diy fiberglass hood
 

ok .call me crazy but here it is. my winter project is to make my own fiberglass cowl hood .i dont know if anybody done this before but this is how im doing it.first i will shape styrofoam to a 3'' slant after i mock it to my hood.then im going to make a master mold from a hood i have hanging around .basically im going to fiberglass a hood with my scoop on it . then take the fiberglass mold off the hood then put wax on the mold refiberglass some layers on the mold. then let cure and if all goes well i should have a three inch cowl hood ready to bolt on. p.s and no im not going to use the steel hood and mix with fiberglass .that is being said for those who dont get what im saying.

Re: diy fiberglass hood
 

That seems like a decent game plan for the top half of the hood, but what about the bottom half that has the supports molded into it. I guess you could get away with doing it like you said but the only way you could use the hood would be as a lift off.

Is there some reason that you have to have fiberglass? There is a MUCH easier method to cowl the hood you have. Check out the hood thread in my sig for the basics of modding a stock hood.

From reading your post is seems like you've been doing some reading on 'glassing, but do you have much experience with it? The reason I ask is because mold making is a pretty involved process for something as big as a hood and it's really not a good first project for a beginning 'glasser.

Re: diy fiberglass hood
 

well i have researched and then did it again its a basic thing longs if you pay close attention to what you are doing. also yes im doing a simple pop off top.but im also debating on putting supports in as well.but it seems straight forward im just going to do a couple of scale tryouts first then when im feeling good about my work i will proceed with the full scale hood.i have also read safety stuff to.so im not flying blind.another note is im also debating vaccuum forming a mold then fiberglassing it i have vaccumed formed i thimk that might give me a better mold service but again im test flying it so who knows which way im going but i will post pics of each design on here and explain the process i did wish me luck.

Re: diy fiberglass hood
 

It will be a labor intense project for sure. Are you planning on selling them once you get it all figured out the way you want? The reason I ask is once you buy all your materials and make this hood from start to finish, not even including labor, I think you will be surprised how much money you have in it. And if you are not careful or have not done composite work before, you may end up with a pretty heavy piece anyway, if weight is even a concern, or one that bows under wind load or from sitting in the sun over time under it's own weight. You will have to make some support pieces for the under side regardless of whether it is a stock style hinge hood or pop off pin/latch style. Something like a ribbed structure that you bond to the underside while it is in the mold in it's proper shape to maintain the shape once out of the mold and on the car...if you know what I mean. I have a hard time explaining what I'm talking about sometimes, but hopefully you know what I'm trying to say. Just something to think about. It is a good project for winter though for sure as long as you have an indoor facility with a steady temp. and humidity to do the work. If it is a learning project, it will definitely be full of little bits of tricks and techniques you will have down once complete. Good luck either way and post pics of progress once you start and throughout the project...it will interesting to see it from start to finish.

Re: diy fiberglass hood
 

yeah i put that into thought today at work .and yeah i have a shop but it might be a little rough at start but my ideal is adding alum mesh at a hardware store for support and i rethoght my design to be more stronger .but all in all its a learning process .hey we didnt send a rocket in space in a day.so im not counting on this to be succesfull but a long and dissapointing road of aggravation .till i get to that final piece and trial and error pay off.

Re: diy fiberglass hood
 

Good luck on your hood, Love to see how it comes out, and how you did it.

Re: diy fiberglass hood
 

as long as you dont bond metal to fiberglass i give you a thumbs up. the car i bought had a FG cowl induction scoop on a metal hood, and i'm tearing that off to weld up a metal scoop to it. the hood i'm using for scrap metal off my buddy's camaro had those FG dragon nose scoops molded to it... on a metal hood. both hood were cracking along the perimeter of the scoops.

Re: diy fiberglass hood
 

yeah thats retarded .no im not bonding it to metal its all going to be glass.i tried posting some blueprints of my design on here but couldnt.anybody know why.but i think if you guys see it in some kind of diagram then you will get the ideal. but thinks for your replys