fiberglass nasa hood

[MikeGriese]

Use the hinge mounts and catch to hang the hood upside down from the ceiling.

 

[tony-muscle]

Use the hinge mounts and catch to hang the hood upside down from the ceiling.

That sounds like the most viable plan. I don't have much open wall or ceiling space. However, I should be able to fit it in the space between the garage door and ceiling. Or maybe I can bring it to my room and place it under the bed. I am sure the wife will love that idea. :whistling:

 

[slocody]

The plan is to transfer the RAM air plenum from the old to the new hood. I will buy a set of new outside scoops and a new set of twist locks.

Hate to break the news now that you finally pulled the trigger, but this won't be as easy as you hope. I bought the VFN hood with the exact same plan....but none of the stuff fits the fiberglass hood, at least without some serious cutting and glass work. The underside looks like it will accommodate the plenum, but it doesn't (at least not the repop plenum I bought). Bear in mind that I have never had a nasa hood, so maybe I was just too dumb to figure it out, but it seemed like it wasn't even close. The plenum is asymmetric on the inside of the "U" part where it screws to the hood (one side is higher than the other). But if you look closely at the image on the VFN site, the U shape in the underside of the hood is totally symmetric all the way around, so no dice. Also the snorkels and the front trim strip are molded into the hood and the scoops are molded shut (inside and out). I'm sure you could get there with some careful cutting, but it isn't going to be as straightforward as just bolting everything up. I was just going to cut open the scoops for cosmetics, but without the plenum attached to route air into the engine, I was worried that air would get between the inside and outside molds and blow them apart at speed. Plus any cutting would require some work to clean up the edges. I will say the hood fits pretty good out of the box, though. It seems a little short front to back(maybe 1/4"), but my fender alignments are such a mess that it may not be the hood's fault. Also the entire perimeter of the hood where the inside/outside pieces meet just looks like 2 chunks of fiberglass glued together. This just may be the norm for glass hoods, but this is my first so I was surprised at how unfinished it looks. But you can't see it with the hood closed, so it usually doesn't bother me....usually. Originality waved bye-bye to my mustang a long time ago, so most of these gripes are minor. I still plan to cut open the scoops and do some glassing to get it looking better and to try to get the plenum working somehow, but that made it a MUCH larger project than I had originally anticipated, which is why it is still exactly the way it came out the box almost 2 years ago. 

All that being said- it is actually a very well-made and good looking hood....as long as you aren't looking for functional ram air. And it is sooo much lighter than the stock hood that I was able to set on the roof of my convertible last winter when I had the engine out without being worried about it effin up my top.

it seems that I will need to gamble $500

...plus truck freight!

need to find a replacement hood spring

maybe I'm lazy, but I just run it without springs. I hand-made a custom hood prop from a billet wood broom handle- very trick. I use the prop to get the hood open, and then I attach a pair of turnbuckles to the spring points on the hinges to hold the hood up. It actually works great, and I can take out the prop once the turnbuckles are in place.

I am sure the wife will love that idea. :whistling:

remember- it's always easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

 

[tony-muscle]

Hate to break the news now that you finally pulled the trigger, but this won't be as easy as you hope. I bought the VFN hood with the exact same plan....but none of the stuff fits the fiberglass hood, at least without some serious cutting and glass work. The underside looks like it will accommodate the plenum, but it doesn't (at least not the repop plenum I bought). Bear in mind that I have never had a nasa hood, so maybe I was just too dumb to figure it out, but it seemed like it wasn't even close. The plenum is asymmetric on the inside of the "U" part where it screws to the hood (one side is higher than the other). But if you look closely at the image on the VFN site, the U shape in the underside of the hood is totally symmetric all the way around, so no dice. Also the snorkels and the front trim strip are molded into the hood and the scoops are molded shut (inside and out). I'm sure you could get there with some careful cutting, but it isn't going to be as straightforward as just bolting everything up. I was just going to cut open the scoops for cosmetics, but without the plenum attached to route air into the engine, I was worried that air would get between the inside and outside molds and blow them apart at speed. Plus any cutting would require some work to clean up the edges. I will say the hood fits pretty good out of the box, though. It seems a little short front to back(maybe 1/4"), but my fender alignments are such a mess that it may not be the hood's fault. Also the entire perimeter of the hood where the inside/outside pieces meet just looks like 2 chunks of fiberglass glued together. This just may be the norm for glass hoods, but this is my first so I was surprised at how unfinished it looks. But you can't see it with the hood closed, so it usually doesn't bother me....usually. Originality waved bye-bye to my mustang a long time ago, so most of these gripes are minor. I still plan to cut open the scoops and do some glassing to get it looking better and to try to get the plenum working somehow, but that made it a MUCH larger project than I had originally anticipated, which is why it is still exactly the way it came out the box almost 2 years ago. 

