I know I'm beating a dead horse........

Rougestang

Rougestang

Member
Jun 12, 2007
59
0
6
florida
#1
I need to get a new hood. I don't have alot of money to throw around, and I've been looking at Champion Fiberglass as a possible company to buy from. I sent an email to them today seeing if they had a 3-5" cowl hood for the 99-04 mustangs. Whithin about a 1/2 hour I got a responce back saying that they did make a 4" for my car. Perfect for me, and I wanted a lift off version which has to be paid for before they make it. But I live in FL, and they will be down here at the Orlando Dragway march 1st and 2nd. They said if I pay for it and they make it they can bring it down then and save me the shipping. So I've giving it some serouse thought, and I probably will go this route in the end. I've heard from just a few people who have bought thier product and are generally pleased. Obviously for 170.00 you can't expect it to do back flips (unless you don't use hood pins, then it will) and I will take the time to make it fit and look right. I'm not a body guy by trade, but theres not alot I can't do besides rebuilding a transmission, and understanding women. I just wanted to know your guys feedback, I really think they make a pretty good product. They even sent me two pictures of the hood they made for somebody else, and it really looks good! I'm looking forward to getting it.:nice:
 

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#5
well, the original hood on my mustang has been through alot. It came unlatched one day while my dad was barrowing it and had to replace the brackets, I put hood pins on it since the latch that came on the car is FUBAR'ed too, and the paint is in poor quality since a friend of mine wrote crap on it last summer trying to be funny. So, since the new hood is only like 170 bucks, and I really like the looks of a 3"-5" cowl hood on the 99-04 mustangs, why not? I might as ell get a new one.

and If all goes well, I'll let everyone know how it went.....I hate it when you look and look for stuff to answer your question, and even though you find something similar, it usually is never cut and dry.
 
#6
Well I'll tell you this for $170 your gonna get crap. I spent $480 + shipping on a 95 Style Cobra R Hood and it was OK. They use cheap fiberglass and the molds weren't even or something because I have slight dip on the edge of my hood. Now is this something you would notice if I didn't point it out? No, but the fact is I know its there and it bugs me. The fiberglass has also shrunk since then and the paint has orange peeled do to this so it needs to be buffed again. This happens when you use cheap glass. We even let it sit out in the sun for a week too before we preped it for paint.

I really dont see why you want such a big hood though and especially a lift off. Mine is supposed to be 3.5 but I measures it and it was around 3". I have sat in few cars with 4"-5" Cowl Hoods and I think they are too big. PLus I always say you need to have the performance to back up the looks.
 
#7
Call one of the better hood companies and come on down to NMRA's at Bradenton as the local car club and myself will be hosting and helping out on race day. It is on March 8th and more than likely you will find some other killer deals on Mustang parts for sure.
 
#8
[size=+1]
NO to CHAMPION FIBERGLASS.!!!!!!!!
NO to Cincinnati Composites !!
NO to LIBERTY MUSTANG SUPPLY!!........all the same scam of a company.
[/size]


Avoid at all costs. do some google searches and you will understand why i am saying this. You'll find more complaints about them than any other hood manufacturer online.

If i'm not mistaken, they are the place that charges really cheap for their hoods and has them all over ebay???

---They cuss out customers, they lie, cheat, STEAL, ignore customers requests, hang up on you, they will REFUSE TO REFUND YOUR MONEY after you've already gotten the hood and realized its a complete POS. They have had to fire (or move to the back of the store) their main customer service lady because she was cussing out too many customers who called to complain.

They have even sent people into forums that create multiple random usernames to spead their name and argue in support of the company when there gets to be too many negative words going around...

..and to top it off, i've read that soom of their hoods have actually folded in half on themselves while on the highway (along with flipping up into the windshield) their hoods are so cheaply made, that bracket/plate for the hoodlatch usually separates from the fiberglass, so you MUST use hoodpins, if you find shop that will even touch it (most body shops will just say that the hood is so crappy that they recommend buying another)


I MADE THE MISTAKE OF BUYING FROM THEM a few months ago. The hood arrived with a complete square foot section broken off the front corner. Didnt even matter though because the fiberglass finish was so incredibly bad that it looked like a todler had painted a peice of plywood white. I refused to accept it, so it got sent all they way back cross country only to find that the shipping company needed to collect payment for their shipping, and Champion REFUSED TO PAY, telling the shippers that it was the customers responsibility. MY HOOD had a chunk broken out of it the size of a basketball, and they have sent me 5 bills for $147 to pay for shipping on a product that was destroyed.... ABSOLUTELY horrendous experience...... trust me on this one.


I did a lot of research on the company through other forums, and i only saw a select few that received decent looking hoods, the rest 95% will say the same thing im saying.
feel free to ask me to clarify any of my statements...im just trying to stop my ranting at this point. lol
 
#13
Damn......well then. I like the looks of the tall cowl hood IMAO, and I still want one, but maybe I will wait a bit, and head down to Bradenton speedway. Joshjwc9, thanks for the heads up, and thank you TrueBlue03 for making it so "cut and dry". I did check around at a few places, the corral for one, has a stickey about it, I read the whole thing, but it seemed to me that Champion was different from the others. Plus when I emailed them I asked if they had any affiliation and the person who responed said they weren't, and one of the owner used to work for them. This is why I said I was beating a dead horse, lol. Thanks for the info, thats what makes us Stangers a great community!:flag: :SNSign:
 
#14
no problem. just tryin to save you a headache bro!

if any of you are wondering, i do not like to call people out and ignorantly state that they steal, BUT the reson why i mentioned stealing is that there are rumors going around that somewhere down the road this company """purchased""" old, used and beaten fiberglass molds from Cervinis that they no longer wanted.

If you take a look at Champion's hoods, pay attention to how many of their hoods follow the EXACT same lines and shapes as Cervinis and ABC exclusives designs...hmmm :scratch:

I would recommend either Cervinis or ABC exclusive for hoods. It's always a hit or miss though when it comes to body peices, no matter what brand though. I bought an ABC fiberglass cowl hood for my GT, and was surprised to find that it was pretty well made and fairly easy to work with at the body shop... especially at the lower price that ABC charges in comparison to Cervinis. Best of luck, i hope you find what you're lookin for!
 
#15
Update: I found a guy local who has a 6" keanen hood for sale for 300.00. I added up the cost it would be for me to drive to Sarasota (where the meet is at) the cost to get in, the cost for the swap meet, and the hood itself. For the money I'm going to go with the 6"hood that the local guy has. Plus I've heard nothing but good things about Keanen. I'm waiting for him to call me later tonight so I can come by and get it. It was alittle more than I can spend right now, but It's worth it since I had a problem with water again (see post in 4.6 tech). I think it'll look crazy good!!!! (pics will follow)
 
#16
Rougestang said:
Update: I found a guy local who has a 6" keanen hood for sale for 300.00. I added up the cost it would be for me to drive to Sarasota (where the meet is at) the cost to get in, the cost for the swap meet, and the hood itself. For the money I'm going to go with the 6"hood that the local guy has. Plus I've heard nothing but good things about Keanen. I'm waiting for him to call me later tonight so I can come by and get it. It was alittle more than I can spend right now, but It's worth it since I had a problem with water again (see post in 4.6 tech). I think it'll look crazy good!!!! (pics will follow)
Click to expand...

geezus 6" is HUGE
 
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