I spoke to both Harwood and Glasstech and they both don't offer a functional cowl induction hood. Their hoods do not have a separated air box which the air cleaner can mate with. I was wondering how hard it would be to make a floor for the cowl. I am concerned about distorting the hood if I lay a floor on the underside of the hood. Also, what kind of reenforcement would the floor need along the cowl, where the hood meets the seal? Would a .250" fiberglass floor be enough or would I have to biuld the glass up in this area and/or use steel/aluminum within the glass? I am entertaining this idea because I need a new hood and would like to save some weight over a functional steel cowl induction hood.

Joseph

Joseph,
If you go to this site you will find a cowl induction hood with the air box installed in it p/n CA-141, or just the air box under p/n CA-142. I know that this is Unlimited Products but sometimes they are the only ones that make what you are looking for. I have used their products and they will work for you, sometimes you have to do alittle smoothing or trimming.

Give them a look
http://www.up22.com/

idoxlr8,

Thanks for the link. I've been to Unlimited's site but did not notice they make a cowl floor which "can be used on any fiberglass hood" as they claim. For $48 I think the floor is definetly worth it this way all I'll need to do is glass it into my Glasstech or Harwood hood, haven't decided which to go with yet. Anyone have "how to" comments or pit falls on glassing the floor to the hood?

Joseph

Joseph,

Grind the mating surfaces of the hood and the scoop floor with 80 grit. Make sure you get all the "shiny" resin surface off so that the bond will be secure. Trim and or modify the floor until it fits just right. Cut pieces of "fiberglass matting" that are about 3/4" wider than the bond area. Wet up the hood with mixed resin and lay down the strips of mat. A cheap, throw away paint brush works well for this job. Alternatively, you can soak the strips of mat in the mixing can of resin ( I like this better, but it is damned messy!!). Either way, make sure the glass mat is thoroughly soaked with resin. Drop on the floor, adding more resin as needed and then roll out any bubbles with a J-roller or fiberglass roller. When your done the repair is permanently bonded. Finish the area like any other body work. Acetone will clean the un-cured resin off of your tools. Wear gloves!! It's messy process!!

One question? Why would you want a fiberglass hood that you have to "make" when you can buy an NOS or excellent repro hood for less than $250??? It will be a bitch to get it to look as nice as the steel part, and the weight savings is only about 20 lbs.

As one with a great deal of experience with "glass nosed" Camaros, believe me, it's not worth it for a street car. The metal parts are the way to go.

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Mighty Mouse

Is the weight difference really only 20 lbs between a glass and steel hood?! If that is indeed the case then it would be silly for me to go with glass considering all the hassle I have been reading about here and over at Chevelle.net. My application, street car, would not even notice 20 lbs off the nose. Now, if I were racing I think I would want to shave weight where ever possible no matter how small.

Joseph

Yeah, I don't think the weight savings will be much more than that. Especially after you glass in the hood scoop base. You'll want to keep the hinges if your gonna drive on the street since finding a soft place to rest a pull-off hood gets of very fast!

I've run a few race cars with full glass "flip" or removable noses, and I don't think they save more than 50lbs over the stock metal. And, that's after removing the wheel cans etc...

Your right though, every lb matters on a race car! You know your gonna end up putting a lot of weight back in with roll bars and other safety items so it makes sense to pull the front end sheetmetal, bumpers, interior and glass if you can.

For the street, the steel parts are more durable and competitively priced.

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Mighty Mouse