Domo

iTrader: (3)

So my girl recently got into an accident. She needs to replace her hood and front bumper. Since she is gonna get everything fixed by insurance, I figured why not get a Kaminari hood. I talked to the shop to see if they could just charge us for an OEM hood and we will pay the difference between cost, they said fine. Long story short, we ordered a fiber glass Kaminari hood on the 11th.

We live in zone 2 according to Kaminari, so the hood should arrive in 4-5 days. It has been 9 almost 10 days and I have not received the hood. Called Kaminari yesterday since they rarely reply to emails. Guy name Alex picked up the phone, informed me that the hood was still being made and I should call back tomorrow (today) for updates. Also he told me that the hood shall be done today. I call and what do I know, the hood is not done. He puts me on hold and then informs me that the hood will be hopefully done Thursday. I asked why and he told me because Carbon fiber hoods take on average 15 days to make. I told him, I did not order Carbon fiber. And this is where things start to get funny...his response, "oh yes.....you did order the fiber glass......my b......well im sorry but we are really busy and short on staff." I said fine, just tell me when the hood will be done and ready to be shipped. He tells me, it will hopefully be shipped on Friday.

And thats the update for now (1/19/10)

Im not trying to be picky but companies like Kaminari should have these hoods stocked. Any who, I dont blame Alex, its not his fault.

I will have before and after pictures posted soon.
Repairs are being done by Tony's Auto Collision.

UPDATE: (1/21/10) Spoke with Kaminari today and they said the hood is to be shipped out on Monday.......this is lame.

UPDATE: (2/2/10) Alignment sucks and hinge is too short.

UPDATE: HAHA just had my first experience with keyless entry and remote. I was driving the rental car (nissan altima) and when I got dropped off, I notice I still had the key in my pocket...basically my girl drove off with no key. So I lol'd and gave her a call to come pick it up. Luckily she wasn't too far.

UPDATE: (2/17/10) These are the before and after pictures.
UPDATE: (2/18/10) Ptuning contacted me and told me that they accidentally sent me the xB2 screws and nuts. Good service on there part. They explained they would send me the right batch.












Ptuning License Plate Bracket Problem

The M6 button head Cap Screw seems to be ok but the lock nut is the problem. It does not fully go down so when I do connect the lock nut to the plate, there is a good amount of play or looseness. I don't know the solution to this, maybe Ptuning gave me the wrong pieces.

Also the button head cap screw does not screw in all the way. Very frustrating....I had problems with Kaminari fitment and now I have problems with Ptunings bracket. As you can see in the picture, there is a bit of room between the lock nut and the plate. I can actually spin the plate like a helicopter.....thats how much room is left. To temporarily fix the problem, I went to get two extra washers. Mind you this is temporarily and not very stable.


I had to flip the bracket around to temporarily allow the plate to be settled with minimum play. Sad...Ptuning hopefully with solve this. I am blippin ____ed.

sw09

lip with the front bumper? or just leaving it at the stock bumper.

Domo

iTrader: (3)

Stock bumper for now

Hix

took 4 months to get my cf pillars from retrospec... They really pulled a todd with saying it's done it's in the mail... I half expected it to be at the coaters.

not sure if they are hurting or whatnot but the no response and lie lie lie attitude of these companies lately is really annoying.

CSOCSO

iTrader: (1)

in for pic and fitment

Domo

iTrader: (3)

what fitment? you have this hood csocso lulz

CSOCSO

iTrader: (1)

i have the carbon fiber one... i wonder if the fiberglass is gonna be the same quality

Domo

iTrader: (3)

I had the exact same question as you did. I asked Kaminari and they said same fitment, so we will see.

