vwdave

I bought this hood back in march off of ebay. Their name is "Hoods4sale" on ebay. Now, I called the number listed on ebay and ordered a hood. Shipping was prompt and everything was good.....or so I thought. BTW, in quotes is their ebay ad description. Bold is the points of interest. I deleted the email for some sort of privacy. The number to their business is fair game.

When I recieved the hood, there was some nicks and such, but due to truck shipping, no big deal. The hood was sanded, then test fitted, thats when the problems started. Keep in mind that this car has never been in a front end collision. It was owned by my brother in law and my brother, so I know the total history.

I purchased OEM hood hinges from Ecklers Camaro. When the hood was installed, it hit the hinges and wouldnt lower into position correctly. The hood sat about 1" above the fender line near the hinges. So my bodyman modified the hood so it would sit lower on the hinges. Now it sits correctly. Oh wait.....

Now it hits the rain tray......removed the rain tray. Everythings good right? Nope.....

It hits the fenders in the back badly. The fenders and the hood both had to be modified to fit.

Now the hood works, all the lines are straight, time for paint. They prop the hood up slightly and support it, after they painted it, they tried to move it and the piece of crap nut plates ripped out of the hood. After looking at it, there was NO way it would have held. So he cut the bottom of the hood off and put large plates behind it to hold the hood better. He sets it on the car to let the paint cure in the sun. What the hell is that????

The paint bubbled off the hood!!!! Upon further investigation, the gelcoat is soft. There was air pockets and it popped the paint right off. Some of the holes are as deep as 3/16".

The car is not a heap and the body man knows what hes doing. The car was shot with all PPG products.

I called the company last friday only to be told to email the pictures to the owner and his email address is on the site. Only email address I find is to the sales department. So I email them the story and pictures asking it to be forwarded to the owner. I called yesterday morning and they answered....the owner isnt in, call back in 15 minutes. I call 30 minutes later, not there then. After that, they stopped taking my calls. I have called no less than 10 times in the last two days. Before, everytime I called they answered. Now theyre dodging me.

Car painted...(before bubbling started)


Closeup of hood to show the flake.


Paint popped off of hood.....


Cheesy nutplates


As a added bonus, I believe my wipers wont fit with this piece of crap hood.

Camarslow

That's some bs right there, when it comes to fiberglass you should always go with the top brands, there's just way too many stories on this site about poor fitting and crappy quality fiberglass parts out there.

vwdave

Yeah, another lesson I learned, dont buy things like this on your debit card. They only have 60 days to stop payment. Other cards like chase and whatnot have 1 year. :\

Harwood

Oi! Fiberglass is a tramp when not done correctly. Especially around the nutplates and any other mounting hardware. I feel for ya, VWDave.

KITT1983

iTrader: (3)

that sucks dude i hope things turn out for the better

articwhiteZ

iTrader: (56)

dont see there add up any more..Must have got a diff name

88camaroluvr

Liberty Fiberglass has a website. I just googled the name. Don't know if its the same company but keep after them.

EDIT: I found a company called "hood4sale" and they have the exact pictures that are on the Liberty Fiberglass website. I wonder if it's all just coincidence.

vwdave

Thats their ebay name.

87CIZ

iTrader: (8)

i think they are semi local. if it's who i think it is. they used to be called cincinnati composites or something like that. no one ever has any luck with them from what i've heard.

articwhiteZ

iTrader: (56)

always use your Debit as a Reg Visa card.. when they ask if it's a debit or credit you always say Credit.. you make your points (cash back) and your coverd.. it's the only way to shop.. been doing it that way for over 12 years now.. made back over $900 in cash. and $200 in gift cards.

97TAMP

That suks I guess I know what I'm in for now. My hood doesn't fit either. I bought it from Hood4sale also. I guess the name sums it up. Straight from the HOOD! These people were rude after they got my money. My card was billed as Liberty Fiberglass. They are pulling off a big scam. They just don't think anyone will stop them.