All that being said- it is actually a very well-made and good looking hood....as long as you aren't looking for functional ram air. And it is sooo much lighter than the stock hood that I was able to set on the roof of my convertible last winter when I had the engine out without being worried about it effin up my top.

...plus truck freight!

maybe I'm lazy, but I just run it without springs. I hand-made a custom hood prop from a billet wood broom handle- very trick. I use the prop to get the hood open, and then I attach a pair of turnbuckles to the spring points on the hinges to hold the hood up. It actually works great, and I can take out the prop once the turnbuckles are in place.

remember- it's always easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

Kind of sucks to read, but now I will be prepared. Thank you for sharing. They offered to cut the nostrils open at no charge so I accepted that offer. Since you have been through this I have a few questions:

-Will I need the hood scoops inserts or not (https://www.classicindustries.com/product/16c630a.html)?

-The issue with the air plenum being asymmetric versus the hood symmetric, do you think this can be worked on by modifying either?

Luckily I won't  pay for freight since they are about 2 hours away from me so I can go pick it up.

 

[slocody]

Will I need the hood scoops inserts

It probably depends on if/how you end up mounting the plenum. It will probably be fussy to make all the modifications to get them to work together so I just don't know. But cosmetically, no the new hood doesn't need the inserts- they are molded into the hood and would need to be cut away to use the metal ones.

do you think this can be worked on by modifying either?

Well fiberglass is pretty easy to work with, so you can do just about anything you want. My concern was getting the plenum screwed in securely once I start cutting. If you cut away the part of the plenum that interferes then you lose those mounting points. And if you cut away the offending part of the inner hood, then there's nothing to attach the screws to, since you cant screw through the outer layer of the hood. I'm sure you can figure something out with enough ingenuity. But I stood around and stared at the stupid thing for more time than I care to admit without a good solution. 

 

[tony-muscle]

It probably depends on if/how you end up mounting the plenum. It will probably be fussy to make all the modifications to get them to work together so I just don't know. But cosmetically, no the new hood doesn't need the inserts- they are molded into the hood and would need to be cut away to use the metal ones.

Well fiberglass is pretty easy to work with, so you can do just about anything you want. My concern was getting the plenum screwed in securely once I start cutting. If you cut away the part of the plenum that interferes then you lose those mounting points. And if you cut away the offending part of the inner hood, then there's nothing to attach the screws to, since you cant screw through the outer layer of the hood. I'm sure you can figure something out with enough ingenuity. But I stood around and stared at the stupid thing for more time than I care to admit without a good solution. 

Thank you. I guess I will have to wait five months.......... :classic_wacko:

 

[tony-muscle]

I finally got the hood. I won't be able to fit test it until after the HRPT. It seems that I will have my hands full with fitting the Ram Air. I will start tackling this conversion soon. As stated above, it won't be trivial but I have to start somewhere.

 

[timachone]

Glad you got it after this long time in one piece! It looks better fabricated that thought, though

 

[69 Rustang]

Just store it in front of the fireplace. Currently it is in our dining room. Wife hasn’t said a word! And yes, my Mountain bike is also in the house as you can see in the lower left of the picture. Where else would I keep it?

 

[tony-muscle]

Just store it in front of the fireplace. Currently it is in our dining room. Wife hasn’t said a word! And yes, my Mountain bike is also in the house as you can see in the lower left of the picture. Where else would I keep it?View attachment 64175

LOL. Mine was demoted to the basement.

 

[tony-muscle]

Well. Now that the driving season is coming to a close i started the process of installing the hood. The first step was to test fit the hood. Not perfect but decent. I still need to tweak the position but at least it locks in place. Tomorrow i will try installing the RAM air on it.

 

[PoFoMoCo]

All eyes are on you brother!

 

[tony-muscle]

Please follow my hood installation process in this thread:
https://7173mustangs.com/threads/installing-a-nasa-scoop-fiberglass-hood-w-functional-ram-air.41821/