steveusaf

On my second OER 2" cowl hood for my 82Z. First one delivered looked like it had been in a demolition derby. 4-5 dents all over the top side of hood. Box punctured and torn in multiple places. Refused shipment and figured I'd see what the second one looked like. Well, that one wasn't much better. Outside of box looked better but a couple of big dents on cowl once it was unboxed. One can probably be pushed out pretty easily by a body shop but the other one is going to take a little more (plus some filler, I'm sure).

Called JEGS beforehand and asked what my options were if this hood was also damaged. They said I could refuse shipment and they could send me another one or I could get all my money back. Or, I could accept it and send them pictures and they will give me a "discount" on the hood. I accepted the shipment and will be bringing it to a body shop to see how much it would cost to fix it. Will be sending JEGS pics and seeing what they offer me. I have a feeling the bodywork will be much more than the discount JEGS gives me.

I am in NH and these hoods are shipped directly from OER in California. These hoods have taken a cross country trip and probably been handled a lot on the journey. They are boxed up pretty poorly. The corners seem to be well protected but the whole top of the hood is unprotected and there's no bracing across the box at all - it's just cardboard.

Is this a futile effort? Shipper says damage is common on these hoods. Thinking if I get one that ships from east coast I might be better off. Is there a brand that boxes their hoods better? A certain shipper that does a better job? Do I just need to count on having to pay for some bodywork?

Reason for the cowl hood (besides looking bad ***) is a new 383 stroker with an Edelbrock Performer RPM manifold and new poly motor mounts that don't give me a lot of hood clearance. Had to use a 1.25" drop base air cleaner and 2" filter which isn't really flowing enough air plus my choke plate hits the air cleaner cover preventing it from fully opening. Thinking about keeping the stock steel hood and replacing the Performer RPM with a Performer EPS but that will only give me a half inch. Maybe that plus cutting out some of the underhood bracing? Anyone successfully done that? I really need to fit that 3 inch air cleaner under there.

Would love to hear from people who have had good experiences with getting a hood shipped them with minimal or no damage. Thanks

LAFireboyd

iTrader: (3)

*crickets*

But many years ago, I had a similar experience. Simple box, nothing special to protect the cowl. BIG money! Nobody would accept accountability or responsibility. Took about a year to clear it up. One of TGO's "favorite" vendors, too. Frustrating experience. Never doing that again.

Yes, a body shop could've repaired it, but I didn't pay for that, nor could I accept such a compromise. Heck, if I wanted a patchwork hood, I've got two in my garage from junkyards that only cost $40 each. A much better starting point than a brand new, very expensive hood.

From then on, any such purchase will be/has been Will-Call.

steveusaf

Update - took hood to body shop and they said don't bother - not worth fixing. So it went back yesterday. Getting full refund including shipping. I've got to say that the vendor has been great through the whole process.

Now I'm going to try a Goodmark hood. Price is about $150 more but they ship it upright on a wood pallet with straps and bracing so I'm feeling good about this one. Hopefully the forklift will only touch the pallet and not the box. It's also coming from Kansas City instead of California, so hopefully that will help too.

LAFireboyd, thanks for sharing your experience

steveusaf

Goodmark hood arrived today with 2 dents. Refused shipment. It was not shipped upright on a skid like it was supposed to be.

Instead it came like this

This is getting old. I'm going to give them one more shot before I drive to Kansas City and get one myself

steveusaf

Hood #4 (#2 for the Goodmark hood) coming next Wednesday. What's the odds that it will come undamaged?

KEVIN G.

I see your location, if you are using the Goodmark hood, I would get some kind of corrosion protection around the perimeter before you do any other prep work. I had a few of their hoods start rusting under the paint all around the outside edges over time. It actually started out as an orange stain around the perimeter of a light colored finish.

You could use an undercoating gun and spray some POR15 in all the corner crevices, or an actual epoxy primer such as DP 90 or similar from a paint company.

steveusaf

Thanks for the heads-up. At this point, it's hypothetical as I am not assuming I'm going to get an undamaged hood on Wednesday. If I ever do get a good hood, I will take a look. I do not plan on having this car on the road during the winter months or exposed to salt, though.

skinny z

I've had similar mangled hood experiences both as a purchaser and a seller. And when I packaged the hood, I went out of my way to protect it. If memory serves I went so far as to use a few old blankets to swaddle it. When the guy picked it up at the shippers, he said the box had looked like they rolled it down a flight of stairs! I think the couriers get a kick out of it.
I was fortunate in that on one of my trips to the states (from Canada) I was within a few miles of GlassTek near Chicago. I picked up two hoods and stashed them safely in my van for a damage free 1000 mile trip home.
Good luck with yours.

KEVIN G.

That will help, but really won't matter much when moisture will get in the seams, simply from washing or rain.

I'm not sure that GoodMark is actually using electrostatic coatings, or a dipped product. Either way the moisture was trapped between the outer skin folded over and the inner structure, thus the best answer is to use a wand and protect the sandwiched metal prior to doing anything...
I don't know if it was a batch issue, or if they have since changed their manufacturing process. This was in the early/mid-2000's. I don't even know if they stood behind the hoods, but our Jobber did. We saved them and he warrantied for our customers while he went to GoodMark for his reimbursement. (which included labor and materials to replace and refinish).

Good luck. Hope they get you a clean hood. They are definitely a better made product.

RedAlertRS

I, too, had this problem four months ago with Jegs and AMD. First cowl hood looked like it had been dropped off a high rise, refused shipment, called Jegs and they sent a second one. Second hood was less damaged, but still wasn't going to pay to fix something that should be new, refused shipment. I called AMD directly after that and spoke with Cory, told him what was going on. Asked for pictures of the hood before packaging, pictures of it inside the first box, then pictures of it on the pallet. I was shocked when I received the pictures, the hood was packaged so well, that it could have survived a mortar blast. Got a call from the body shop a week later, they told me that it was the best pack job they have ever seen and that the hood was in perfect condition. If you have problems with the fourth hood, give the guys at AMD a shot and ask for pictures, like I did. You won't be disappointed.

steveusaf

Well, hood #4 arrived today and it was in perfect condition. No damage to the box and it was shipped upright on a pallet with banding and bracing to hold it down. I think what happened to the first Goodmark hood (hood #3 overall) is that the carrier removed the pallet to save room or destroyed it. That's why there was only 3 little pieces of wood plastic wrapped to the box. I finally have a good hood, although I'm sure it might take a little work to fit it nicely to my 40 year old Z28.

KEVIN G.

Looks GREAT!!! Congrats!