Hey guys I'm sorry if this topic keeps getting brought up over and over again, and I did a search for "cowl hood" but every topic ever came up because people write cowl hood in their signatures. (Mods-is it possible to exclude signatures when doing searches?)

Well anyways, I'm considering buying the 2" Harwood Cowl Hood (bolt-on) for my 83 Camaro, and my car is black. Would I have to paint the hood? It comes in a gelcoat black finish, and I know the glass won't rust but how nice is the finish on the hood? Can I just wax it up and throw it on or does it need to get painted?

Eventually it will need to get painted. After putting mine on, it took about 4 months before the gel coating started to fade. From a distance it doesn't look bad but up close you can see how faded it is. Also there is nothing you can do to keep this from happening. I've tried.

CraZ .. how do you like the hood overall, it's a lot of money--do you consider it worth it? Does it have any kind of grill-work for the cowl? Would you recommend the Harwood hood over other brands, since it looks like no matter what brand I get it's going to have to be painted? Also how much would it cost on an average to have it painted... less than $100 I'm hoping, no? Thanks for all the help.

I'm running the Harwood hood too.

I've had it for a little over a year and it still looks as good as new. I keep my car garaged though so that might make a difference.

I've yet to see a fiberglass part come from any factory that I would call perfect, but as far as I've seen, Harwood's products have been the best.

If you look in my profile, and go to my homepage, I have some pictures