Not sure if I should post this here or in the Body section but I have a guy locally that does ALOT of carbon fiber/fiberglass stuff (got a hood for my Mustang a few years ago from him) and he has offered to make a Fiberglass version of the Power Bulge hood for us. I'm waiting on pricing but he is VERY reasonable and does good work. If your interested post here and let me know, I'll get pricing info ASAP for you all. Also, the hood he is going to use for a mold is missing the rear piece of the "bulge". I can source a replacement piece so the whole hood can be molded with the 1-pc bulge or if you would like to reuse your stock piece we can have it done without it.

interesting. I believe VFN makes the hood, not sure what they did with the rear scoop part

Has anyone ever bought one from them? I see it says Formula but are we sure it's a power bulge, they never sent me pics of it when I asked.

Well technically it's a Trans Am hood A fiberglass version would be killer as I ditched my 85-92 hood for a 82-84 which in my opinion is the best bird hood on these cars. Wonder what the weight difference would be from the factory aluminum ones on 82' Trans Ams vs the Fiberglass

Not sure, I would assume a little bit lighter, but easier to get than the aluminum one lol. I'm waiting to hear back on pricing and possible carbon fiber offering

idk, i asked them a while back and never got a responce

Ya, I'm wondering what they look like. Still waiting to hear back, it's the weekend so probably won't hear anything until tomorrow. I'm at the hosiptal right now but can still check my online stuff via phone

I can tell you that a aluminum hood weighs 21.5 lbs the stockers are closer to 60lbs if i remember right

I'm gonna way my stock 88' one tomorrow, it doesn't feel like 60lbs lol but we will see

He can do a fiberglass one for $350 or a Carbon Fiber one for $450. Anyone interested?

Yeh, that would be cool. How much would shipping to the Midwest be though? I have been looking for a replacement to my bent up 1984 turbo hood.

I'd be interested in a carbon fiber power bulge hood. I'd prefer to reuse the stock rear piece that goes with the originals as opposed to having it as one molded part. That is unless the stock line there could be kept and the same vent/plate could be used in the back of the scoop itself.

Id be interested after seeing how they come out

450$ for a carbon fiber version seems VERY low....I'd be real interested to see what this guys work looks like!

i know. The material cost more than that.

if he can do one, let see it already! For that price, if the quality is there, fit finish, durability ect, you should be able to sell a bunch

i agree, im up for a CF version. just gotta make the hedlight doors match for an even look.

I just stumbled upon this thread while doing a web search for this very thing! All I can say is, thank you, it's about time someone made this. Well, that's not all I have to say lol...

VFN, that's it... that's who I was searching for. I knew some company made one, but I couldn't remember the name. But I've never seen the product... has anyone? I don't think so. So I have no idea how well it's made or how good it looks.

That piece is as rare and impossible to find or replace as the entire hood is, so, personally, I think it should all be molded into a 1-piece hood(with the "joint-line" so it looks like the real thing), so we don't have to transfer the stock metal piece onto it. Besides, people who don't already have one of these hoods will want one. So what are they going to do if that section is left open? So it's important that it's molded-in. And anyway, that piece is fragile and dents easily, so molded, there would be nothing to get dented.

But the "bulge" shouldn't be just a solid mass; it needs to be raised on the underside, like the cowl hoods are. And it would be nice if the "bulge" was open at the rear, if that's possible. But the openings in all the other fiberglass hoods, Ram Air, for example, always have to be cut-out, don't they? So if they can't be molded "open," it's cool. But if they can be, then it's cooler.

There's one more small, but very important detail... it should have tabs to screw the stock metal grille into at the open bulge, regardless of whether the bulge is molded open or it has to be cut open.

Stock hinge- and latch-mountings would be nice too... but I don't want too much. lol

Seriously though, this has been a long-time-coming, so if someone is going to do this, I think they need to do it 100% right, completely accurate in shape and functionality, as this was the best Firebird hood of the generation--and ever, IMO, and they simply do not exist anymore. Finding one is a matter of pure luck... and there isn't that much luck left to go around.

So yeah, I'm interested. CF or fiberglass, whichever...

Edit: I just went through all of VFN's pictures, and their online parts catalog, and they have a picture of every car with a hood they make for it, BUT... there's not one picture of the "82-92 Formula Hood." They offer it "pin on" and "bolt on," and the price seems ok. However, I've read people on here say that the fit and finish of VFN's products leaves a lot to be desired... but everything looks good in their pictures. But without being able to see what they're offering...

for the record, i have a vfn cowl hood and the fit was perfect. The problem is people here have wrecked/repaired cars and then bitch up a storm when parts dont fit.

I know a handful of people with vfn stuff and have not run into any nightmare fitment issues, maybe a little trimming on the pin on stuff, but the rest of the hoods are pretty good.

