Fiberglass experts! Hood doesn't fit right

[Andre.servin]

I built a fiberglass hood for my 70 Torino. First time doing a hood, I've done scoops and other parts but this was my first time actual doing a big piece like a hood. Luckily I found a video by powernationTV that walked my through the process.

I will say it fits pretty decent, there are a few trouble areas though. I'm not sure how to go about fixing them, which is why I need some input.


1) The hood sits too low beyond the fenders by about 1/4". Not the whole hood. It seems to be flush with the fender and then about midway it starts to drop down.

- I'm not 100% sure on how to fix this area. I was thinking I can use the evercoat kitty hair fiberglass filler. Make it flush to the fenders with the kitty hair and a slight top coat of filler. Not sure if that's gonna be too thick. I suppose another option would be to add more layers of fiberglass until it's close and then a light top coat of filler to make it look nice.

This brings up another issue. I bought dzus fasteners for the hood to hold it down. I got 3 going along the sides and then 2 regular hood pins up front. If I use the described method up top then it would be too thick for the dzus fasteners. But then again, the hood would be flush with the fender tops, which is important to me of course. I suppose if I went this route I would have to use a legitimate hood latch up front vs just using the hood pins, if I were to delete the dzus fasteners.

2) The front of the hood doesn't go down low enough, and its creating too big of a gap to the top of the grill.

One trick that I tried was, I clamped the front down with some C-clamps to my desired gap height. I then placed foam underneath the hood and glassed it in to help it retain that shape. Unfortunately it didn't really work. Helped but it's still an issue.

If I use a hood latch, of course I can use it to hold the front of the hood down, and I can adjust it to my desired grill to hood gap. I'm not sure how proper it would be though to use the hood latch to somewhat... Force the hood into place. Wouldn't take that much pressure really. I noticed the hood seems to have some slight "flex" in it. Nothing crazy.... it just needs to go down about 1/2", maybe a little less.

I would maybe prefer to use a more appropriate option for fixing this issue?

3) The rear of the hood on the passenger side sticks out about 1/4" then gets level again, then begins to do the 1/4" drop. Now, if I use the dzus fasteners, it nicely pushes the hood down in that corner and makes it flush with the fender.

Not exactly sure on how to fix this issue... On 1 hand, not sure how acceptable it is to use the dzus fasteners to hold down the hood like that. Then on the other hand, if I use my idea on leveling out the hood, that would require me to ditch the dzus fastners, so no fastener in that corner to hold it down.

Well... this is the issue with my hood. I've read up on fiberglass and it seems fiberglass hoods never really fit right. Some worse then others. If anyone has any input on fixing these issue, that would be greatly appreciated!! I am just stuck and frustrated with the issue...

Thanks!!

[Centerforce]

It is true that fiberglass hoods usually dont fit like an OE one, but that doesnt mean they cant with a little work! It seems like most of the issues here can be solved with a little re-glassing and sanding. Now we arent by any means body experts, but heres a few ideas we had:

1) 1/4 is much too big of a difference to use filler. Wed recommend adding more layers of fiberglass weave, sanding even, then using a very light coat of filler to finish it.

2) Dzus fasteners are great, but may be a hassle to release 6 of those, 2-4 hood pins and the normal latch every time you want to open the hood. Have you explored latch options like aerocatch? They dont quite have the oldschool look to them, but you can easily adjust the level of the hood, and would possibly solve the grill issue. Also fiberglass does have a bit of a 'memory' if you will. Clamping it down as you described, heating it with a heat gun, and letting it sit for a few days with the clamps may get it to stay.

3) You can use the dzuz, but most likely it will pop back out every time theyre released.
This one sounds like another call for additional fiberglass layers and sanding. Again, it doesnt have to be completely straight, you can perfect it with a little filler, but you do want to avoid 1/4" gobs of it.

Overall the hood doesnt look bad, and can be pretty darn close to 10/10 with a couple more hours of work!

