Need your opinions on my hood

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

Well, I have a giant basketball sized hole in my hood (bigger actually) that Ford put there themselves, and I have an open scoop, and even though my car isn't a DD I've been caught in the rain several times and have yet to have issues with rain getting on my engine. There's a 1/4 inch lip that runs around the hole that seems to be enough to keep rain water out. There are plenty of tricks to prevent rain from getting in. My scoop is more functional as adding hood clearance than letting air in though (I believe this was Ford's intention all along).

 

[CarMichael Angelo]

I gotta take a better look at my new hood, and see what Ford did,..because that hood is functional, and they are in effect rain gutters.

Maybe you'd like me to take some pics?

 

[95BlueStallion]

I gotta take a better look at my new hood, and see what Ford did,..because that hood is functional, and they are in effect rain gutters.

Maybe you'd like me to take some pics?

Wouldnt hurt my feelings if you did take some pics. I know your actual vents are more horizontal than vertical though. The only reason I did away with copying that is because I didnt want too much mesh grill showing since I dont have nice fancy inserts.

 

[Husky44]

My vents on the 13 will capture plenty of water... no issues. And my 68 had the rain gutters you're emulating... no issues there either.

 

[95BlueStallion]

Yeah, the water would run over the serpentine belt at worst, so Im not too worried. At least it wont be collecting on top of the intake manifold. My friend was supposed to come over Sunday and get started on the welding, but he got volunteered by his wife to help her Dad around the farm. Damn women. If that metal wasnt so thin, I would be out there giving it a go as I cant wait to pull it out and drive it! The good news (the only time you will hear me say its good news) is that it is supposed to be in the 40's and raining all week all of sudden, after being 82 today... She would be parked in the garage even if the hood was done.

 

[95BlueStallion]

Slow progress being made, just havent had a lot of time out in the garage. All the metal work is done, got the low spots and small holes filled with fiberglass reinforced filler, and I am in the process of sanding that down to the right shapes in different places. Hopefully in the next week or so it will be ready for paint. Im not looking for perfection, but I want to get it to a point where it isnt an obvious home made job. I am proud to say that I did 90% of the welding, as my buddy didnt have any free time to come do it for me.

 

[88LX5.Oh]

Doing stuff yourself makes you respect and enjoy the car more. There's not a better feeling than when someone sees something cool on your car, they compliment it, and you say "I did that myself"

 

[Husky44]

Looking forward to seeing the finished product pics, but really hoping to see this in person some day. LOVE what you're doing.

 

[95BlueStallion]

Thanks guys. Husky, where are you moving to in the lower 48?

 

[95BlueStallion]

Well, I have decided I HATE body work. Props to a few peeps on here that I have watched do this and make it look easy. My hood is going to need so much more work that I decided to buy a Trufiber cowl hood to have painted to run for the summer. Then I can take my time getting my stock hood just the way I want it, and perhaps sell the cowl in the fall, as I plan to get this right and run my one of a kind hood. As you can see in the pic below, my inserts are no longer flat, and rather than throw down and bunch of filler and cross my fingers I plan to weld in new sheetmetal on the sloped areas. Then I can start the body filler over again, and continue what I need to do on the the edges to get them right. When I threw a coat of paint over it, I could really see all my flaws that are going to take some time. The good news of the day is that the hood still fits and shuts tight.

 

[Husky44]

Glad you're not giving up!

not sure yet on destination. In order of preference, the short list is FL, Houston, or MO.

in order of probability it looks like Houston and MO are tied, with FL in third. :S


should know more in a week or two.

 

[95BlueStallion]

Just went on vacation in Florida a month ago. If I could get some family to move down there too, I would go in a heartbeat. Grew up in Dallas, and never once visited Houston, so I cant say anything about it. If you end up in MO, I can guarantee that at some point we could meet up for an event. I love St Louis, Kansas City, and the Ozarks, and everything in between would be fine with me too see once.

 

[Husky44]

I grew up in MO, so know that option well. We've been to FL several times this year, and really like it. Houston is because that's where my company HQ is. Been there, have the sweat-soaked t shirt. Did a couple of years in Des Moines too.

I plan on a LOT of road tripping once we move, so meet ups are an option wherever we end up.

 

[95BlueStallion]

Sounds good, I'll be keeping up with you.

 

[95BlueStallion]

Well here is the new look for the summer. Its a Trufiber 3" cowl hood. My stock hood is leaned up in the corner of the garage for the time being. I loved the 2" raised Mach 1 hood on my very first '89 GT, which is what made me lean to this cowl hood rather than other styles. I will admit though, that the low roof and short windshield of this car does make your view out much smaller than that of a fox with a cowl hood. Dont mind my ghetto chopped basket ball hoop. I just cut the rusty old bastard down today and havent torn out the concrete yet.

 

[jsw81]

oh man that looks great

 

[95BlueStallion]

Thanks brother. Ive been on the fence of whether I will install my scoops over the rear quarter windows, or just tint the rear windows. It seems JUST right at the moment, but I have always loved the rear scoops on other cars, and bought a set of sleek low profile ones last winter. They are all sanded and ready for paint, but I am just sitting on them.

 

[Husky44]

Looks good, until you get the custom hood done!

Re: window scoops- have you seen the ones that actually replace the rear glass, and look a lot like the 65-66 Fastback vents? Super sharp, and not very common. I'd put them on mine, but then the top wouldn't fold right.

 

[95BlueStallion]

Yeah, those are the Silver Horse Racing ones, and I almost pulled the trigger on them a while back. I instead bought the 3D Carbon quarter scoops, cause I like how sleek they are versus many of the others and was leaning toward my own Eleanor style. I think I will have them painted and stick them on for a bit. Worse case, I can pull them off if they are too much since they only use double sided tape.

 

[jadigen]

just needs a nice SS badge to go with that cowl hood.