Domo

iTrader: (3)

Update...well I received the hood a couple of days ago and it look good. However when I brought it too the shop to get it installed along with fixing her front, the body shop told me that the striker on the hood was too short . Also there was lots of scratches and blemishes on the hood. Besides the besides the blemishes, the hood does not align evenly with the fenders. I called Alex up at Kaminari and told them my issue and even allow them to explain any solutions to the mechanic or worker. Alex told the guy to place washers on the hinge. The worker told me that the bolts are not long enough, so if he placed washers, the washers may not be sufficient. I told him to get extended bolts and he said he will see what he can do....aside from that, the worker told me that the washer will cause the hood to sink and the bumper to look petruded from the hood. Eh...he also told me that they can do there best to see if they can align it anymore but since the hood is fiberglass, they are afraid the hood might crack if too much pressure is placed.

Anyone else have this issue? So sad...Kaminari is pretty much a bust in my book.

TheQuietThings

ahhhh i remember my CF hood from Kaminari. The latch was also too short, and i had to place washers between the latch and hood so the latch sank far enough. Also, where the hood meets the fenders... there is slightly more gap than with OEM. I really was not all that happy after spending 880 dollars on a hood, getting the run around from show stoppers because the shipping company LOST the first one, waited about 6 weeks, and then to not have it fit perfectly... i was not happy. I dont think ill be buying another hood from Kaminari.

JROK_TC

pfft . money back guarantee ?

TheQuietThings

i paid with american express, so when they lost the first hood, i said OK im gonna call AMEX right now and cancel the order. They were like no no no no no nono its ok we will make a new one and ship it out right away. Unfortunetely, Kami makes you inspect the product as it shows up, and if there is anything wrong with it, thats your chance to either accept it how it is, or decline and send it back. But how the hell are you supposed to know if there is something wrong with it without it being mounted on the car? its a tough situation.

DJ08tC

it is a tough situation that is why i have never gotten a CF or fiberglass hood because it will never fit the same way as OEM. Pretty much ever hood needs something done to it to make if fit, like different bolts washer, stuff like that. Plus most hoods that i have seen have always had a bigger gap than the OEM hood, i think they do that on purpose so they don't make it too big. Also sucks because it seems that one person will get one that will fit perfect but then another person will get one the isnt really good. I guess because of the molding process.

hope works out for you buddy.

Mcancell

I have a kaminari fiberglass hood and it fits good, a little snug, but she fits. When I ordered it they dropped it off and me and a friend of mine installed it. There was a lot of pressure on it so we asked if they could fix the hinge to make it fit better, they took it back re-measured it and everything, got it back within a week and it fit a lot better the only problem was it was a little snug, but overall I can live with that because I know it wont crack from the way it is situated right now. But yea, I def agree with you guys on Kaminari being a fail.

Domo

iTrader: (3)

I talked to Alex again and asked him if Kaminari was able to send a hinge or striker that was extended enough to reach the latch to me. He told me that Kaminari orders the striker from a side company. I pretty much already figured he was going to say that. With that being said, I told him that if they knew this was a reoccurring problem, you guys should have fixed it awhile ago. Alex told me that since they dont make the latch, there isn't much they can do about it but hopefully in the future, they might come out with extended bolts and washers. Sad...overall shipping took forever and fitment is crap. I dislike all the people who said Kaminari's fitment was near OEM. I really feel like slapping them. The striker is a problem for all the owners I have talked to that had this hood.

I will post pictures soon of the before and after repair. Probably next Friday, when the car is done.

CSOCSO

iTrader: (1)

i dont know what to say.... i have seen some cf hoods and out all of them my kami had the best fitment.... when i went to a shop and i showed the guy my engine bay and closed the kami hood he was totally amazed how nice and smooth my hood closed.

He said: not even the oem hoods closing that smooth and easy.

Domo

iTrader: (3)

Well Joyride, Quietman, and me have experienced the same issue.

Joyride

Yup I got mine running on washers. The fitment is perfect with them though.

Domo

iTrader: (3)

UPDATE and pictures will be added tonite!! The tC looks great. Not the best job from the shop but decent. The hood looks decent.

Domo

iTrader: (3)

Update about the license plate bracket.