Seibon carbon fiber hatch worth it?

[E_Money]

Okay so my original trunk hatch lid is filled with rivet holes from the previous owner who put whale tail. I removed the whale tail because I wasn't feeling it.

Do you think I should go and spend money to get an autobody shop to reweld new pieces of sheet metal to fill the holes and fix the hatch a little bit?

Or

Buy a seibon cf hatch lid.
My question is:
-is it hard to install the lock mechanism and windshield wiper?
-is it worth the $$$
-does anyone have this on their vehicle and if so can kindly post pics.

Also i looked into bondo but unsure if i really want to do that. I'd rather go for metal for durability and quality.

[Zenki85]

It is worth it since i loss of weight. But i recommend getting suspension, manual rack etc. then moving on taking off weight so you will truly apperciate the carbon fiber. You dont want to get a great part and nit notice the difference. But thats my 2cents. Iwould love to put carbon trunk and hood but i picked up manual and new megan coils around. Its your car tho a carbon is worth i think and it looks so cool!

[E_Money]

It is worth it since i loss of weight. But i recommend getting suspension, manual rack etc. then moving on taking off weight so you will truly apperciate the carbon fiber. You dont want to get a great part and nit notice the difference. But thats my 2cents. Iwould love to put carbon trunk and hood but i picked up manual and new megan coils around. Its your car tho a carbon is worth i think and it looks so cool!

thanks zenki. A black hatch Corolla with cf hood and cf hatch lid. Just trying to imagine what i'd look like.

[Zenki85]

It looks treacly clean my brothers track car is black with carbon hatch and hood.

But then again a old nasty paint missing a couple pieces from bumper sideways corolla looks better anyway lol

[E_Money]

It looks treacly clean my brothers track car is black with carbon hatch and hood.

But then again a old nasty paint missing a couple pieces from bumper sideways corolla looks better anyway lol

im not sure about racing it. I'm leaning more of a weekend driver / show case car

[Illegal_Garage]

Get the CF one is what I would do

Max

[E_Money]

Get the CF one is what I would do

Max

Im leaning towards it but its not going to be anymtime soon since imgot a list of stuff to do

[Zach90Turbo]

Welding up rivet holes is not a difficult process for anybody with a MIG welder and a die grinder. It will certainly be more affordable than a carbon fiber hatch in the meantime.

[E_Money]

Welding up rivet holes is not a difficult process for anybody with a MIG welder and a die grinder. It will certainly be more affordable than a carbon fiber hatch in the meantime.

yeah definitly. but my hatch has a bunch of dents and fixes that I know it will cost a lot if I took it to an autobody.

[Red]

You're talking about money.

OK, so what is the cf hatch going to cost? Plus adding glass, plus painting, plus anything else, plus installing the latch & wiper. Does the maker say they've provided fittings for that, or have they omitted them since a track car wouldn't need them & the hatch would be lighter without them?

Now what have you gotten for an estimate to have the holes welded up and your own hatch repainted?

And if your car is for street use not track, the fast answer is that the weight savings doesn't matter, just fix your hatch.

[E_Money]

You're talking about money.

OK, so what is the cf hatch going to cost? Plus adding glass, plus painting, plus anything else, plus installing the latch & wiper. Does the maker say they've provided fittings for that, or have they omitted them since a track car wouldn't need them & the hatch would be lighter without them?

Now what have you gotten for an estimate to have the holes welded up and your own hatch repainted?

And if your car is for street use not track, the fast answer is that the weight savings doesn't matter, just fix your hatch.

all in all to fix the dents, rivet holes, and rust, and paint it's going to be anywhere from 400-600. Depends on what else they fix.

[Red]

How much is wrong with your hatch besides rivet holes, dents, and repaint?? Sounds like someone really trashed the car.

And you forgot to mention, how much for all the work on the cf hatch?

[E_Money]

How much is wrong with your hatch besides rivet holes, dents, and repaint?? Sounds like someone really trashed the car.

And you forgot to mention, how much for all the work on the cf hatch?

car isnt trashed its just need tlc. Its old. it has some dings and rust on it. nothing unusual that you see in a 27 year old car.

[ronny]

why would you want a heavy carbon fiber hatch?

if you want light weight, go buy the cusco hatch for less $$ - it'll actually fit.

the stock hatch helps reinforce your chassis.. if you have no intention of bracing your car, or using it for motorsport uses.. keep the OEM hatch or find another clean OEM hatch to replace yours with.

[E_Money]

the stock hatch helps reinforce your chassis.. if you have no intention of bracing your car, or using it for motorsport uses.. keep the OEM hatch or find another clean OEM hatch to replace yours with.

how does the oem hatch help reinforce the chasis?

