rrent

I'm getting in a 5" cowl hood scoop and plan to have it mated to an extra hood I have hanging on the garage wall -- looking to the near future when I get the big block off of the motor stand and into the "nothing fancy"'77.

I've done some bondo and little fiberglass workover the years -- almost finished a 1/2 cab top for my '72 Blazer before I sold it (the top - I still have the Blazer).

Is this something easily done in the garage -- any tips or how to's - specialty materials or tools? --- or should I drop both off with the guy in the body shop behind where I work and pick it up done? I do plan to try out my new Craftsman paint gun to lay on a coat or two.

thanks in advance
Ronnie

C3 Shark Tank

Ronnie,

You might want to look up Brutus(Bob), he just put a modified stinger on his 77 hood and it came out looking really nice.

foundvettelifeisgood

Ask Yellow72 :smash:

74-Roadster

Finally a topic I can help with! :D Too many motorheads in here, and I can never help with those types of questions. :lol:

Step 1. Strip the hood down to bare fiberglass.

Step 2. Determine the exact location of the new cowl ensuring everything is square, centered etc. Lightly scribe the location into the hood. Drill several 1/8" holes at least the thickness of the scoop's walls inside of the scribe line. The holes will guide you when you cut the center out from the bottom after you've mounted the scoop.

Step 3. Trim, sand and/or grind the bottom edge (mating surface) of the cowl making sure you have a tight/smooth fit. Make sure you have it sitting at the angle you want, the way it came may not look the best and you might want to take extra material off near the front or possibly the rear to get the angle just right.

Step 4. Grind/sand a bevel into the side of the scoop tapering to normal within 1" or so. Sand a matching bevel into the hood. Your doing this to provide depth for some fiberglass matt that'll bridge over the seam.

Step 5. Rough up both mounting surfaces with 80 grit paper and bond the unit to the car using vette panel adhesive, Evercoat 870. Clean off any material that squirts out.

Step 6. Clean the beveled area and rough it up again. Then apply 3 strips of matt (you may need 4 depending on your depth and grade of matt) each one wider than the previous strip filling the bevel. The best way to keep air bubbles out is to lay one strip at a time, wait for it to cure and knock down any high areas before laying the next strip.

Step 7. Sand down the fiberglass, yes it's hard and sands slow, so if you've read ahead, applying just the right amount of glass and keeping each strip smooth will really help when you get to this point.

Step 8. Turn the hood over and connect the dots from the holes you drilled in step 2. Use a small diameter cut off wheel ~3" is my pick and cut out the center section. You'll then need to grind and cut away excess material so you can lay strip of matt from the underside like you did to the top in step 6.

Step 9. Lay strips of glass on the underside and grind the glass smooth.

Step 10. Fill in any voids top and bottom. Use fiberglass filler (short hair) for any large depression/holes and evercoat 870 for thin small areas. Again the fiberglass putty will be much harder and slower to sand than filler.

Extra tips: Since the joint will be a curve, you may want to cut and shape a piece of soft wood to hold the sand paper in the proper shape. You can cover the wood with a section of terrycloth towel to allow it to conform a little better. After you've primed the area, final steps for all bodywork now apply. Spray/mist a dark guidecoat over the area and sand softly since your in a curve to make sure your smooth. A final trick for such a small area, use Krylon gloss balck and spray the entire scoop. Gloss black will show you exactly where high/low spots are and what areas still need work. Since this is such an involved location and you haven't done much body work, expect to do the gloss black check several times before you're happy.

Good luck, you can do it and it'll be better than any shop trying to crank it out quickly and you'll learn a lot of different techniques on one hood project that you'll use when you do the whole car.

A 5" cowl will be very radical!!!!!! :cool: :cool: :cool:

yellow 72

:iagree: I couldn't have said it better :yesnod:

Mike :cheers:

rrent

74-Roadster -- thanks -- it always sounds so easy when someone who knows what they are doing gives directions.

I'lll give it a try in a weekend or two.

thanks again
Ronnie

74-Roadster

Take it slow and methodical. What will amaze you is how many hours it takes to do it right. If you have any trouble, feel free to call me. Too bad I'm 4 hours north, it'd be a lot of fun to help. I'll IM you my phone number. :cheers:

mrvette

74R has it about right there, just exactly what the guy across the rive did to my hood some 5.5 years ago....holding up fine, only thing I would have had done differantly was seal the INSIDE of the scoop, to keep water out of the backside of the crack...not important too much IF you have access, and/or bedded it in a thick layer of glass when fastened down...to add strength incase someone lifts by the scoop top....I added stainless screws on the rear lips, throug bolted with washers on bottom....they are bedded in the glass, and being stainless, no worries, like some aluminum crap we all know of....
that releives stress off the bonded joint when lifting....

GENE