I finally got the Ram Air II hood from usbody shipped to me. Out of the box, I noticed a small hairline crack. Most likely from the poor shipping. Going to cost me about $75 to repair. Now, if that wasn't enough, I noticed that the hood was warped, in a bunch of places. (Pics hopefully coming real soon). Now, I got an estimate on the cost to repair that, and I find out its about $200 worth. I haven't even put the hood on or aligned it yet, so I am unsure about any problems that may arise because of that.
Now, I know that not all fiberglass parts are perfect, and all need at least some attention before they are prepped and painted, but is this too much? Should I send the hood back, or request the company to pay for repair costs on the hood?

***Scauffiel***

If you read this post, reply with any problems you may have found with your hood. Also, was it easy to cut the holes out of the hood? Seeing as how its about 6" thick?

***Scauffiel***

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Houston f-body Member Page
Home Page (and pics of my car too!)
1989 305 tbi Camaro RS Red/Red
Flowmasters
K&N

 

Fiberglass is warped... no way around that. The crack just sucks, but all Fiberglass hoods are warped and will warp more as they get older.

 

So there is really no way around it? I might as well just pay to fix it then.

The crack isn't so bad, it just needs to be sanded down, then some more fiberglass to fill it, then put another gelcoat on it. It wasn't that expensive to have repaired, and the shipping company is going to pay for the damage.

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Houston f-body Member Page
Home Page (and pics of my car too!)
1989 305 tbi Camaro RS Red/Red
Flowmasters
K&N

 

Hey brother, if it's that bad send it back! I mean, damn, if I had to pay another $200 to have it fixed... As long as you haven't modified or cut it or anything they'll take it back. Cracks are no real biggie, but warpage aint gonna go away and may get worse. I didn't have any problems like that, a tiny bit of fitment problems but I think that's because my nose piece has dropped a little bit and now it doesn't fit entirely properly. It's almost like the hood hasn't got quite enough curve to it.
The hood is actually two pieces, a top and bottom. It's not six inches thick, there's just two pieces you have to cut through. You can see some of the pix of us cutting through the inside (bottom) piece on my web site. The only hassle is making sure that they both look even, but it is possible.

Steve

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Steve's Trans Am Temple

 

Yeah, sending it back will be tough though, seeing as how I have been waiting so long for the hood, and to repair my car. (The front end is damaged, and I was going to repair the front end along with the new hood at the same time. Looks like I may have to wait a little longer.

Did you have to put some kind of filler in the middle between the two pecies? So the air wouldn't get caught in the middle of the hood?

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Houston f-body Member Page
Home Page (and pics of my car too!)
1989 305 tbi Camaro RS Red/Red
Flowmasters
K&N

 

Yeah, I can definitely understand the whole deal about the wait - but I think you'd eventually regret rushing it, especially if it ended up looking like @ss. I know that I would, my motto is "Do it once, do it right." I try to stick to it, but sometimes I'm not all that successful.

As for the "between" space, I am concerned about that, it would really suck to have the air get in there at highway speeds and just rip the top off, wouldn't it? I have dealt with it for now by installing hood pins and I'm looking into making fiberglass "ducts" to go between the fore and aft sets of holes. I'm also looking at making it "cowl inducted" as well, that way it would be a straight shot through the hood - there wouldn't be any high speed air being trapped inside the hood begging to rip it off. Stay tuned...

Steve

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Steve's Trans Am Temple

 

Thats cool, I was thinking the same thing also. Unfourtunately, I am not a body guy, and I am paying some people to do it for me. I wish I could do it all myself, but I don't have either the time, or the knowleadge/equipment to do it.

I deffinitely do not want Hood pins, they just don't look right. I thought you were going for the "smooth" look

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Houston f-body Member Page
Home Page (and pics of my car too!)
1989 305 tbi Camaro RS Red/Red
Flowmasters
K&N

[This message has been edited by Sonar_un (edited December 04, 2000).]

 

Well, I am. I'm just not sure how smooth I'd look driving down the highway and having my hood tear clean off and fly over the top of my car. Not real smooth. Chicks definitely don't dig it.

S.

 

Haha, yeah, that won't be good.

So when are you getting your car painted?

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Houston f-body Member Page
Home Page (and pics of my car too!)
1989 305 tbi Camaro RS Red/Red
Flowmasters
K&N

 

Won't be getting done for a while now, like I said, "Do it once..." I want to get the car painted metallic pearl white with ghost flames... Gonna cost more coin than I thought it was going to...

Darth Steve

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Steve's Trans Am Temple

 

Hey Steve,
Are you still living in the VB area?
I'd like to check out your car sometime.
What's really funny is that your car is exactly how I want my car to look, 'cept for the wheels, I want the 5 star style that is on the 30th anniversary T/A, black with chrome rims instead of blue with chrome.

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Zepher
'86 Pontiac Trans Am WS6, 5 Speed:
Edelbrock 1406 Carb, Edelbrock Performer RPM 7101 Intake Manifold.
Edelbrock Open Element Air Cleaner: Flowmaster Exhaust, 160* Thermostat,
Grant GT Steering Wheel, MSD HEI Coil, Taylor 8mm Wires, Recaro Seats,
Alpine CD+Changer,Rockford & Soundstream Amps, Premier TS-1040C Subs, Polk Audio highs/mids.

WS6 Trans Am

 

Yeah, I am sure its going to cost alot, and I really don't like the color White, but hey, its your car

At least you are going for more of a subdued color, like Arrest me Red, or Chase me Yellow.

Zepher - Dang, I thought you were talking to me My name is Steve also.

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Houston f-body Member Page
Home Page (and pics of my car too!)
1989 305 tbi Camaro RS Red/Red
Flowmasters
K&N

[This message has been edited by Sonar_un (edited December 04, 2000).]

 

Yeah, I'm in the area for the next five/six days or so, then I'm on my way to Colorado. My car is stuck in the garage - it's down hard. I think/hope it's the ECM grounds causing my injectors not to fire, but I dunno... I kicked around the idea of having five-spoke stars, but when I noticed that mini-vans have five spoke stars I said, "Uh uh, no way."

I think the color Metallic Pearl White will be pretty smooth...

Steve


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Steve's Trans Am Temple