As for VFN's powerbulge hood, i have never seen it, and when i talked to them earlier this year, they hadn't made one in a really long time

As I said before, I'm interested. The problem is that I won't buy any hoods without detailed, high resolution images of them on and off of a car. I'd also prefer to read posts from people who have purchased the product and can honestly and accurately comment on their experiences with that product. In lieu of that gladly be a guinea pig for the product, but I won't pay full price to do so.

x2 any schmuck can lay fiberglass, but getting the mounting points strong enough and in the proper position is important and well as proper fit and finish. Would really need to see a finished product before even considering spending money on a product, especially from a small time private party and not a large company/manufacturer with a reputation

Our cars are big enough money pits as it is. The newest ones are 18 years old so that goes with the territory. I don't want to spend more money on the car than I have to by taking chances on unknown products. Especially ones with a relatively high price tag like hoods.

Good to know... and yes, everything looked good in their pics on the website.

I emailed them this afternoon about the power bulge hood. They're the only company I've heard of that, at least, has it on the products list, even though they haven't been making any... that is, until now that RamAirZ's friend is working on it too. Hopefully I'll hear from them in the next day or two.

But since the GM hood has long-since been discontinued, stock is gone, and this hood isn't in reproduction, and probably won't be for a long time, if ever, then whoever makes this hood(in fiberglass or CF, either one) isn't just making a representation of the hood, they're making the ONLY alternative we have to being able to replace our hoods if something happens to them, other than hoping to find a decent one in a junkyard, which isn't easy. I've got two in storage for just such emergencies... but both need some work, so they're really only for extreme emergencies. But still, I'd rather buy a nice new hood, if I can, before using those.

Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack this thread in the direction of VFN. I'm glad RamAirZ is taking some initiative to get something going on this hood, and I appreciate his efforts. I've never been much of a CF guy, but it might be cool if it's done in CF... and it might look good on my black car if it's left unpainted lol. But regardless of what it's made of or who makes it, my point is that it's important that it's done right. Because it might end-up being the ONLY replacement hood available to us.

Hey Ram, I see your last post on this was in early January... yet here we're all posting 5 months later lol. So whatever happened with it?

Well, since there's been no status update in 5 months, I guess it's ok to post a link to VFN?

http://www.vfnfiberglass.com/site.htm Then click on "Fiberglass Parts Catalog" in the left margin; then scroll down to the "Pontiac" section and click on "82-92 Firebird & Trans Am," then scroll down about 1/3 of the way, and you'll find: "82-92 Formula Pin On Hood... $305," and "82-92 Formula Bolt On Hood... $400."

I emailed VFN about this... but they don't keep any in stock, so they don't have any pictures to show; they're made-to-order. And about their quality, they said they've been in business for 40 years, and "we do make our molds from the factory original pieces - so they do retain the same size, appearance, shape and dimensional size as the original." And they said the pin-on hood is about 10 pounds lighter than the bolt-on hood.

I replied for further clarification about the bulged-area on the underside of the hood, asking if it's usable space available for functionality, or if the entire underside is more like a flat slab, but I've yet to get a response about that.

Edit: I did get the response, and the underside of the bulged area IS raised, however, more for use as "clearance" space like in a cowl hood, but probably not enough to be fit with the functional parts. So I'd guess it could, at least, be opened-up for heat extraction like the stock hood.

The pictures of all their other products look good, as do all the cars in their photo gallery. And <86TA> said he has one of their other hoods, and it's nice, so the quality apparently won't be an issue.

They make all the other body panels in fiberglass for Firebirds and Camaros too, so if someone wanted to build a tubular frame, he could put an entire thirdgen fiberglass body on it.

And going a little further... I also emailed Classic Industries and asked them how we'd go about submitting this hood for official ("OER") reproduction. I don't really expect to get a response, but since they sell official OER parts, particularly body panels, they should, at least, know the companies that can do it, so maybe we can get-the-ball-rolling toward the eventual "official" reproduction of this hood... pointing-out that, afterall, thirdgens are "Classics" now, and this is the "definitive" Firebird hood for the generation, so it should "qualify" for reproduction... and its time is due. So we'll see...

Awesome work on this. I'm sure anyone who makes them will sell enough of them if they'd just hurry up and make one. I agree that this is really the definitive hood for our cars and one of the most popular. Harwood makes good fiberglass hoods so I may try and see if they'd be interested in doing one.

Aluminum ???

My '88 Formula had a standard flat hood 'cuz the previous owner had hit something, and couldn't get a proper replacement. So after a long hunt for an original bulge hood, I managed to snag a complete salvage '82 T/A as a parts car (hit hard in the back). It had the bulge hood with some light damage. Easily repairable. I also managed to find the insert, complete with plate, at another salvage. I mounted it without the plate, and fabricated a sheet underneath to fit to the top of my open air cleaner. Full-time cowl induction.

But this '82 hood ain't aluminum. It's steel. I never heard of an aluminum hood for our 'Birds.

Was an aluminum hood a special-order option? Just curious.

As for this original thread, I'd be "interested." But fit and finish needs to be spot on. I'm lucky enough to have an original bulge hood, but you never know.

Alum hood was an option for a rare few of the highly optioned 82-84 TA's. Its very unlikely you'll find one, but they are out there. All firehawks came with them though

Im not complaining much about the steel bulge hood's weight, its significantly lighter than the flat or 4 vent hood