How to install/fit a fiberglass hood...

[Mefirst]

How to install / fit a fiberglass hood...

Many times, well at least the company that made my fiberglass hood, leaves an edge of fiberglass around the hood, this to protect the edges/gealcoat during shipping...

The best thing to use when cutting off the unnecessary material is a high rpm air powerd saw. With this kind of saw you wont end up chipping the gelcoat on the hood..



After cutting off the unnecessary material use a air powerd sander to smooth out the rouh edges, finnish off with by sandpapering by hand..



Now comes the part that will/can give you a headache.. Figuring out where to drill the hole for the aircleaner...
I started out by placing/centering the hood approximately where I wanted it. I used a small wooden block that I placed at the front end to keep it in place. Then marked a starting point hole according to where the aircleaner pin is.. You will need to make this hole larger, because of the tilt of the hood against the enginebay.. Here is a pic for refrense..



Next thing I did was to use an old aircleaner lid and then marked out where to cut the new aircleaner hole in the hood..





Again use the airpowered saw and then smooth out the rougher edges with a air powered sander, then finnish off sanding by hand.. You may need to make the hole larger so nothing hits the hood, like ex. fuel regulator, etc..



Ok.. Next is to make holes for the hood pins.. Again try to align/center the hood where you want it. I think its easiest to start with the pin holes closest to the back end of the hood.. This is the part that will give you a headache, but take your time and try to squees in a marker pen or something under the hood to mark approximately where the pin is against the hood. When you have made the mark, first use a small drill to make a small "peep" hole, place the hood back and check if the hole you drilled is even close to where it needs to be.. Do this for al the holes. If your lucky youll get the holes where you want them to.. But dont worry, if you mess it up, just use some fiberglass filler to plugg the hole and start over...






Ill continue this thread later on and write about/take pics on how to fiberglass a hood scoop on the hood...

Hope this helps...

/Tom

[WingCharger]

Nice write up dude!

[Hemidog]

Did someone in Sweden make that hood? hows the fitment?

[Mefirst]

Did someone in Sweden make that hood? hows the fitment?

The company is RP Glasfiber ( www.rpglasfiber.com ) The quality is excellent, but you have to align the hood yourself. The hood I bought is a race version, so its floppy (will be more stiff once the scoop is in place), if you plan on buying one you need to tell them what kind of hood you want..

/Tom

[Hemidog]

They wouldn't mold the scoop for you? what scoop are you going for?
Can the regular hood use hinges w/lightwheight springs opposed to that race hood?

I'm thinking about a hood with the t/a scoop, remember one guy on this board that has it, and it looks good!

[Mefirst]

They wouldn't mold the scoop for you? what scoop are you going for?
Can the regular hood use hinges w/lightwheight springs opposed to that race hood?

I'm thinking about a hood with the t/a scoop, remember one guy on this board that has it, and it looks good!

I asked the guy (owner) if they would attach the scoop for me, but he said they don't do that for custom hoods/scoops any more if they don't have the car at their shop. Reason for this he said, is that how good you try to measure the correct spot for the scoop, it will always end up in the wrong place and/or at the wrong height, so this is the reason they don't do this any more. Its just to much of guess work and hassle he said.

The hood I bought it a light race version, so its a lift on/off. You can how ever order a more rigid hood to witch you can attach light weight hood springs. Just tell them what you want and they will fix you up.

I don't remember if they make a T/A scoop, but according to the guy (owner) I spoke to, he said they try to get their hands on more and more hoods/scoops and al kinds of body panels, etc.. so they can make fiberglass copies of them..

I think the best part about this company is that the hoods/scoops are priced to sell, they are really fast and the product is really high quality. The fabrication only took about a week when I placed the order and the hood/scoop was sent over.

/Tom

[Belgium R/T -68]

They wouldn't mold the scoop for you? what scoop are you going for?
Can the regular hood use hinges w/lightwheight springs opposed to that race hood?

I'm thinking about a hood with the t/a scoop, remember one guy on this board that has it, and it looks good!

I will go for the T/A hood aswell. It's something else then the usual sixpack scoop.

Per