new hood or original hood?

[Lennard]

Hi guys, I have a new amd hood and an original '69 hood that has no rust or dents... just four layers of paint. I had first bought the amd hood because the hood on my Charger had a big hole cut out for the tunnel ram, but then I found an original hood in great shape close to home.
Which one should I put on my Charger?
Your opinions are much appreciated.

[tan top]

I would use original panels  where possible  ,

although
the one with four layers of paint , have you  completely stripped it to bare metal ?  have you looked inside the frame , as best as you can ? for rust ?

[Lennard]

Yes, I checked every nook and cranny of it. It has spent it's whole life here in the Arizona dessert.

[tan top]

 sounds good  ,  I would  go  with the original  ,  but    before sending back or selling  or ... the AMD hood  , I would try the original on & adjust it up etc to the fenders . cowl etc  just to check ,

[Lennard]

I might be able to do that in a year or two since my car is almost less than a shell right now.

[tan top]

 D'oH  , did not realise , you was doing a complete rebuild ( or you said on here & ive forgot  ) had visions you was just swapping the hood 

[Lennard]

I wish...    Unfortunately I'm one of those amd poster kids.
I would post a pic of what it is now but I gave up trying a long time ago...

[Mopar Nut]

I would use the original '69 hood that you have now unless there's rust or it's beyond repair.

[Lennard]

It's in great shape other than that the frame came loose from the sheet metal.

[myk]

I wish...    Unfortunately I'm one of those amd poster kids.
I would post a pic of what it is now but I gave up trying a long time ago...

Photobucket.com to the rescue!

Just make a free account, upload your picture and then copy the IMG link, then paste that ino your post here!

[Lennard]

I just wasted 45 minutes trying to make that #!$@& to work, and I'm done. I uploaded a bunch of pics from my phone into photo bucket and now I can't even find them between all the commercials and pop ups.

[myk]

Strange.  Email the pictures to me at mykranili@aol.com and I'll post them for you...

[bill440rt]

There is NO NEED for a Photobucket account in order to post pics on here. You can post them directly from your computer or phone.
If you have a basic photo editing program it makes it easier.

The photo size just needs to be under 200kb, so any photo editing program should allow you to resize it. Other than that you may have to rename it if there is already a photo on here with the same name. Again, not hard to do.
Yes, it's that simple. 

[Lennard]

I've sent the pics to myk. How do I get a basic photo editing program on my phone and what is your opinion on my hood question, Bill?

[myk]

Mmmhmmmm!  That's a nice, clean chassis you've got there.  Almost as fine as Charlotte McKinney I gotta say...

[Lennard]

Thanks for posting the pics myk

[Lord Warlock]

You can send me the AMD hood. My original has dings and a dent I tried to repair but after paint it still showed, then the bolt plate where the spring mounts snapped off inside the hood again...after I had re-welded it once.  Can't pay you for the hood, but would accept it as charity and you an get a tax deduction for donating to cancer victims.  (good luck with that) I did have cancer though. 

Thought about replacing mine, but the original wasn't so bad I couldn't use it as is, figured if I was going to invest in new sheet metal would rather replace the passenger front fender which had been in a wreck at one time, but had been fixed.  Found out when stripped it to metal with rest of car.  Never did get the body work on that fender just right, looks great from 90 degree angle, but from a 45 degree angle there are minor waves, and there is no body line past the front edge of the wheel well.  Part of my pride with the car is how much of the body is all original sheet metal. 

[Cncguy]

If everything is AMD might as well use the AMD hood.

[bill440rt]

I've sent the pics to myk. How do I get a basic photo editing program on my phone and what is your opinion on my hood question, Bill?

Sorry, Lennard. Guess I was distracted from the main topic by the blond beauty. 

