Since summer started I've added a ram air 1 hood (from Deadtrend's car) and JUST got my 17" ZS's on last week. Figured I'd show the pics and ask for any tips with getting the hood to line up better on the passenger side. On that side the hood looks like it needs to come down 3/4"!

Here's the directory where the pics reside:
http://www.tcnj.edu/~esposit3/
Ok lemme know what you all think of the changes, I'm prepared for a few to say they prefer the RAII hood of course

PS-Special thanks to CrazyHawaiian and OKFoz and everyone who responded to my post concerning my rims before i ordered them

 

looks real good............rejected...heh what did u fail for?

 

Looks good, I like the ram air hood better than the 2.
As far as your hood, did you notice on the back par of the hood hinge fender area, there's a small bump stopper? If not, you can adjust that down, might pull the hood down a bit.

 

I like it Jim. Kinda glad most of my old stuff went to happy home.

He failed because the hood was too high in the cowl area!

 

Looks good.:hail: :hail: I think the RA1 hoods look much better on the 'Birds and T/A's.

 

Looks sweet!:hail:

I like the R1 hoods better than the R2's.

 

sweet! :hail:

after messing around with that hood on my car, all i have to say is no more fiberglass for me

oh yeah Jim 86 Bird are you using the hood spring? mine mounted on the wrong side.

 

Looks real nice keep it up!

 

Very nice, I love those rims

 

Lookin' good...nice and clean, not overdone.

If I was you, I would shave the handles and maybe lose the side moulding too. Just a thought

 

Bubba: Deadtrend is correct, they failed b/c they said the cowl is 5" above the start of the windshield, they only allow 2 or 3" or soemthing like that. I was quite surprised as I feel this hood's pretty mild as far as a cowl goes.

Mitch: yeah that stopper's all the way down unfortunately. Got into an accident a year and a 1/2 back and they replaced the fender. I believe I paid for an OEM one but who knows

Md: No, i have no hood spring and its annoying so far, but i'm gonna lookin to attaching a spring to it, think the fiberglass will hold up???

BlackWidow: That's what i like to go for, we'll see how long i can keep it up. Neither of your suggestions are outta the question, but they're pretty far off as it stands right now

Thanks to all for the opinions and compliments I didn't think that many liked the RA I hood compared to the II, glad to see I'm not alone

Followup question: ya think a 4th gen spoiler would be pushing the overdone barrier? I thought each appearance mod i planned could stand alone, but it turns out the hood didn't look exactly right until I had the rims on there (thanks to popapork and kzad for pointing that out). Following that same reasoning, wouldn't a 4th gen spoiler lend some balance to the rear of the car, seems like it could use something just a tad higher in the rear now, but i'm def not into the 'more' aftermarket wings at all, so 4th would fit the bill.

 

To get the hood to go down, loosen the two bolts on your hood latch and move it down. It worked for me on my S/E and Formula.

 

White looks soooo good on our cars!

 

All I can say is:hail: :hail: ! Looks VERY nice! How much those rims set ya back? Where'd ya get 'em at?

 

Looks very sharp!!!!!!!:hail:

 

Looks GREAT!! Good Job!!

 

83firebirdS/E: I'll try that, thanks I know it will take care of the gap I have between the nose and hood, but wasn't aware it will affect the fender-hood gap as much.

Freeze: Agreed!

tamatt27: thank you. The rims and rubber cost roughly $1300. Rims themselves were $847 if I remember correctly. I got them frfom JDWheels.com, Spoke with Kim for both my order and followup questions. Very helpful, although I didn't ask any hard questions either.

Thanks crazy & fast83

Anyone got an opinion on my spoiler question though

 

i wouldn't get the 4th gen spoiler.

 

I also prefer the RA1 hood over the 2

 

i like ur spoiler now

 

That looks really good, I like the hood, rims, spoiler... I like it all.

Though I don't think a 4th gen spoiler would look bad, but this one looks just fine. Nice work, keep it clean.

 

:hail: to hardtop firebirds....bah darn t tops

 

looks nice

 

One thing you have to check on the placement of these hoods is how it lines up to the headlights. If it's flush to the headlights but there is still a gap between the front of the hood and the nose of the car, then you shouldn't mess with the hood. What you would need to do is push up on the front bumper. I just put mine on last week and there was about a 1 and 1/2 inch gap between the hood and the bumper. My problem was because of an accident that pushed the front bumper down quite a bit. So, after a few hours of pushing up on the front bumper, it looks pretty good. Just make sure you don't pull the hood down too much so that it's lower than the headlights, that would look crappy.

 

Man that looks really good. The white on your car reminds me of untouched snow in the country side- thats how clean your car looks to me.

 

Nicely done. The ram air I hood looks good on firebird's. I think the R/A II is a little much in keeping with the flow of the lines. White is an excellent choice also. Nice car..........:hail:

 

Wow , your car is gorgeous . I would definately not do the 4th gen spoiler , everything flows so well on your car it would look waaay outa place . The 4th gen TA spoiler is sweet no doubt , but , no matter how many times I see it on a 3rd gen , it just doesnt look right ....jmo

 

I love the look you have. The ram air I hood is the best looking one in my opinion. I love the wheels you picked too. Great looking set. I wouldn't get the 4th gen spoiler. Looks to bulky.


Whats up with your old wheels? Any chance you could ship them to me?

 

that hood looks so sweet... i like that one so much more than the ra2 hood.. those rims are also really nice but i think i like the blk gtas better on your car... just my opinion tho..

 

Thanks all Pleasantly surprised that so many like the RA 1 instead of the 2. A mix of consesus and my own opinion tells me I should keep the spoiler, just get a fiberglass replacecment.

The plans for the old rims are to polish them IF i have the time (long shot) and use them from december to mid-march for winter driving. sorry bill

 

nikki's 92ta---- do u have any pics of your car? from your sig it looks really nice...

 

87PontiacBeast-----thanks yes i do have more pics of my car but i am having problems getting pics to post but i will have more up here for you in the next day or 2...hopefully i will get some up here later tonight..

nikki

 

sorry for being ignorant....but what do you mean, it "failed"?

Thanks....and man that is a fine looking TA. Keep up the good work. That hood is in the works for my GTA as well.

 

As in "my car failed inspection" 3.1EyeCandy? In NJ there are minimum requirements for drivin' a car on the road... Mine didn't meet 2: Had a cracked passenger side mirror and the hood obstructed forward view by 3" (PITA, the hood blocks as much viewable area as the headlights when they're up )

I finally passed Saturday morning, but I had to switch my hood temporarily with the white one from KZad's car (thanks bro!)

 

No problem!

However I forgot to mention the rental fee of $25 per day.

As for the picture ... It does not do Jim's car Justice. The car looks really sweet in person. I, however, am one who's all for the 4th gen spoiler. Perhaps it's Photoshop time.


KZad