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

Bubbling paint is a problem with the painter not prepping correctly, not a hood manufacturer. Brand new hoods should not be painted right away. They should be given time to outgas after their production. The prepped properly & painted.

vwdave

In this situation, you are incorrect sir. Was not a painter issue.

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

I highly doubt that. Proper prep, can make most any surface ready for paint.

But pray tell....Why was it the hoods fault, not the painters?

articwhiteZ

iTrader: (56)

it sit for 6 months from the time He got it..if im reading his post right.

you can get back at them.. you have to play your cards right.. this is what you do... Remember it takes money to make money!

do you think they could get it right??? A 2ND TIME.. if so

THIS IS WHAT YOU CAN DO!! (to the guys who think not) it's been done over and over to places selling crappy parts.

call them up.. like you are just a new Guy.
see how they say there parts are.get them to tell you how they will stand up.to any probs.. order the New Hood with your
Card just like a Reg Visa card...

as soon as the NEW hood is in.. test fit it first..No sanding.. get all that stuff Done!!.. make sure it's right!!

NOW USE YOUR 1ST HOOD LIKE IT WAS THE 2ND HOOD. AND DO A CHARG BACK ON THE CARD AND TELL THEM YOU DONT WANT IT..IT'S CRAP!! YOU ARE COVERD!!100% BY Visa.. send the 1st hood back to them in the 2nd hoods box.. and your done...(they will have to send a pick up order for it)
tell Visa thats what you want them to do!!

Visa works for you...
it's the seller that has to make good!
you will eat 1 shipping charg (Maby) thats the 1st shipping to you..
dont worry about photos or anything..after all your going to get a 2nd hood painted and installed.from another place.Cuss your not buying there parts..
(YOUR COVERD)

thats all you have to do...keep all your shipping info for the 2nd hood. and your Coverd...you have them send a pick up for the hood your sending back you dont have to pay for it... make sure you stand up for your self! on that point!!

works every time.. I love US Bank.

AND WHEN YOU HAVE TIME
up your limit on your Debit card to $9000.
it comes in handy..

vangogh4560

i see the hood is a POS but the paint looks to be bad painting prep
fiberglass parts can have mold release wax on them so you need to scrub that part with ammonia and hot water till you are tired of scrubbing Then wipe it down with acetone to make sure all the wax is gone or it looks like oil that has seeped in to the fiberglass

vangogh4560

this is what you call CC fraud and can get you put in jail

articwhiteZ

iTrader: (56)

it's all in how you look at it..some say fraud..some say no to getting ripped off..with Junk Parts..

hows it fraud when all the parts are from the same place?
and money is spent all at the same place... think about it.

(you fined a $100 in a parking lot..I bet you would take it inside and tell them.. some body droped this.. and Turn it in..Right...)

or you could just lay down and take it in the @ss like a good boy

or one could make sure the parts fit right away..(with out falling apart)

the only place to Buy Crap parts is Off of Ebay!!

make sure you know how to make the banks WORK FOR YOU!!

vangogh4560

well someone with half a brain would know what you suggested is CC fraud.the hood was sanded and painted and modified before he ever call the company that made it to complain. why would they take back the hood after all that??? the min the hood did not fit right he should have been on the phone. i fell bad for the guy I'm sure the hood was not cheap

articwhiteZ

iTrader: (56)

then you dont have to ever worry about it..

deadbird

That right there would have been a good time for the 'bodyman' to say... 'this hood is s--t and I'm not about to do any more with it'

Would have been a good time to reject it due to flaws (scratches) then.

That would have gotten you a new hood and the carrier and supplier could have haggled out the damages.

You've waited to long to return a visually (scratched/damaged) bad product and your 'body man' doesn't know how to recognize a s--tty product and continues to do work on it and your car and somehow it's the manufacturers fault none of you stopped to say... 'hey.. this is crap' ?