[Illegal_Garage]

to get a hatch door painted that is in mint condition is about $300
and in rust, dents, etc. $$$ ?

you going to have to remove and re-install the glass to paint it anyways

with the CF hatch call a glass guy probably 60 bucks to do that

and almost ANYONE can install a hatch door.
It's not very hard to do.

get a CF hatch and just hang on to the stock one in case you ever wanna go back

Max

[E_Money]

can't you reinforce the chassis by getting a chassis brace, anti sway bars, roll cage, pillar bars, front and rear strut bars, under carriage braces

[Red]

"can't you reinforce the chassis by"
What chassis?
The car is a flimsy unibody (with apologies to Fisher Body) with a subframe. And if you put in all that stuff, you're building a track car, you can't use it on the street since you'll also need to wear a helmet with the roll bars. Well, you can use it on the street, you'll just need to pass out a lot of donuts while explaining your hat.

[86boy]

"can't you reinforce the chassis by"
What chassis?
The car is a flimsy unibody (with apologies to Fisher Body) with a subframe. And if you put in all that stuff, you're building a track car, you can't use it on the street since you'll also need to wear a helmet with the roll bars. Well, you can use it on the street, you'll just need to pass out a lot of donuts while explaining your hat.

Just put a sticker on the helmet that says that!

"Like My Hat?" haha

anyways you can get a hatch bar that will strengthen up the large flimsy opening of the hatch. Also you CAN strengthen it up quite a bit, but like it was already stated you'd pretty much be building a track car. If you have the money, and you are just going to cruise it around why not? It's your car, and your money I vote do what you want to it!

[E_Money]

track car or cruiser. reinforcing it would be ideal. If it goes on track then its good to go and if its on the streets then hell its a corolla on the outside but a tank in the inside.

[Jeonsah]

Ronny said that a oem hatch will reinforce the car better. He hasnt said much but I am assuming since the stock hatch mouts to the car in 3 places (2 at the roof, 1 at the tail light panel). This would provide the car with a little bit of support from the horizontal direction (from rear quarter window to rear quarter window). Then I dont know if this is true but I could see it providing more support in the vertical direction (from the roof to the tail light panel). Atleast this is how I see this in my mind.

[Red]

Anything that runs laterally across the car might stiffen it slightly, but the hatch is only "fixed" by the latch and unless that is really snug, the hatch is still going to move a little on the rubber gasket and rubber bumpers, it isn't the same as a solid metal brace. Whether a cf hatch would be stiffer than a metal hatch, would depend on the construction details. CF can be very stiff, if laid up the right way. If it was just designed to be LIGHT and close off the hole...flexi flexi.

But oign back to the original question "Worth it?" maybe I missed it but I don't think we've seen any mention of what the cf hatch costs yet. Without that, no one can answer "worth it".

[E_Money]

Anything that runs laterally across the car might stiffen it slightly, but the hatch is only "fixed" by the latch and unless that is really snug, the hatch is still going to move a little on the rubber gasket and rubber bumpers, it isn't the same as a solid metal brace. Whether a cf hatch would be stiffer than a metal hatch, would depend on the construction details. CF can be very stiff, if laid up the right way. If it was just designed to be LIGHT and close off the hole...flexi flexi.

But oign back to the original question "Worth it?" maybe I missed it but I don't think we've seen any mention of what the cf hatch costs yet. Without that, no one can answer "worth it".

A seibon cf ranges from 700-800 new just depends where you find it.

[E_Money]

Ronny said that a oem hatch will reinforce the car better. He hasnt said much but I am assuming since the stock hatch mouts to the car in 3 places (2 at the roof, 1 at the tail light panel). This would provide the car with a little bit of support from the horizontal direction (from rear quarter window to rear quarter window). Then I dont know if this is true but I could see it providing more support in the vertical direction (from the roof to the tail light panel). Atleast this is how I see this in my mind.

isnt the cf hatch lid the same as a oem?

[Jeonsah]

Yeah a carbon hatch is the same. CF is pretty strong so I dont know if it'd make a difference except for the fact you save weight and you can run a different glass to also save weight.

[Red]

So 750$ for cf, plus you have to transfer in the latch and cylinder and glass. And a clean junkyard hatch would cost what? (And might not even need paint.)

I'm guessing, not worth it unless you are building a track car and also planning to save weight by putting in a Lexan windshield, which is also illegal for street use. Of course a track car won't need the rear wiper and that saves more time and money and weight.

Track car? Worth it.