I'm all for using original sheetmetal vs repro, when it's possible. You said that the hood was in excellent condition? Sounds like just the inside bracing became separated from the outer skin where the seam sealer is, right?
If you can email me the pics of the hood, I can post them for you as well so others can see the hood. bill440 "AT" optonline.net
I would first completely strip the original hood of all those paint layers to really see what you have. If the skin is separated, don't blast it. Use chemical strippers and sand the rest off. Paint strip wheels underneath. Prime with a good epoxy primer. You could use either seam sealer or bonding adhesives to reattach the two skins. Seam sealer would probably be better since it remains more pliable.
Then, mock up the front sheetmetal using the original hood and the AMD hood. Compare which fits against the new fenders & cowl better.
Are there any obvious visual differences between the two hoods? 
Looks like you are doing a bang-up job on that shell!  Nice work!

Regarding the phone/photo issue, there should be a setting in the camera on your phone for photo sizing. Choose a small photo size setting, you might not have to resize them that way on your phone.
My cameras do not have a setting small enough, so I end up having to resize them. I simply open the photo on my computer, go to a Tools menu, and from there click on Adjust Size. I resize it, close it, then post it here. 

[Lennard]

Bill, I will take pics of the hood when I have it back from media blasting. I couldn't find any rust or dents but we'll see what it looks like when blasted and primered with PPG. The caulk between the frame and sheet metal is loose in some places, but that's an easy fix.
The hoods look identical but I was wondering if there was any difference in overall and steel quality.

About the pictures shrinking...when I send a pic through email, my phone gives me four different sizes I can choose from.
When I want to post it on this website, I don't have that option...so the pic is to big to post.

Cncguy, thanks for your opinion 

[bill440rt]

OK, cool.
Although AMD is known for their superior repro sheetmetal parts, I would think the overall quality of the metal is better on the original part. 

Touching back to the photo size, I would check the SETTINGS on your phone's camera. There should be an adjustment in the settings to set the size of the picture you are taking. Try choosing the smallest size, then take a photo, then try to post. 

[Lennard]

Okay, if the original hood still looks as good after blasting as it did before I will use it.

About the phone camera setting...I'm going to see if I can make that happen.

Thank you for your help!

[bill440rt]

You might want to make your final decision after trial fitting both of them. Who knows, maybe the AMD hood fits better with the AMD fenders! 

[Lennard]

Okay, that's what I'll do.
Btw, I have three picture size settings on my phone and even the smallest size is to big.  

[resq302]

I would use original panels  where possible  ,

although
the one with four layers of paint , have you  completely stripped it to bare metal ?  have you looked inside the frame , as best as you can ? for rust ?

I agree.  I've heard way too many repro panels that had to be reshaped.  Granted, I can not recall if it was Goodmark or AMD but the hood had to be rebent.  Seems kind of pointless to buy a new part only to massage it in to fitting.  If it were my car, I'd go with the original and get it either stripped or blasted.

[Lennard]

It's at the blaster right now.

[bill440rt]

For a hood with a floppy outer skin just wondering why you didn't opt for chemical stripping? 
Hope it doesn't come back warped...   

Keep us posted, Lennard! 

[Charger-Bodie]

The amd hoods are a decent part, but if your used one is nice it would be my first choice.

[Lennard]

For a hood with a floppy outer skin just wondering why you didn't opt for chemical stripping? 
Hope it doesn't come back warped...   

Keep us posted, Lennard! 

No chemical stripping because I don't like liquids on bare metal. Also, the guy doing the blasting is very experienced and garanteed me that I would get it back as straight as I gave it to him.

[resq302]

I could see chemical stripping for the top side of the hood  but the underside where there is gaps might be a problem with a chemical stripper.  I know I've missed some stripper down in the crevices after I've washed down the part only to have a reaction with the new paint / primer and have to strip it down again.

[Lennard]

I appreciate your input guys!

[myk]

Lennard's progress:

[Lennard]

Thanks for posting the pictures Myk!
So there is no rust any where on this 45 year old hood, just two small dents at the front edge and the inner frame is loose from the sheet metal. I guess test fitting will eventually determine if I use the AMD hood or this one.