I picked up a near new W30 style USBody hood for my 86 Cutlass a few months ago and am putting it on the car now and running into a few snags. The USBody website is pretty hazy and really has no instructional help. The guy I bought it from supposedly had it on a car and parted it out. The hood seems to bolt to the hinges ok and lines up on the car but the latch area is becoming a problem. This is not exactly the hood I wanted to go with on the car, more of an FE3X scoop fan and they ARE available now from Angelo, but I got a great deal on it and couldnt pass it up. If anyone has attempted to install this hood or any other USBody source hood and has instructions, pics, or any info about what you had to do it would be greatly appreciated!
Has anyone installed a USBody W30 hood on a 81-88 Cutlass?
- Thread starter Trannyman95
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88hurstolds has one of those hoods on one of his cars...
He bought the car with it already on, but he still might be able to give you a few pointers.
I was actually planning on getting one of those hoods myself until i decided on a factory aluminum piece.
He bought the car with it already on, but he still might be able to give you a few pointers.
I was actually planning on getting one of those hoods myself until i decided on a factory aluminum piece.
Thanks, I will try to get ahold of him and see if he has any pics. The rod that the latch hooks onto is 1" off and I have no idea of it was custom made or came with the hood but either way I cant shut the hood until it comes off and there is body filler all over the inside of it that I have been trying to chisel out so I can get it loose and try to move it. I originally planned to go the aluminum hood route as well and get an FE3X scoop for it but the hoods are very hard to find. I thought I got lucky and a yard only an hour away said they had one but then they checked on it and apparently it was sitting inside and had 5 years of junk piled around it and was beat up pretty bad so it said it was better off as scrap :evil:!!! A week later this hood came up and I decided to give it a try.
I thought about one of those also, but the website says that hood pins are required. I don't really want hood pins on my car.
What kind of deal did you get if you don't mind, would you consider selling it?
What kind of deal did you get if you don't mind, would you consider selling it?
The website suggests additional holddowns but this is a very robust hood, honestly I dont think it weighs any less than the stock steel hood! There is a lot of meat all the way around the parimeter. What burns me is that the hood is already painted and finished. It fits fine, just the latch rod being out of place and not something that was looked at close enough when I got it and the fact it was already on another car didnt tell me it should have been a problem but its too late now. I elongated the latch adjustment holes and I have it pretty close how so with a little more playing around I think it will be ok. I got the hood for about $300 and I picked it up so there was no shipping, just a few hours of driving. I thought these hoods were only $450 new but when I went to the sight and realized they were now $650 I thought I would jump on it! I havent looked at the USBody website for about 10 years and I had no idea the price jumped up. The only other small issue I am still working out is that the back side of the hood sits a bit high so I may have to elongate the holes for the adjustment on the back of the hinges. Ohh well the joy of installing an aftermarket hood lol.
I believe USBody makes 2 versions of that hood, a light-weight race hood that requires hoodpins and no latch and then the heavier street version that you bought that will accept the latch. I've never installed one of these hoods so I'm of no help in that department, sorry. Yes, a street weight glass hood will weigh as much as a steel hood.
I'm not usually a fan of hood pins myself, either. But remember, the stock version of these hoods on the 69 - 72's did have hood pins. I used to know who made an re-pop version of these pins but it toatlly escapes my memory right now. They weren't the common style pin with the little cable attached though. I think the stock style pins on this hood would be a nice addition.
The price on these hoods just recently went up. Less than 6 months ago they were still in the $450 range and then they went on sale. After that the price went up quite a bit. I used to want one of these hoods but for $600+ and shipping, they can keep it. I really wish they'd redesign the hoods to fit the bodylines of our cars a bit better. The front angle of the scoops fit the early cars great but our hoods are angled differantly and just don't match right. But, they are still nice hoods.
I'm not usually a fan of hood pins myself, either. But remember, the stock version of these hoods on the 69 - 72's did have hood pins. I used to know who made an re-pop version of these pins but it toatlly escapes my memory right now. They weren't the common style pin with the little cable attached though. I think the stock style pins on this hood would be a nice addition.
The price on these hoods just recently went up. Less than 6 months ago they were still in the $450 range and then they went on sale. After that the price went up quite a bit. I used to want one of these hoods but for $600+ and shipping, they can keep it. I really wish they'd redesign the hoods to fit the bodylines of our cars a bit better. The front angle of the scoops fit the early cars great but our hoods are angled differantly and just don't match right. But, they are still nice hoods.
I noticed that my hood latch has washers stacked up under it to raise it up about 3/4", is that the problem you are running into?
Mike
Mike
I had no luck at all with the latch bar in the hood. The plates on both sides had lots of body filler and it almost appears that the front side was done while the two halves of the hood were bonded together as the filler seemed to blend right into the fiberglass. After a few hours of getting nowhere I decided to take the latch bracket and elongate the holes and was able to move the latch over enough to get it to work. The next obstacle was the safety latch as that didnt want to line up too well either so I had to elongate the holes on it where it bolts to the hood. After all of that and playing with where the latch sits to get the front of the hood lower I am pretty close. One thing I dont like is that I had to remove the lift springs on the hinges as they were putting a lot of tension on the back side of the hood and lifting it. I have the hinges adjusted all the way down in the back and it still sits up too high on both sides. If you look at the car that USBody has on their website and look close at the back side of the hood it sits up high also, so maybe this was an error in how they were made. The glass is built up very thick in that area so maybe grinding a good 1/4" or so off of it would help out but for now it is good enough. I will try to get some pics posted up when I get a chance. I had the hood and my trunk lid painted and now makes the rest of the car look pretty worn and in dire need of paint!
The rear of the hood needs to be clearanced at the cowl seal.
Lots of prep work went into the one I have to make it fit right, I was told this by the previous owner.
I've spoken to VFN Fiberglass a few times on getting them to make functional ones like they do for the 73-77 Cutlass.
I'm sure they will also be able to provide a better fitting hood as well...
If anyone has some free time give them a request, I'm sure they will start making them if enough people ask about them.
http://www.vfnfiberglass.com/site.htm
Lots of prep work went into the one I have to make it fit right, I was told this by the previous owner.
I've spoken to VFN Fiberglass a few times on getting them to make functional ones like they do for the 73-77 Cutlass.
I'm sure they will also be able to provide a better fitting hood as well...
If anyone has some free time give them a request, I'm sure they will start making them if enough people ask about them.
http://www.vfnfiberglass.com/site.htm
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