While it sounds like you got a bad product, it sounds just as much like you're boo-hoo'ing that you screwed yourself (and your 'body man' screwed you) and want to pass it on to the manufacturer.

Live and learn, you get what you pay for.

Don't but a Ford Festiva and expect Porsche performance .

Jr. Mechanic

iTrader: (3)

If I'm reading it correctly, the gel coat bubbled off along with the paint.

vwdave

It took my bodyman a few weeks/months to get off his *** to do it. He also told me it was crap when we got it. But then again, most aftermarket items are. I just figured he was whining because he was doing the job for essentially free since I did some work for him.

We knew pretty much off the bat it was a piece of crap, he told me he could fix it (and he has and as of right now, no real issues after the original post.) But it took way too many hours to fix a piece of junk to get it to even be usable. He does overflow work for Cadillac. So, hes not just some idiot who works out of his backyard.

Yes, the gel coat popped off, not the paint. Its not a prep issue, believe me, I kinda have a clue whats going on.

As of now, it fits, looks alright, but if I would have had to pay for the labor to fix it, it would have cost a absolute ton.

If you dont believe me, dont like me, think I'm an idiot, please buy the hood and enjoy your many hours of work to get it to look like it was actually designed to be on the car somehow. Im not getting my money back, I want others to not have this happen to them. A scratch or small chip is not a bad hood. Thats called modern shipping companys. Im talking about horrible fit, horrible design, overall poor quality and how they wont even return a phone call after the sale. With your attitude deadbird, I sure wouldnt want to do business with you. You sound like the type of person that would pass off a bad product then blame the consumer.

As the poster above me mentioned, no matter how much you polish a turd, its still going to be brown and going to smell. Fortunately, mine doesnt smell too bad and its brown is kinda shiny.

deadbird

Again, I recognized the product as being bad.

Obviously not an idiot if he can do hack work and get paid well for it.


What you just reinstated is your 'body man' will make something work, too, with a knowingly bad product, regardless of time/cost to the consumer (had you been paying time/materials for the job).

Why would I waste my time on a knowingly bad product ?

My argument is towards your wasted time on a bad product which, your 'body man' convinced you he could make work.
It seems more like you need to make a post about him for wasting your time than anything.

vwdave

It works now. Just would have took way too much money if I had to pay for actual hours. I dont know if you actually read my post or skimmed.

I guess youre right though, its completely my fault. Im just butthurt that I knowingly bought a piece of junk and I deserve to lose my money and so does everyone else that ever deals with these people. We'll ignore the fact that someone else posted in this thread in regards that these people make a completely crap product.

You sir, are a joke.

deadbird

That is 'putting words in my mouth' so to speak.

I recognize the fact you fought an inferior product and personally, I relish none in that fact.

The facts are, you waited to long to return the product and you had a trusted person modify everything possible to make a knowingly bad product work.

You made the post about the hard labor to hide your problems with the product once you had no way out from it. Not the inferior product itself.

Again, I don't enjoy seeing any member screwed but, when you wait a half year to start complaining....
I also see nothing mentioned of a damaged good claim towards the freight company or a call to the supplier saying you received damaged goods.

If anything, it's a joke to complain when you took no initiative from the time you accepted the known damaged goods, to waiting half a year sitting on it, to allowing your 'body man' to modify/install something you/he 'knew was crap' from the start.

Don't be mad at me, be mad at yourself. I'm sorry for your loss.

vwdave

I called, after the second call asking to speak to the owner they wont even answer the phone. No way to return.

Why did I wait so long? It started off as I thought he was just whining because thats how he is. Hes been my neighbor at work for a few years so he kinda whines when I have him do things. At first we figured it was one problem and that would be it, then when we fixed that and moved on, another problem arose, and it kept going. Once again, I figured it was just aftermarket, they fit like crap anyways. Ive seen harwoods have poor fit, but nowhere near this bad. I could fabricate a hood from a piece of sheet metal and have it come out better than this.

