I know you Olds guys hang out in this area, so I figured I would ask here. I aquired an original 70 Olds fiberglass hood yesterday. It's in rather poor condition. The steel frame is rotted by the hood latch area. My question is- Is it worth it to repair this? The front section of the steel frame is going to have to be cut, separated from the glass and a new piece sectioned in. The nose area above the center tooth is naturally cracked. It also has one crack by the passenger side scoop opening. I'm more concerned with the metal work. Fixing the glass part is relatively easy. It is feasible to separate the fiberglass from the steel without destroying the hood? Anyone have any tips from experience? Are the current steel backed repros good enough that I shouldnt waste my time repairing this?
Jason, You could always send it my way, then you wouldn't need to fix it. Seriously though, if it is really rotted the best way to fix it is to get the steel inner liner from a regular hood and glue it to the fiberglass skin. I have a friend that made an alignment jig and did this to his hood. Duane PS. If you do want to sell it let me know.
So I take it that the hood can be separated without destroying it. Im not sure I understand the advantage of repairing this one as opposed to just buying a steel backed repro.
Jason, Some people just like original parts and are willing to take the time to repair them, some like new pieces. I guess it all depends on what you want. I obviously have no problem with repo parts (I make some), however I also use as many original pieces as I can. Duane
Where are you planning getting a steel backed repro?? >The Parts Place repro hood hasn't received very good reviews (although I have never had my hands on one and for the price it's probably a decent deal if exactness is not a big factor) >Thornton Reproductions...doesn't repro hoods any longer. Yes, everyone says they are supposed to be starting up production again but they have been saying this for over a year now. It's a matter of seperating the outer skin where it's glued onto the metal understructure, Sometimes the glue is already seperating in areas. In other areas it may require grinding/cutting away the metal where it lays over the glue.
I went on realoldspower and did some research. Neat site. From what I read, it looks like this one is going to get fixed :TU: I'd rather sink a grand into this one than pay just as much for a half assed repro. I got the hood for $300 over the weekend which seemed like a real steal to me. Looks like it came off a Rallye 350 originally. Still has all the trim on it, Sebring yellow paint, the center "tooth" and the screen. In hanging out over on realoldspower, I' was starting to miss my 72 442 :ball: it was a real X code W-30 455 with Ga heads, manual disc brakes and a 4 speed. I put an Olds "308" cam in it when I rebuilt the engine. That cam really woke it up. It was Matador red with a white bucket interior. Fast as hell too. Bought it from the original owner for 2500. The license plate frame said 'Crest Olds-Bronx, NY". It was my daily driver, and the replacement car after selling my white "X". yeah I know, dont get me started! Jennifer started using it later on to go back and forth to work when I bought my WE-4 Regal. She would come home with three things every night after work- 1- a handful of little paper notes that people left on the car asking if it was for sale. 2- at least two stories of the street races she won. I would cring at the powershifting part. 3- ripped panty hose from the torn up drivers seat:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Im laughing as I type this remembering those stories. Anyway, thanks for the advice guys!:beer
Sounds good Jason. If Thornton ever restarts production the price will likely be substantially higher than the $1100 or so they were getting for them before. There was a W25 hood that a guy linked to over on ROP...he had it up for sale on Ebay. It went for $2000-2500 I think....if it was decent then someone got a pretty darn good deal. Try not to set the hood down where it is resting on the back (the back edge over the firewall)....this tends to bend the underside metal lip and this lip is what sets the angle for the stainless trim that goes over that lip. EDIT: One last thing....if the rust is limited to the front latch area then seriously consider trying to splice in a new piece up in that area only...would save a lot of time and hassle. Would have to see pics to really tell but it's worth thinking about. Thanks
That was pretty much how I was going to do it. I only want to replace whats bad, no more. I'm going to take a better look at it today and try and get some pics posted. I was too busy raking leaves and food shopping all weekend. Im glad it's Monday. I can go to work and get some rest! ou:
I have had my hands on one. And my hands feel REAL bad for having touched the POS. Like has been said, if price and exactness are not an issue, it's a good alternative to the all fiberglass one. But they still don't fit very well (this is straight from TPP). I do know Thornton was/is selling just the metal frame. Might be worth looking into to see if they offer just the frame. My 70 OAI hood was in real nice shape. Needed no rust repair, just some cracks in the fibreglass. And it cost me over $1100 to have it repaired correctly. seperated frame from fibreglass, blast and paint BOTH sides of the metal frame except were it gets glued to the fibreglass. blast both sides of the fibreglass then have the cracks and a gouge repaired. then get the frame glued back together (the infamous porcupine shot I've posted several times on ROP)
