Hey guys, nice to meet ya! I've had my 67 Camaro for 20 years now and am starting to the body work and paint for the third time now. I purchased a fiberglass cowl induction hood for my car and am not happy with the fit. It does not sit flat along the fenders like the factory hood. This one bows up (does not hang down), too much of a curve. I have an idea how to fix it but I am not sure if it is the best idea. Suggestions would be appreciated.

OR, should I purchase a new 4" fiberglass cowl hood from Harwood? Harwood did not make my current hood, they shall remain nameless at this time.

Thanks for the help! :cool:

[ 04-12-2003, 11:16 PM: Message edited by: rcflier55 ]

1. Welcome aboard.
2. Are you using the factory hood springs? Fiberglass may require less tension, if so.
3. I've never purchased from Harwood. The only piece of fiberglass I've ever ordered came from Unlimited. I must say, they put out a nice catalog. Can't say too much about the product, but the catalog was nice. :rolleyes:

I was talking to a guy at a show who had a Cuda AAR, which had a factory fiberglass hood. He referred to the AAR "bulge" and I asked him what he meant. He showed me the way the hood was higher than the fender in the middle.

I am using the low tension springs. The raised part of the arch is a full one inch higher than the fender.

And this height difference is right where the hood and fender gap is, not the middle of the hood as in where the carb sits. I just snapped a photo of the problem with my digital camera, I'll post it here if I can figure out how to do that.

How long have you had the hood. Even with the low tension springs, the fiberglass hood will tend to bow in the middle over time. I have a Harwood cowl hood on my 75. The hood is 5 years old and does not have the bow yet. It only comes out during dry and warm days. When it is inside, the hood stays unlatched to relieve any pressure that the springs would exert while the hood is latched. I had an Unlimited products hood prior to that and it only lasted about 4 years before the gel coat cracked real bad and would have been more expensive to repair then to replace the entire hood. I gave the old one to a circle track guy who used it for a couple of years before it bought the farm. If you are going to use a cowl hood, your first choice should be steel and if you want to save weight with fiberglass and still want a show quality look go with Harwood. Just my 2 pennies.

My experience with fiberglass hoods was a bad one (expensive!!) First one they sent wouldn't fit at all. I got the company to send another one but I had to pay shipping. It didn't fit all that well either but I was able to use it. One side fit very well while the other side was raised up. It turned out ok but it always kinda bugged me. Here is the car (if my link will work). The camaro I am doing now will have a steel hood!
http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c4/84corvette//z28.2.jpg

This hood was bowed right from the start but I did not know it right away. I had it inside with other body parts for about a year before I started to put the front end back together. That's when I noticed the problem. Obviously way too late to get an exchange.

I wanted fiberglass for the larger/taller cowl. This one is 3.5" tall compared to less than 2" for stock steel. Just looking for a slightly different look than stock without going overboard. I really love the more pronounced look but the fit is terrible.
:(

OK, I am trying to post a picture of this little problem. http://community.webshots.com/scripts/editPhotos.fcgi? Hope that worked.

Maybe just the link...
http://community.webshots.com/scripts/editPhotos.fcgi?

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My brother put a glass cowl hood on his 78Z. The body guy had to cut it 3 times to make it fit properly. But it looked great once the paint was applied. The thing fits perfectly, no bulging on either side. Check with a body guy that does glass work, he/she may be able to give you some advice to fix the hood up correctly.

I have a 69 coupe with a factory "flat" hood...
I replaced the hinges a few months back, now my hood sticks up ~1/2 inch on the cowl side. I have re-positioned the hinges/hood and just can't get it right. I took the hood off and laid my buddies cowl hood on there (steel), it fit like a glove. Now I'm gonna spend the dough to buy the new hood so that the mess fits together. I thought about f-glass, but decided that it sounded like a can of worms...I have read before on this site, that if you go to fiberglass, you should buy the type that has metal attachment plates for screwing in the hinge bolts. This makes sense to me.

Good luck-Dan

I just put an all steel Goodmark Cowl hood on my 73. It fit perfect right out of the box.
Mark (A.K.A. Z28 Mark)
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