[E_Money]

So 750$ for cf, plus you have to transfer in the latch and cylinder and glass. And a clean junkyard hatch would cost what? (And might not even need paint.)

I'm guessing, not worth it unless you are building a track car and also planning to save weight by putting in a Lexan windshield, which is also illegal for street use. Of course a track car won't need the rear wiper and that saves more time and money and weight.

Track car? Worth it.

I can transfer the latch and cylinder myself not a problem.

I'm sure that a hatch sitting in a junkyard might need a lot of work too and if *lucky* you could get a nice one.

Junkyard? I'm located in Idaho -_- honestly do you think youd find a hatch corolla around here? I barely see 240s and civics lol.

For street use, yeah you might not need it but why not get the additional weight loss and stunning looks.

How many people do you see or know that buy something for their car that they use for everyday driving on the street that track cars usually have? (i.e. hatch hoods, roll bars, etc.) I'm just trying to prove a point that many people buy things that most track cars would need but have it on their daily drivers or cars. A cf hatch lid can be one of them.

How many corollas do you see with the cf hatch lid?

[Red]

Considering I've seen maybe one GTS per year since I bought mine, I'd have no way to tell if one of them had a fc hatch. You say you are trying to prove a point. Prove a point? What point? That anyone with money can spend it as they please? I don't see any point being proved.

And yes, hatch in a junkyard. I don't care where you are, you are BLESSED by the existance of the internet and the fact that junkyards are on it now. Before there was a public web and web commerce, finding parts for these cars was a real bitch. Now? Damned easy compared to what it was. Condition of a hatch? Well, let's see. They shouldn't have any rust, because they're way above the road rash and salt. They shouldn't have any dents, because not a lot of stuff falls out of the sky. My hatch is about the only piece of my car that has never taken any damage over the years.

So no, I don't see any problem getting a clean one from a yard. Junkyards ship hoods, trunks, hatch lids all over the country by motor freight. Figure $150-250 for the hatch and that much again for shipping, more if it has to go cross-country. But that's a complete hatch, and considering how few colors they were made in, it just might be a bolt-on easy job.

$800 for a plastic hatch? Sure, it might be cheaper if you had to have one shipped two or three thousand miles. Idaho? You'd be surprised, I've had parts shipped from Idaho to NY. GT-Ses made it to Idaho and some of the died there.

One minute on the web, I found 8 hatches from "call" to $275, most asking $200, one in Ohio is probably closest to you. And that's from just using one web site and one minute of time.

[Jeonsah]

I think it really depends on the condition of the car, the owner's wallet, and expectation of the car. If your wanting to save weight, a cf hatch is a good idea. If your trying to restore a car, both a cf and a oem metal hatch are good. Hatches are very hard to find without any rust.... atleast here in Colorado. I have found that 95% of hatches here have a bad seal around the glass. This causes the hatch to rust out pretty bad. As far as reinforcing the car, i think either one is the same. It depends on whats near you at the time and what your car's goals are I guess.

[E_Money]

Considering I've seen maybe one GTS per year since I bought mine, I'd have no way to tell if one of them had a fc hatch. You say you are trying to prove a point. Prove a point? What point? That anyone with money can spend it as they please? I don't see any point being proved.

And yes, hatch in a junkyard. I don't care where you are, you are BLESSED by the existance of the internet and the fact that junkyards are on it now. Before there was a public web and web commerce, finding parts for these cars was a real bitch. Now? Damned easy compared to what it was. Condition of a hatch? Well, let's see. They shouldn't have any rust, because they're way above the road rash and salt. They shouldn't have any dents, because not a lot of stuff falls out of the sky. My hatch is about the only piece of my car that has never taken any damage over the years.

So no, I don't see any problem getting a clean one from a yard. Junkyards ship hoods, trunks, hatch lids all over the country by motor freight. Figure $150-250 for the hatch and that much again for shipping, more if it has to go cross-country. But that's a complete hatch, and considering how few colors they were made in, it just might be a bolt-on easy job.

$800 for a plastic hatch? Sure, it might be cheaper if you had to have one shipped two or three thousand miles. Idaho? You'd be surprised, I've had parts shipped from Idaho to NY. GT-Ses made it to Idaho and some of the died there.

One minute on the web, I found 8 hatches from "call" to $275, most asking $200, one in Ohio is probably closest to you. And that's from just using one web site and one minute of time.

link me to junkyard websites or at least the hatch. My point is anyone can buy parts for cars whether its a track car or street purpose vehicle. Buying a Cf hatch lid isnt just for track use only. Like someone had said yeah its more useful if the vehicle was a track car, but honestly track car or no track car, it has the same uses, trying to make your car as light as possible on the street or on the track.