sensor/mod list. Probably more worried about it pinging itself to destruction more so than anything oil related.
    • My thing I'd be doing, is pulling it out, and just getting the tune cleaned up for now. Before that even happens, checking over everything, like vac hoses, fuel hoses, etc. No point dropping thousands on sensors if the moment you start it back up all the oil leaks out, or it has massive vacuum leaks etc.   But really, to know what to do, depends on what your use case is. Hard core track car? Throw most sensors available at it. Street car, I'd probably just run oil pressure, oil temps, water pressure, water temp, probably fuel pressure too. I don't know exactly what the Link can handle and do with those though. And if it's mainly just to cruise the streets, rather than mountain runs, you can probably skip most of the above if you've already got them in as gauges and warning lights.   PS, inb4 "sell it and buy a modern sportscar"
  • Create New...