Mecham Hood ?
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 260
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Mecham Hood ? 
I really love the design of the hood but so many guys on the board tell me they suck as far as fittment and quality. Could i get some testimonials so i could see what I might be getting myself into. When mine came into the body shop the owner told me it was basically junk. They did what they could and I was never satisfied with it. Id wait for VFN to make the WS9 hoods again later this month. They cost half as much and the quality is 100 times better.
8 sec potential, 12 sec slip
iTrader: (50)
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 4,092
Likes: 2
From: Savannah, GA
Mine fits great, but the quality is horrible. I'm going to rework the structual reinforcement underneath with carbon fiber on mine for strength and then have it repainted. Hopefully this will take care of the cracking/ stress issues. 
Launching!
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 228
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From: Jax, FL
Don't know about the TA ones but the camaro hoods have a new mold. When i ordered mine i had to wait awhile for the test hood to come out. There were some flaws so another mold was made. Only thing i can suggest is too leave your hood struts off. Dimples will appear from the stress on the top of the hood. I ended up sanding mine down and floating it over, and repainting. She's good to go now. I wouldn't trade mine for anything. It mates very nicely with a volant intake also. 
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 260
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Originally Posted by FloridaZ
Don't know about the TA ones but the camaro hoods have a new mold. When i ordered mine i had to wait awhile for the test hood to come out. There were some flaws so another mold was made. Only thing i can suggest is too leave your hood struts off. Dimples will appear from the stress on the top of the hood. I ended up sanding mine down and floating it over, and repainting. She's good to go now. I wouldn't trade mine for anything. It mates very nicely with a volant intake also.
Launching!
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 228
Likes: 0
From: Jax, FL
A little over a year ago. Acctually dimples isn't really the best word. Some are little knots, others recess in a half moon shapes. Kinda like someone jabed it with pipe, but all together they form an oval shape around the area were the hydro arms mount underneath. I think it mainly comes form the arms requiring so much pressure to close, and when you go to close the hood, it puts alot of stress on that area. After all..the stockers are meant to raise a much heavier hood. I saw on here somewere you could order the hydros to your specs. Ones requiring alot less force imo would stop this from hapening. Other than that i have never had any of the problems that i so often read about on here.
Last edited by FloridaZ; Sep 19, 2005 at 05:01 PM.
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Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 260
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i think im gonna take a chance with it. IMO its the best looking hood for a street car. I dont plan on going to a full race set-up with my car so i wanted keep as much of the stock look that i can but also be different and original
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Originally Posted by bee-stro
i think im gonna take a chance with it. IMO its the best looking hood for a street car. I dont plan on going to a full race set-up with my car so i wanted keep as much of the stock look that i can but also be different and original
Launching!
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 246
Likes: 0
Well, looky looky! Guess it's that time once again to start the bashing! Mecham is junk! Their hood is crap! And further more I...wait a minute! Is that my website link just lying around convieniently again? The one that shows their **** poor quality in all its' glory? Why, you might just have to take a peek....
http://cardomain.com/ride/518658/2
http://cardomain.com/ride/518658/2
Thread Starter
Launching!
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 260
Likes: 0
Are there any chemical agents that i could use to reinforce the structure underneath. Im not really a fan of cowl hoods on f-body's and i really want a different look on my SS but the Utra Z hood is too plain. That Mecham design is exactly what im looking for
TECH Resident
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 865
Likes: 1
From: central TX
Another (former) mecham owner here. The TA hoods are crap. Overpriced, under-built, under-prepped crap. 
You can see pics of my old car with this hood in my sig. My body shop guy said it was a race-quality hood, not a street- or show-quality hood.
I have *no* experience with the camaro version, but I have a hard time believing it's all that great...
:shrug:
You can see pics of my old car with this hood in my sig. My body shop guy said it was a race-quality hood, not a street- or show-quality hood.I have *no* experience with the camaro version, but I have a hard time believing it's all that great...
:shrug:
Launching!
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 228
Likes: 0
From: Jax, FL
Mines been in several shows, and it is that great. Sorry all you TA guys got screwed. If i had weaker struts or left them off from the beginning, i would have had no problems at all. I guess nobody else on this board has one on a camaro?
Staging Lane
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 71
Likes: 0
From: Iowa
I recently purchased a discontinued spoiler for my third gen from Mecham and i had a mixed experiance. while Dennis was very polite and helpful the quality of the product was not up to par. the bodyshop basicaly stated as above. it was defenatly a "race quality" part. they did get it to look decent but there are still some waves in it.
TECH Resident
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 865
Likes: 1
From: central TX
Originally Posted by FloridaZ
Mines been in several shows, and it is that great. Sorry all you TA guys got screwed. If i had weaker struts or left them off from the beginning, i would have had no problems at all. I guess nobody else on this board has one on a camaro?
Launching!
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 228
Likes: 0
From: Jax, FL
It's quite possible he has a new glasser. If the center section was as wide as the TA hoods, it probably would have done the same thing. Heres my theory.....the TA hoods stress points were obvioulsy the sides cracking, quite possibly from the hood struts. If someone had theres removed, and it still cracked..well...i have no idea then. The defects that appeared in mine were not that much different from the TA hoods. Only the stress showed in a different form, and in a different location. When the hood is pushed down from dead center up front, the center section of the hood becomes overloaded with stress since the struts rerquire so much force to close. Kinda like holding a stick and bending it over your knee. A strut with half the amount of force could easily raise my hood. I could be way off, but...it's the only logical thing i can think of. As far as fitment goes, i only had to shave off about an 1/8" in a couple spots on one side. Probably could have got away with it, but i'm very **** when it comes to prep work.
On The Tree
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 151
Likes: 1
From: Savannah
well i have one on a 2001 trans am. i worked out a deal with the body shop. if i gave them my old hood (he said it was worth 250) he'd paint the new hood and put it on. well this is where it gets interesting. when the hood came in he called me to the shop. (i had it shiped to the body shop) he told me this mold looked like somebody made it in there backyard. he said it was the worst mold he'd ever seen. he showed me the hood ( wave effect over the top 2 inch overhang on one side) so we went to the hourly rate. when i picked up my car i paid him 600 plus my old hood, not to forget i paid 1400 for the hood for a total of 2250.oh yeah the bodyshop told me i shouldn't put the hood shocks on. he said there designed for a steel hood a it would crack a fiberglass hood. so i called denis (mecham) he said it wouldn't be a problem so i told them to put them on. it put dimples on my hood,but when i took the hood shocks off they went away. would i do it again? HELL YEAH!!! that hood is awsome every time the f-bodys meet in my area i usually get the most attention. but i guess thats why i'm THESHOWSTOPPA!!!!
