Cowl hood, yes or no?

[boatshoes]

Thinking about getting a cowl hood. I don't really like the look, but I don't hate it either.
The only hood I really like is th GN style, but that wouldn't help with clearance.
I have an edelbrock carb, a dropbase air cleaner base and a 2" air filter so everything fits right now. But I just bought a new holley style carb, and the dropbase is tighter.
So I guess I'm looking for pro's and con's of cowl hoods, I would probably be getting an AMD 2" steel cowl hood.
Anyone had a negative experience with one? Thanks 😀

Edit: I also have an edelbrock performer rpm intake so I could always just switch to a shorter intake too I suppose.
I think everyone knows I'm more aesthetic driven :wink:

 

[gwhiz]

I liked them until they became standard equipment now.I wish there were more options out there.I have been thinking about going with a old school square pro stock style ,if i can locate one.If you go with the cowl hood i would go steel. fiber glass is cool but it chips,cracks,etc.My buddy had a cheap one on a mustang,did not use hood pins. It flew up on him and and broke the winsheild and tweaked the hell out of the hinges,luckily he did not freak out and swerve into other cars.

 

[tc1959]

I have one on my El Camino, I did the air cleaner also. It looks good.
I bought the 2" steel one from GoodMark.

 

[565bbchevy]

I think a 2" cowl looks good on most gbodies stock or with built engines and depending on which car I think a stock style rear spoiler balances the car out.
Having the added clearance is nice and if you can get away from having a manditory drop base air cleaner then that would help also.
On my Monte my first hood was a 2" cowl which I really liked but I had a SBC then.
After adding my first BBC I ended up adding a 5" aero scoop to the top of my cowl hood so I could run an air cleaner on my dominator.
Then I went to the 4" cowl so it looked sleeker and less "race car" but for me I think the large rear spoiler gives an overall balance to the look of the car with the larger hood.
I prefer the quality fiberglass ones and have never had an issue with cracks or chips but I think proper installation is the key to not having issues. I'm sure the steel ones are a little easier to install plus they don't need light tension hood springs but for me if I'm going to spend the money I might as well lose weight on the front end at the same time.

 

[-83MONTESS-]

You cant go wrong with a 2 inch steel cowl hood IMO. The only drawback is that they are very common but for good reason. I went with a Goodmark 2 inch steel hood and I love the look. I also added the chrome "cowl induction" emblems on the sides because it helps keep a factory look and looks complete IMO.

 

[badlad]

Yes goodmark steel cowl hood is hard to beat. I gotta weiand highrise dual plane intake 4" tall 14" round summit air cleaner and a 1" phenolic spacer under my 650 eddy avs carb, with a 3/4" big blue nut on top, and still have room under there. I love mine, And as stated a moderate size spoiler is a compliment to it.

 

[jlcustomz]

Like others,The over commonness of the cowl style is the bad thing, which is why I reworked mine into what you now see.

My opinion, your ride stands out a bit different than most & doesn't need a common cowl hood to be cool with the look you got. You got fab skills, how about building a custom air intake using remote filters. Something looking similar to the top of a multiport efi system, Something to be the showpiece the second you lift the hood.
Couldn't find the pic I was looking for, this one may help you understand what I'm getting at.http://www.streetlegaltv.com/news/custo ... t-machine/

http://www.ssrfanatic.com/forum/f22/loo ... ver-44900/
There's also the spectre stuff.
Found it ,spectre profab http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/gene ... to_09.html

 

[Longroof79]

I honestly am considering going back to my stock hood. I'm not 100% satisfied with the fit of my 2" Goodmark cowl hood.
It does allow extra clearance, however. I am using a 1" 4-hole phenolic spacer, which I like, and a drop base air cleaner.
From my observation, the stock hood always had a good flat fit. Is it me, or are these hoods tweaked from the get-go?
I have noticed these hoods on other cars, and most tend to stick up a little.

I haven't given up yet. I will try my darned-est to get the hood to fit and look right. If after all is said and done, I'll remove it.

 

[Maverick's_Monte]

Definitely go with steel. My car came with a fiberglass, 2" cowl which looks great but its fiberglass not steel. Fiberglass is not as strong and will get weaker over time. Stock hood springs or lift arms can not be used with fiberglass hood as they loaded to lift a steel hood, not fiberglass. The paint on the fiberglass will age differently than the paint on the steel, over a long period of time you may notice a slight difference in the shade of paint. More importantly, depending on how hot your engine runs, bubbles can form in the paint.

Definitely go for the cowl, looks great, but get the steel hood.

 

[Jshock]

Re: Cowl hood, yes or no?
by Longroof79 on Mon Apr 22, 2013 3:40 pm

I honestly am considering going back to my stock hood. I'm not 100% satisfied with the fit of my 2" Goodmark cowl hood.
It does allow extra clearance, however. I am using a 1" 4-hole phenolic spacer, which I like, and a drop base air cleaner.
From my observation, the stock hood always had a good flat fit. Is it me, or are these hoods tweaked from the get-go?
I have noticed these hoods on other cars, and most tend to stick up a little.

I haven't given up yet. I will try my darned-est to get the hood to fit and look right. If after all is said and done, I'll remove it.

Well if you do decide to call it quits I know of a buyer... This guy!

I've been looking for em but I don't want to pay the 500 bucks plus 200 shipping. Maybe an offer of like 350 plus shipping would sound nice?