Hood decisions

vinced76
09-22-2008, 08:31 PM
Need some advice. Getting ready to have the front bumper cover and headlight cover repainted. Along with that the edge of my Ram Air hood has some paint cracks right around the edge by the headlight door passenger side right where the hood meets the bumper. I've been to 2 body shops and both said you can see a little cracking on the inside of the hood so any repair may or may not hold. I hate to have a new hood painted and these cracks to re-appear. Any one had this type of repair done with long term success? Any alternatives? I've seen aftermarket ram air hoods for $500-$600 but then you may have fitment issue. A last alternative could be another formula or firebird hood but you'd lose the raim air function unless i'd replace the ram air with a cold air intake should work just as good. I know I can find a formula or firebird hood for about $100 used. Any thoughts really need some advice very confused?

Thanks

slomarao
09-23-2008, 05:43 PM
once its cracked its fuct. Theres always a chance that it will re appear. I wouldnt repair it. But new hood or deal with it.

I have a small crack in my 4 inch fiberglass cowl hood and i just deal with it. No point to fix and than re fix.

vinced76
09-23-2008, 05:57 PM
It didn't crack all the way through. It just has some tiny stress cracks at the very top with cracked paint. That's why I wasn't sure if some filler would fix it. Hate to spend money to paint a hood and then have the cracks reappear. I'm a perfectionist unfortunately so I'd rather not just deal with it. Anyone know if these replacement hoods are any good-
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&viewitem=&item=270278847672

They have good feedback and claim guaranteed fitment. At $6000 with the shipping and the grills are already installed. Others I've seen do not have the wholes for the grills already cut.

vinced76
09-24-2008, 04:19 PM
http://s456.photobucket.com/albums/qq283/vinced76/

Just added these pics of the damage to illustrate how bad the damage is.

stvski80085
09-24-2008, 07:28 PM
Tough call on those. Just replace it and be done with it if your having it repainted anyway.

Geezer powered
09-24-2008, 07:40 PM
where u located?

vinced76
09-25-2008, 05:07 AM
I'm in South Jersey. The cheapest SLP hood is about $800 from Summit plus another almost $100 to ship it. I'd rather not go with an aftermarket type fibeerglass which would be cheaper because i'm not liking the whole hood pin thing plus the fit and finish might not be great. Guess I'm going to crunch the numbers again and decide. Apparently the SLP hoods have about a 3 week delivery time.

96 Z 28
09-27-2008, 11:30 AM
I'm in South Jersey. The cheapest SLP hood is about $800 from Summit plus another almost $100 to ship it. I'd rather not go with an aftermarket type fibeerglass which would be cheaper because i'm not liking the whole hood pin thing plus the fit and finish might not be great. Guess I'm going to crunch the numbers again and decide. Apparently the SLP hoods have about a 3 week delivery time.

Harwoods & Others have Stock Mounts...;) My 2 1/2" Cowl was a direct Bolt On Hood...:cool:

Summit Racing carries Harwood's for ~$500 + Freight ($100) so that saves you $300, and will be a direct bolt-on They also told me they usually have the Harwoods in stock when I got mine, so may be less than 3 weeks.:D