[Andre.servin]

It is true that fiberglass hoods usually dont fit like an OE one, but that doesnt mean they cant with a little work! It seems like most of the issues here can be solved with a little re-glassing and sanding. Now we arent by any means body experts, but heres a few ideas we had:

1) 1/4 is much too big of a difference to use filler. Wed recommend adding more layers of fiberglass weave, sanding even, then using a very light coat of filler to finish it.

2) Dzus fasteners are great, but may be a hassle to release 6 of those, 2-4 hood pins and the normal latch every time you want to open the hood. Have you explored latch options like aerocatch? They dont quite have the oldschool look to them, but you can easily adjust the level of the hood, and would possibly solve the grill issue. Also fiberglass does have a bit of a 'memory' if you will. Clamping it down as you described, heating it with a heat gun, and letting it sit for a few days with the clamps may get it to stay.

3) You can use the dzuz, but most likely it will pop back out every time theyre released.
This one sounds like another call for additional fiberglass layers and sanding. Again, it doesnt have to be completely straight, you can perfect it with a little filler, but you do want to avoid 1/4" gobs of it.

Overall the hood doesnt look bad, and can be pretty darn close to 10/10 with a couple more hours of work!





Thanks for The response!

Well I went ahead and got started on it. I believe I will add, and grind down on the opposite side. So I went out and bought some 2oz mat to maybe add a few layers of, before some light filler action. And for the center of the hood where the gap is... I did what I didn't want to do but I felt had to be done. I cut a slice into it to create a bend in the hood without tension. Then I grinded down the side I bent down until it was flush with the other side. Now I'm just going to glass over the gap on both sides, smooth it out, finish it.


I will be removing the dzus fasteners and just use the 2 hood pins up front.

[jlcustomz]

I agree with centerforces' comments, in fact from what I see, the Dzus fastners may have contributed to the center portion of the hood sitting lower than the fender while the front & rear are close in height. There are no bumpstops in most hood center areas & the fastners may have warped it down.
Fiberglass cures with heat & time & is not the most stable when new. You may be able to heat the sides of the hood up & get it to move with proper manipulation techniques, such as shimming under the low sides of the hood to hold it up a little extra, latching the front, & carefully heating the sides with a heat gun & let cool.
May need to reinforce the underside bracing.
Once things are close from heat manipulation & fiberglass mat/ resin & or fiberglass fillers, a common practice is to skim & blocksand the hood & fender at the same time.

[Centerforce]

Sounds like a good plan of attack. We're interested to see how it comes out!

[krom]

Have you tried just raising up the "socket" for the dzus clip

[minendrews68]

I agree, use layers to build up the low places, then when very close fill what's left. If you can build the hood I've confidence you can fix this.

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

The good thing about fiberglass is being able to layer it, and grind it down. On my Mustang build, the hood had the reverse problem... at the center, if I laid a paint stick flat on the fender, I could slide it underneath the hood. I had to add about 1/2" of fiberglass underneath for structure, then grind the top down flat, and block is down straight with some 80 grit on a 12" board.

[Andre.servin]

Thanks for all the replies! I went ahead and got started on the hood. A lot of real messy work but it's starting to come together much better now! If I'm lucky I will be done sometime early next week.

I decided to layer it up, then grind down the opposite side and then a skin coat of filler.

For the gap what I did was slice into the hood at the center. Use c clamps to achieve my desired gap and then glassed over it.

I will say this... Haha I'm maybe never gonna make a fiberglass hood again! Part of me wishes I would have kept the steal hood...

Powernation made it look so easy in there 2 minute tech haha

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

I will say this... Haha I'm maybe never gonna make a fiberglass hood again! Part of me wishes I would have kept the steal hood...

Powernation made it look so easy in there 2 minute tech haha

I saw this segment and was curious. Good to know it's at least doable, as I want to do this for my gasser 58 Edsel project. As you may imagine, they don't make any fiberglass parts for a 58 Edsel, haha.