Mopar Muscle Association UK

I'm after some advise, I've currently got a fiberglass six pack lift off hood on the GTX, but I'd rather a bolt on one (steel or fiberglass) but the ones from AAR or Glass tek are pretty pricey. So the way I figure it is I have 3 choices:

1. Some how attach hinges to my existing one (without springs)
2. Get a steel standard hood & add a fiberglass scoop (are these any good?)
3. Stump up the cash for a new one & live on baked beans for 6 months!

What do you think?

Cheers

Stick with what you've got for a while

Put the money into the car to get it "finished" or at least on the road drivable, then think about it.

......you already have a hood

Lookin' good by the way Shaun

or avoid springs and use a kind of air shock thingy like a fiat 127 did for its hatch back boot lid

or indeed an old skool style rod to prop it up

saves all the hassle of bonding in a frame to take the spring tension which is considerable on my smaller A body hood

so i'd guess stronger springs on a B body....

be a shame to have a hump backed hood
or indeed snapped in two about a foot from the scuttle...

fiberglass components can also in some cases be heavier than steel if they are designed to be as strong..... is yours a double skinned and full framed hood? or does it just look nice from the outside

if heavier..... even stronger springs needed

obvioulsy i haven't seen you hood...




Dave

Here's some photos of it Dave. I was thinking of keeping the pins at the front & using some hinges with out any spring & as you said using an old Skool rod to prop it up.




Jules you have a point mate but I want to get the hood painted the same colour as the car at the same time & I'm scared to death that one day I'd lift the hood off & drop it!

Lift off hood any time

mmmm not easy

I would get standard hinges to fit rear and boy racers speed clips up front then mk3 capri bonnet hold up bar.

Screw 2 lump of mdf to inside of bonnet with screw going trough bonnet
then fiberglass mdf to bonnet cover it with halford fiberglass cannoe repair kit.(yellow box)

Might want to remove screw once dryed as could crack paint but will be stronger with screws




or

ring dale send him the pictures get him to make a new bonnet with scoop and hinge location sell old bonnet for 1/2 of dales cost. Down side is you need to borrow a metal bonnet for the mold.eg the hinge area Have a 68 charger bonnet that will be at dales soon maybe the rear end of bonnet is the same but i doubt.

Later Dodge Daytona springs fit and they're much lighter.
Mick

Bolt to anlges irons to the under side and use normal bonnet hinges and remove the springs and use some gas struts to aid in opening.

Thanks guys I think Anton has a great idea there. Do you know of anyone that has done this?

carefull with gas struts,they are much harder to close than you may think,normally you have a big heavy steel hatchback to help it down.
I think if you used them you would try to snap the hood in half as you try to close it,unless you can find some designed for a lightweight boot,bonnet,door etc..

Rich wrote:carefull with gas struts,they are much harder to close than you may think,normally you have a big heavy steel hatchback to help it down.
I think if you used them you would try to snap the hood in half as you try to close it,unless you can find some designed for a lightweight boot,bonnet,door etc..

Cheers Rich, I was thinking of just using the hinges without any springs or gas struts at all & having a prop to hold it up.

done it with a cuda lift off hood.fibre glass a length of over sized roofin batton under each side in the correct location running front to back then use those very course self tapping wood screw bolts that you can buy you can get them with a hex about 13mm spanner size and use a prop rod as suggesdted, you can use large washers as shims to get it all lined up correctly

Cheers Dunc, I was thinking about doing what you have said but using angle irons rather than wood.

Would I need to have bolts or something like dzus fasteners going through the top of the bonnet to hold the angle irons in place or would bolts going through the side lip of the bonnet be strong enough? (see marked photo):



Red lines represent the angle irons, green lines are small bolts going through the lip of the bonnet to hold the angle irons in place & the blue line the locations for the hinge bolts.

I'm I along the right lines?

You could bond in some alloy strip each side,say 19 x 8 mm and bond in some plate in the hinge area drilled n tapped for hinges.

right for a start the strips what ever you use are going to be circa 2-3" in toward the middle than what you are showing you dont need to bolt down or sideways through the hood just direct bond/glass whichever material you go with i would then use the nice mopar hood pin kit for the front,
believe me wood bonded on wiill be perfect and light,