fiberglass hood or build my own aluminum hood? poll
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'81-'87 Cutlass aluminum hoods are extremely hard to find although there seems to be an abundance of '78-'80 hoods.
Kudos if you can find one.
It took me over 3 years to find one that was reasonably close to me, and I still had to go to Milwaukee to get it...
Kudos if you can find one.
It took me over 3 years to find one that was reasonably close to me, and I still had to go to Milwaukee to get it...
Blake442 said:
blake, I would definitely make this out of some aluminum thats laying around. All I need are a few sheets to cover the 'frame' of the hood thats built and a bunch of rivets, should be 160-180$. Should I do it or would a shiny hood thats been attacked by rivets look weird on these cars? I mean you've seen pics of my car so it can't get much worse in terms of things not matching
RITTER said:
No, I only have access to my neighbors mig welder and the aluminum would be .020 or .025 to save on costs. I should show you a pic of my welding
I usually reserve that just for spots or tacks and if needed have someone else finish it. You're right a smoother aluminum hood would look nice but at this point its how much can I get done to get the car driving on the road in the quickest amount of time.It sucks when you finish school and then decide to go to more school and then for some reason decide to get married and have your lifeblood and cash sucked out. Wish I took a different route but it is what it is
custom442 said:
I hope you don't wish you took a different route on the marriage. I just celebrated my 20th anniverary last Oct. and I don't know what I would do without her... It does impact the finances, sometimes for the better.
83hurst-olds said:
Were still engaged. Its a process. It's a lot different than most people I wouldn't want to get into all the specifics on here. It was time and the right time, and we were together long enough. But its the finances in a way you wouldn't understand, and its time, she doesn't have much of it. Right now the finances is I have an apartment and bills with no money and scrap up what I can from time to time my loans are going to eat me alive in 3 or 4 years so I'm not really thinking about it, don't care much about that. Its one of the reasons I'm staying in college after finishing. But when we do get married its going to be extremely hard on both of us, so yes we both wish we took a different route it's not really fair for either of us but we'll be together. I work on the car in my dads driveway which is why there's nice houses in all the pics.
Hang in there. If you both do your part, it will work out. I put my wife through school with a masters degree and almost on cue, I got hurt. Since then, I have had a lot of health issues and she has had to support me a few times. Humiliating, but she remembers early on. Not trying to hijack your thread, but just trying to put a positive spin on things. I am normally a negative person, but especially lately, I have been real glad to be married. 8)
fiberglass might not be as much work starting out but either way you go, its still a pretty decent amount of work involved with each 1. i say glass though because i know you've done that before and it might be better than your welding skills.
I wouldn't make my own fiberglass hood. though it may be under 200$ like the aluminum one, I don't have the time to make that. To do it right and get it perfect it'd take months. Already have a bunch of aluminum laying in the garage
The 4" cowl on the vfn is awful and would have to get it to fit my air cleaner. When painted they look good at best. The 2" cowls are cool I think.
So it looks like most everyone votes aluminum and rivets, going to try to keep with the body lines on the rivets and see what happens. It will also be a more gradual and shorter cowl than the vfn.
I'd like to get an exact match along the outside of the hood to match the contour of the fenders/header by using wider 1/4" aluminum frame... but then that'd cost more and thats not the idea. Most likely what will happen is a square box frame with supports running across, and a gradual cowl, all at triangular or square angles no curves. Then riveted sheets across the top. The metal could come off the hood's frame some to match the contours of the body so it sat like it belonged there. Maybe have to brace the core support/inner fenders to take roll stress off the front end/hood
I'll probably do another poll when making it to see how everyone likes the frame setup best
The 4" cowl on the vfn is awful and would have to get it to fit my air cleaner. When painted they look good at best. The 2" cowls are cool I think.
So it looks like most everyone votes aluminum and rivets, going to try to keep with the body lines on the rivets and see what happens. It will also be a more gradual and shorter cowl than the vfn.
I'd like to get an exact match along the outside of the hood to match the contour of the fenders/header by using wider 1/4" aluminum frame... but then that'd cost more and thats not the idea. Most likely what will happen is a square box frame with supports running across, and a gradual cowl, all at triangular or square angles no curves. Then riveted sheets across the top. The metal could come off the hood's frame some to match the contours of the body so it sat like it belonged there. Maybe have to brace the core support/inner fenders to take roll stress off the front end/hood
I'll probably do another poll when making it to see how everyone likes the frame setup best
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