Swiat34

iTrader: (9)

So I'm working on my VFN hood. Started by sanding the thing down to find/fix any imperfection. There's plenty of blemishes that keep me from painting it. Just had an orange peel to it and some small dimples. So the Spotting and glazing putty filled the dimples nicely. Next, I turned to the lines that go around the Ram Air openings and filled them with a light filler. It'll stay over night and I'll sand it tomorrow afternoon. Sorry, but no pics as it got dark and I couldn't get any to come out worth posting...tomorrow tho. And hopefully primer tomorrow or Wednesday.

So a question, Has anyone finished the underside of a hood like this? Like added material to smooth it up for looks? Or how about added material to stiffen it up some? IDK if I should use a filler/resin slurry to coat the underside or add layers of fiberglass. Suggestion? Pics of finished underside??

67goatman455

iTrader: (14)

This is a different brand but might help you. the inner areas are obviously where it had the rough fiberglass texture. just sanded with 320 and scuffed everything and sprayed it. i was surprised how good it looked with the raw texture

Swiat34

iTrader: (9)

That's quite a bit different from VFNs hood. VFNs has an inside layer around the perimeter and leaves the edges cut and unfinished. unlike where the one you show, the edges close in. Imagine if you took a flat Firebird hood and cut a big rectangle out of it and then glued a cowl that's wider and longer than the hole over the top...that's VFNs.

Swiat34

iTrader: (9)

Here's the filler in place and you can see spots from the Spotting Putty to the sides.




And here's what the underside looks like.

89BluIrocZ

damn i wanna see finished pics.

Element

iTrader: (5)

Any chance you could get a side profile shot and a head-on with the hood down? There's a dearth of good pictures for this hood, it seems like.

Swiat34

iTrader: (9)

No prob, Element. I just gt fr work so expect those pics around 8pm CST when I'm done workin on it.

BluIrocZ, I can't wait to see it finished myself!

Swiat34

iTrader: (9)

So here's the pics for you guys! Enjoy em!






And this one to get an idea of the size of this thing!

Element

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for the pics...been debating replacing my WS.9 Outlaw hood with that one.

freefallen.1

Hey I just did the exact same thing. There is a mat that is considered a "structure" material. You can get it at autobody store. VFN used to have quailty stuff. Here is some I did. I have done many for customers always alot of work.

67goatman455

iTrader: (14)

i was referring to the center part of the underside of the hood. just the rough texture part saying it looks decent with it just painted over. but we may be on different pages here

Swiat34

iTrader: (9)

It Does, goatman but look at the underside of MY hood, it's a gaping hole with raw fiberglass edges. I gotta do something to it.

Freefallen, that looks really good! Seeing your lines shaved makes me more confident in the work I'm doing on mine! I think I'm gonna make a filler/fiberglass slurry today and pour it in the hollow areas and cover that bare fiberglass inside. Might trim it some too. I'll keep pics updated!

theskitztikwon

iTrader: (18)

call me crazy but i like the lines around the nostrals it was a deal breaker for me and the aftermarket hoods still looks good I just like the oem look

i know most have the line but it doesnt have the depth to it

Swiat34

iTrader: (9)

Well this had those lines too but NOTHING like the OEM hood. I like the OEM ones since they're defined and actually show the two seperate parts of the hood. The VFN hood just had shallow rounded lines and looked like junk. So I just took that advantage to match the smooth look on the rest of the car (see the pic showing the front of my bumper also).

As promised guys, here's some updated pics after today's progress. I'd hoped to have FAR more done but the friend that said he was gonna help bailed on me!

This one shows how I cut out some of the inside rim and smoothing up the left/right edges.

Here I'm laying down some mat to stiffen up the thing. I poured some slurry in where the hinges and where the struts mount. Later I'll pour slurry to cover the underside.

The thumbnail is the pieces I cut out of the hood.

theskitztikwon

iTrader: (18)

yea it still looks good and are my eyes screwing with me did you take off the nose a lil bit to match up with the bumper better?

Swiat34

iTrader: (9)

No, there's a couple things you're seeing there. In some pics the hood is popped. Otherwise, my bumper is loosely mounted since I had been doing work on it as well. That whole damn bumper needs block sanding and more so I'm probably gonna ditch it and go with a E-1 bumper.

Swiat34

iTrader: (9)

OK Update.

Nothing's happened. lol I've been working each day and tomorrow's my next off day but my wife's B-day. So maybe some more work Wednesday and/or Thursday when I'm off next.

freefallen.1

Mine was a oem style hood but i liked the smooth look better. Man Swiat that hole is huge. I would get the structural filler I was telling you about. The slurry will work but the mat you can build faster. If you need any guidence pm me. I just did a SS hood.

Swiat34

iTrader: (9)

OK, here's todays progress. It's not much as I took my wife to Benihana in Memphis for her birthday. What I did was finish coating the mat in resin, grind the lip edges, grind the mat I added flat and add another layer of resin. The lip edge is where I'm gonna drape woven fiberglass mat curved to the cowl's inner surface. So here's a few pics!

Swiat34

iTrader: (9)

So today's updates. I added the skirting to the open edges of the hood inside. This first pic shows where I draped the fiberglass to close off the area by the ram air openings. They'll get cut back open later.



This pic is just a straight on shot. You can see the added skirting onth the left and right. The hood is balancing on it's nose in these pics BTW.


And here you see the skirt on one of the sides.


The back section will remain open to allow heat and air pressure to flow out the vents at the back of the cowl. Finally showing some progress!