CF bonnet damaged... Help

Rich · Post by **Rich** » Fri Dec 26, 2014 10:06 am

Hi everyone. Hope you all had a great Christmas!

I haven't posted here in a while, been busy with stuff like parental duties and house moves, but I've recently started toying with the lude again.

Anyway, I was really looking for some advice.

I've bought a CF bonnet from a guy on eBay, it arrived damaged and my wife signed for it (wish I'd been there as I would have rejected it but she didn't notice). Anyway, it arrived with the damage to the two pointy edges near where the hinges go, and one of them has snapped off completely.

I've raised a case with eBay, and the seller contacted me for photos etc as they were apparently claiming from parcel force. In my experience parcel force squirm out of paying up for car parts - especially if they've been inadequately packaged. Anyway, I contacted the seller last week and they said parcel force haven't been in touch yet.

Next thing, I get an email from eBay saying the seller has escalated the case stating I am happy the case has been resolved and that the case should be closed. I replied that I didn't want to close the case, and now they want me to send it back to the seller for a refund - but I have to cover the return costs. It's gonna cost me around £45-50 to send it back - which I'd rather not have to do and end up with nothing to show for it.

What should I do?

Can carbon fibre be repaired? If it can be repaired then perhaps I could contact the seller for a partial refund or something (I should be able to at least get something as no way did the postage cost the £80 I was charged).

Thanks in advance.

mercutio · Post by **mercutio** » Fri Dec 26, 2014 10:45 am

if the corner has snapped off buddy it can be repaired but it wont match the rest of the bonnet as the weave comes from the fabric.

If your going to paint it then it will not matter but if the weave is your thing then forget it.

mercutio · Post by **mercutio** » Fri Dec 26, 2014 10:47 am

you could always get it repaired and paint the bonnet partially maybe an inch or so of the bonnet closest the screen covering the repaired parts in body colour?

Rich · Post by **Rich** » Fri Dec 26, 2014 11:04 am

Cheers, not too fussed about the weave as I was considering painting it to match the rest of the car, just won't be doing that for quite a while.

How would I go about re-attaching the broken bit?

Cutz · Post by **Cutz** » Fri Dec 26, 2014 11:25 am

Rich wrote:Cheers, not too fussed about the weave as I was considering painting it to match the rest of the car, just won't be doing that for quite a while.

How would I go about re-attaching the broken bit?

i would suggest a small metal bracket on the underside, joining the bonnet to the broken bit, you can then embedd the bracket into the bonnet by fibreglassing over it.

on the visible side it will really be a bond & filler job to get it looking right, but as the guys say, it will need to be painted to hide the repair.

Rich · Post by **Rich** » Fri Dec 26, 2014 11:41 am

Thanks, sounds like I can make it work. Would rather do that than end up £50 down with nowt to show for it.

106pete · Post by **106pete** » Fri Dec 26, 2014 12:12 pm

Make sure it fits the car first. From the sounds of it a lot of cf bonnets bow badly and can't be reshaped. I wouldn't like to go through all the trouble of fixing it to find out its a crap fit anyway.

Post by **Pushki** » Fri Dec 26, 2014 12:17 pm

I would personally stick with the nice blue bonnet.

Rich · Post by **Rich** » Fri Dec 26, 2014 12:25 pm

106pete wrote:Make sure it fits the car first. From the sounds of it a lot of cf bonnets bow badly and can't be reshaped. I wouldn't like to go through all the trouble of fixing it to find out its a crap fit anyway.

Good point, never thought of that. I still haven't unpacked it as I was was waiting for parcelforce to collect it for inspection as part of the claim, but if the claim isn't going ahead then I may as well unpack it and try it out I suppose.

I'll take a load of pics anyway before I unpack it just in case the claim goes ahead.

Rich · Post by **Rich** » Fri Dec 26, 2014 12:26 pm

Pushki wrote:I would personally stick with the nice blue bonnet.

The nice blue bonnet is damaged unfortunately... in pretty much the same place this CF one is funnily enough. So if I repair this one and paint it blue (eventually) it will be better as it's several kg lighter than the original.