Not to mention, I tried to let them make good on it, after calling for roughly 2 weeks, I finally decided to give up and post. Im not the type to bash a company or product without first giving them a chance to make good on it. They showed their true colors and wouldnt even answer the phone like the cowards and pieces of crap they truely are.

deadbird

That's what makes a bad vendor worth complaining about that has a bad product and poor customer service.

Again, I don't take any good feeling towards your misfortune but, had you started out with your story of trying to communicate with the supplier and ended up with the back story plus your fist post...

I wasn't trying to be an a-hole but, there was a lot of (back)story missing to define the supplier, alone, being a total... well.. it would just be censored.

I can understand being upset about getting a less than decent product, I've been there myself. It's important to include all the details, though, if you're going to 'call foul' towards someone.

There are always three sides to a story, your side, their side and, somewhere in between, is the truth.

I do apologize for coming off as rude to you though.

chevymec

iTrader: (5)

Humm, glad found this. I was gonna buy a hood from them.

The Project

iTrader: (6)

Looks like someone on the mustang forum has the same issues with his hood

http://allfordmustangs.com/forums/20...oods4sale.html

FIRST POST.....

I bought a hood from them 6 weeks ago. HOODS4SALE THAT IS ON EBAY!!. I finally got the bodyshop to work on it. It was the california dream ram air hood. Thew bodyshop said the hood is complete junk. They said they couldnt guarantee work. had horrible swirls in it. Way offf in alignment and lines. Sits up way too high too fix. This is a bodyshop that has been in business for years. With a great reputation in my town. Anyway I left them poor feedback as they deserved on ebay. They left me negative back which I expected. They lied though and said I never paid for hood but recieved and dont deel with me.. LOL they make all pay by C.O.D. My feedback was 100% 191 feedback. They are complete liars. Very poor business!! Hey guys I have proof that I paid!! Dont buy from them save your money!!!!

Post three and four had similiar issues................

Stephen

iTrader: (12)

Report that to eBay & you can get that Negative Feedback reversed, since it is an outright lie.

To save time, scan/take a good pic of the C.O.D. receipt showing it was paid for, show their eBay requiring C.O.D. payment & send that in with your request to have it removed.

The Project

iTrader: (6)

Stephen.....it's not my post. I just copied it along with the link from the Mustang forum...after a google search.

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

I have used liberty glass with sucess, i think they might be hit and miss, i bought a hood from the a couple years ago, 4 inch harwood knock off, did it have issues? yea, i got what i paid for, BUT:

My issues were that 1, the first hood i ordered was JACKED up by the shipping company, i called them, refused the delivery, sent it back and they sent me another hood, this one was not busted by shipping, the first looked like they kicked it down here.

2, yes, there were swirls in the gel coat, but you know what? I sand my hoods before i paint them, weather they have decent gel coat or not.

3, there were pits in the glass, several, about 8 or so, some were deep, but i picked them open as they were under the gel coat anyway, filled them in with glass, then sanded and did what i had to do.

I had no issues with alignment with the hinges as far as sitting too high, but i did have to slot them, no big deal, just another part of what i had to do to save a couple hundred bucks.

When i got it:






After i prepped and fitted:





Now, my car is not perfect and the gaps are not the best, i dont have a show car, my car is for dragging yuppies in their corvettes and all those who are looking down on the almighty third gen.


This hood, that was 275$ plush shipping, went on better than the 650$ shipped SS hood on my other 89, the SS hood from the better company had a better finish, better underside, the opening on the back side of the air inlet was poorly cut like someone didnt care, but i fixed it, but the back of the hood where the hinges are sit higher than the fenders, sucks.




My black car had a small fender bender so the nose does not line up perfect, but i have seen harwoods that didnt line up with the nose on other third gens that have never been wrecked.


