Ok here it goes, a friend of mine on another forum owns a 86 IROC-Z and he can no longer stand the oem louver'ed hood. the car is about to go into the paint booth and he has found a hood he likes, but it's fiberglass and he is wondering weather to go with the fiberglass hood or find one he likes in steel??? Also what are the pro's and con's to both?? Thanks Guys!!

If he goes with the fiberglass, you MUST use hood pins. Do a search for fiberglass hoods and see the results. Most are 2 peices glued together and they do seperate easily.....

He could always buy the blisters for the 91-92 z cars just to get rid of the louvers. As for steel or fibergalss the pro to a glass hood of course is weight. The con to it the glass hood will vibrate rding down the road due to it beign lighter. Also they are weaker than steel hoods so extra care needs to be taken by not sitting on them and when shutting them. Plus there is some extra prep for painting when using a glass hood. Dont get me wrong I have a cowl hood on my car had it for ten years now, and I love my hood but I am very paranoid about other people trying to close or open it. Plus you need gas shocks that are worn out in order for it to hold a glass hood up without breaking. If he would rather have a steel hood and decides to ditch the oe hood there are companies that make steel cowls like goodmark. It is very similar to the glass cowl hoods but the height of the cowl may be different. Now if he is looking at getting a ss style hood those only come in fiberglass, and they do look great on our cars. In my personal opnion if it was my car and i was going to change the hood I would go with the 91-92 blisters, especially if he is going to keep the oe stripes and wheels. If I was going with the glass option it would definitly be the ss hood. Hope this helps you out.

Wrong on the must use hood pins. Many of the glass hoods come with the option of using the factory latches. If you get a lift off type then yes hood pins are required. My hood is a harwood and it DOES NOT have to have hood pins, as you can see. Also if you get a good quality glass hood you shouldnt have any issues of it seperating.

I am just offering an opinion here so that was my 2 cents.

check this out www.thirdgen.org/techboard/body/518035-fiberglass-hood-owners-step.html (fiberglass hood owners step inside!!!!!!!!!!!!)

or do a search for fiberglass hood seperation.

thanks guys it help

I have been at the track when "quality" fiberglass hoods seperated on 15sec cars. Its cheap insurance to have pins in addition to the factory latch.

i got a glass hood a few months ago and put the stock latch on and it looked good. Then while going to work it popped open and now I have a new hood in three pieces.

Fiberglass = Pins or you will kick yourself in the ***.

That sucks, I have a fiberglass hood with stock latch and do not plan to put pins on until I can have someone professionally install my custom pin setup I want.

What if I just cruise around town (no more than 50mph), would I still be in the lookout for my hood to pop off in pieces? Also my hood uses a steel skeleton on the latch, hinges and edges of the hood for strength, do these help or shall I still be looking into pins as soon as I start driving her?

this is a pic of my SS hood. Ive also seen a thread on someones hood that boubbled out from the center and ripped in half.

that sux man!!!! no one got hurt when it came off, right???

Na I was on an old country road. We had 50+ mph gusts of wind that day and I came out from a turn and the wind caught my hood just right

We have heard the pros and cons of the fiberglass hoods so let me talk about the pros and cons of a steel hood. My steel Goodmark hood weighs in at around 85lbs. Thats a con, But if you have a carb. or TBI, It has a cowl that really works. If set up properly. The other pro Is that you don't have to worry about flexing or cracking the hood or your brand new paint job. Heres a photo of what you get with a steel Goodmark hood. ( I payed $360.00 for mine.)

Alright guys, looks like it is coming down to me needing to have my hood pinned. I think I may drive it straight to a shop to have them installed, you guys are scaring me enough to not want to go without them. Thanks.

What would an estimate be on getting these installed ($100)? I couldn't see more than a straight 1 hour job?

i pinned my hood as soon as i got it. i have the ss hood and when i bought it from my friend it did have the latch on and i used it just for about 5 miles to get it home. but it wobbled so much i was like ok thats it. youve been luck i istalled mine are you still looking at those really nice ones or you going with the traditional ones. it is really easy to intall that kind. ive seen the ones you want i would get a pro to install those but they look really good i like my glass hood

The fancy set . I'm going to give my local shop a call, I'm sure they have installed these before. I'm almost done getting her ready for the road, after 2 1/2yrs of sitting.

Tried finding something like this for my 84 bird to no avail. If anyone knows of a company out there that does one (short of buying just the scoop), let me know.


lol Just noticed my post count. Apparently, long time lurker, first time poster.

i have a glass cowl hood and never put hood pins in and never had a problem. i dont see the need for hood pins, just my 2 cents

We got a used fiberglass hood for my wife's 90 Camaro, off a car with no pins. Never was a problem.

We did end up putting pins on, but ONLY because my wife wanted to. Not because we needed to.