69 Mach 1 intro

[rtwind02]

The finish & quality of the hood has been good but really need to find a solution for the bowing.



I am going to try this option.

http://www.aerocatch.com/

What hood springs are you using?

[gsxrken]

Whoa, sorry about that hood bowing on you like that. Mine has not done that, maybe because I have no hood hinge springs at all? I took mine out and still haven't addressed the lack of a prop rod. A friend of mine has one for me but I just haven't hooked up with him yet to retrieve it and see if it will work. I still use a broom stick for when I need to check something on the engine, which isn't often.
I just poked my head down into the garage and took a cell phone shot; you can see my hood is still nice and flat. Also notice the original hood pins, but without the Mach 1 cables. I actually do own a set of the Aerocatch locks just like you posted, but haven't installed them yet. I have determined that the hole I would need to cut out for them would be large enough to encompass the hole from the original pin setup, but I would need to fab up a bracket on the radiator support for the Aerocatch's red post to mount to. It doesn't land on the top of the rad support like the original one did. Anyway, that was enough for me to bail on the install up to this point. They require a fairly large commitment and dremel work on an expensive hood!

On edit- you can also notice the missing top windshield molding in the pic. This is the second time one piece or another has flown off during a track day. I need to find a better solution.

[hotwheels]

I'm not sure why the hood would shrink after painting unless you only paited the top side and the paint, itself shrank, thus pulling the hood. I would think, however, that in that case it would warp the hood in the other direction. The hood on the Anvil hood still fits perfectly, but we don't have any springs on the hinges. I believe the most predominent cause of composite hood warpage is under hood heat, which is why you usually see hoods warp up in the middle. If heated siginificantly more on one side that the other, the resin in a composite hood can shrink once it cycles hot to cool over and over. Hood springs (whether coils or gas) that are exerting constant pressure on a hood when closed, can also lead to warpage (especially when combined with hood spring forces). In order to alleviate these issues, we are starting make a lot of our poplular parts using pre-preg cloth that is cured in the molds in an autoclave. This method is the best way to make composites. It's also the most expensive, but we are able to keep costs down with the parts that we make a lot of, so these parts won't cost as much as we had to charge for them before. As a matter of fact, our new pricing considers this process, so there won't be another price increase because of this. These pre-preg (or dry carbon) parts will hold up to outside forces like heat and hood springs much better.
You may be able to dewarp a hood by carefully and slowly heating it with a heat gun, while clamping the edge being heated with a long piece of wood, like a 2 X 2 with a clamp at both ends. You can set the wood and clamps, so it's putting some pressure on the hood to start, then apply some heat and tighten as you go. Using some small pieces of wood on the underside where the clamps make contact will protect the surface from being marred. You only want to heat the bottom, because heating the top side can make the weave texture come through the gel coat.

[69FB]

Thanks Matt for responding. I really love the hood and the only thing I was worried about was a CF/Fiberglass combo. I wish I could afford one of your full carbon hoods but it's not in the budget right now. I really love what you did to your 69 and what you have done for the aftermarket parts for all the cars you have worked with. Glad to know removing the springs will help decrease the chances of the bowing.

Again thanks for all the info.

[WILWAXU]

Great looking build!