I am in no way sticking up for Liberty Glass

Sorry some have bad luck, but if you care about your car and want it to look right the answer is always the same, DONT BUY CHEAP PARTS unless you want to have to do some work to get it right.

I have seen folks here complain about the hawks 5 inch spoiler, but every car is different.

vwdave

The way you got yours is about to be expected. What the rest of us seemed to get was WAAAAY below expectations.

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Yea, if mine was the way the OP posted.....uggg....

vangogh4560

what i did not get if you look at the ebay store
all of the postive feed back was on coins??? just seems odd

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Yea, they sell coins too, pretty funny.

dodgert70@wowwa

i bought a hood from liberty fiberglass in cinn oh, i went there to pick the hood up as i live in columbus ohio not that far and would save alot on having it shipped, when i got to there location i was scared, they work out of a old abandoned warehouse, there was water where the rood leaked all over the floor there were signs pointing to the front doors looked like someone used a spray can to make them, i was waiting to get jumped by freddie krugar, very erie place, si i was following the painted directions painted with again spray cans, i get up a narrow set of stairs very dark, i come to a room where they must put there screwed up hoods there must have been 200 hoods in molds some where the hoods just fell apart, anyone who has been there will tell you that i am not stretching the truth when you get there you have to turn by an old guard station with the glass all busted out of it, well anyway back to the story the guy who runs the company only has one employee that i saw, he is a young guy late 20's early 30's, there is a big room upstaires and there are tables filled with molds and hoods, i was talking to him about my hood, i ask if he took credit card he said his credit card machine was down and he would have to have cash, any way i had to leave and find somewhere to get cash that was another scary thought this place isn't in the nicest location to start with, anyway i got back there went in paid for the hood and off i went back toward home, i got the hood home got it on the car or thought i had it on the car, as you said there was problems right off the bat the nutcerts in the hood where only 10mm, not very strong for a hood attachment, i went to lowes and bought some grade 8 10mm bolts to replace the junk provided to bolt the hood on with, i got the hood on and guess what it would not sit flat on the car, it hit the fenders the center was 1 inch away from the nose and the corners where all the way butted up to it, by the way this hood is for a 88 monte carlo ss, this hood was going to be a project for sure, after hours of measuring the hood and sanding edges to get it to fit guess what the cheap nutcert in the hood stripped out, they just spin, now i have no way to get it off the car unless i grid the heads off the bolts or unbolt the hindged, liberty fiberglass is on ebay under hoods4sale, steer clear of these clowns, it says on liberty fiberglass web site been in bussiness for 30 plus years yeah right he would have been in diapers.that was my dealings with liberty fiberglass.

trbo355

I had the exact same luck with Liberty Fiberglass. I bought a 98 Camaro SS hood from HOOD4SALE on Ebay and got totally ripped off. Same problems as stated in this thread.
The gelcoat has air voids ALL over the hood, it's totally wavy, has shitty nutserts and doesnt have the right dimensions at all. Its a gigantic waste of fiberglass. Ebay deleted my negative feedback i left the guy and when he discovered what i wrote, called me and yelled "F**K OFF!" and hung up! Hows that for a professional businessman eh?
I have been in the Hot rod business for 20 years building cars, some of which have been sold at Barrett-Jackson in recent years and understand whats acceptable in aftermarket parts and whats just plain junk. Liberty Fiberglass is JUNK! This guy pissed me off so bad with his attitude and crappy products that im hitting up every car forum i can think of to spread the word.
So far its been a good idea because googling Liberty Fiberglass has brought up everything ive posted including this thread. And i e-mail the guy links to these threads everytime i do it. Just to **** him off. LOL

Curtisyz54

iTrader: (5)

Ohh Shoot. I wish I would of saw this earlier, My friend just bought a hood from them for his 85 iroc, and We test fitted it on the car, and it fit like ****! It hit the rain duct, and the gell coat was junk. and it was an 1inch higher where it goes on the hinges. It is just how the thread starter descibed it. I was going to buy one But I didnt have the money. Im glad I didnt. I Hope I dont have any problems with my Harwood 3in cowl.

trbo355

Well im glad you didnt buy one because at least your not getting screwed by this guy. Ive been hitting up a lot of forums trying to get as much bad press to pop up on google so people dont get scammed!

DAREDEVIL 1

trbo355

Thats true about mold release compounds and how to prep a hood. What happens if you prep the gelcoat, and the gelcoat pops off the hood? My hood had the same problems as the one shown in this thread. There are air pockets under the gelcoat that once it gets out in the sun, they blow up like a baloon under the paint surface till they pop.

DAREDEVIL 1

Thats what u call OSMOSE and is because the layers of fiberglass did not cure properly !!!!!
gas builds in between them and wants to get out ,but the gelcoat is sealing it in so the bubles are created !!!

That is poor glass work !!!!

harwood103

I have been a Harwood salesman for 3 years. I have been with the company for 15 years. I get asked all the time why our parts cost so much more than others do. What we charge over others is a drop in the bucket compaired to what the bodyshop will charge you to fix it. No company makes a perfect part everytime. It is also true that every car or truck that the parts are going on are not all perfect. I went to the Liberty fiberglass website to check them out since I had never heard of them. When you sell hoods at that price they are not in it to stand behind them or to replace them if something goes wrong. They know another fly will fall in the web because the price is too good to pass up. But, that being said you can't wait till you have sanded and modified the hood to call and complain. You should know what you have when you test fit the hood first. If it is not right then do not go any further till you have settled it with the manufacturer. If it is right, then don't paint it right away. Let it ride on the car for a week or so to make sure it is what you think it is. It also gives the fiberglass a chance to "post cure" with sun and engine heat. Using Harwood as an example, we base our reputation on quality. We give our customers 90 days to fit the hood to the vehicle. If it is not right we do everything in our power to make it right, because if you are considered a leader in any industry you will not stay there if you can't back it up. As for Liberty, they actually use a Harwood customer picture and a picture of our 93-97 Firebird hood on that car in their website. Very deceptive from the start. But, you can't hardly check out any fiberglass manufacturer that hasn't "knocked off" one of our designs. Oh well, that's how it goes. Hope this helps.

87WS6

iTrader: (1)

The only fiberglass hoods I have experience with are the Suncoast Creations Ram Air II, the Harwood 3" cowl hood for Firebirds/Trans Ams and one other hideous hood that came with my 85 T/A. The Ram Air II doesn't fit all that well in my experience. When I look at many pictures of other member's rides with them I can see fitment issues with them. Mainly at the front of the hood. Aside from being ugly, the Ram Air II hood doesn't seem to be the best quality. The Harwood cowl hoods seem to be excellent all around. Mine fits like it originally came with the car. Whatever that was that came with my 85 was actually OK as far as fit went but the finish wasn't that great. The underside didn't look nearly as good as my Harwood does. The Ram Air II I saw in person was on a friend's car. The rest of what I've seen is mostly in pictures.

I got my Harwood cowl hood with the car. It was just on there when I bought it. I have to say that the fit and finish, the quality of the hood is amazing. It is worlds ahead of other fiberglass hoods I've seen for these cars or any other cars. Few match it.

Since you guys make awesome hoods, you should start making fiberglass power bulge hoods. I would be among the first in line to buy one.

DAREDEVIL 1

100 % agree

the only thing,,i don't work for harwood..lol

slow305rs

iTrader: (1)

Hawks or Harwood.
Kinda the only real choices.

vwdave

Harwood was my first choice actually, what turned me away is when the salesman told me it would come in broken.

*Shrug* Going to get a used steel hood, paint it and be done with it.

87WS6

iTrader: (1)

That doesn't make any sense. Why would they say that?