Six pack hood

[ACME A12]

Kind of hard to lift off a ‘lift off hood’ by yourself though isn’t it?

Not really hard. More of an annoyance that you simply get used to it. Reach through the scoop, grab the support structure underneath, lift straight up and pivot away from the car. Putting it back on I always lay fender covers on top of the fenders also covering the edge of the cowl where they meet and then yank them out from under the hood after it is back in place. Like I said, an annoyance that you get used to...

 

[33 IMP]

Picked off my a12 hood by myself all the time. I put a hand thru the opening for the scoop, palm up, and lift. Piece of cake.

 

[Plybeep68]

http://www.racingfiberglass.com/road68.htm#PL-114
Anyone know about this company?

 

[33 IMP]

Unlimited HAD a terrible reputation, but the company was sold and the new owner redid a lot of the molds, and everyone that has tried their stuff (that i know of, at least) say their stuff is quite good.
However, since they are local to me, and i pass thru Hesperia frequently, i would pick up and inspect anything i bought from them. It would save packing and shipping charges.
I dont know first hand about their packaging and shipping. The part may be perfect, before the shipper gets hold of it, then who knows.......?
I would buy from unlimited, cause they are local, except they dont build anything for my cars.

 

[CoronetDarter]

I ordered the 6 pak hinged hood from AAR/Stinger this week for the Coronet. Takes about 3 weeks because they build to order. Shipping from FL to CA so I'm crossing my fingers.

 

[66Satellite47]

Kind of hard to lift off a ‘lift off hood’ by yourself though isn’t it? I’m in the market for a hood right now and am also thinking of AAR. How was their customer service and product quality in your opinion? Thanks

Their customer service was really good. The delivery time was exactly what said it would be. The quality of the hood & scoop was excellent. Body man had almost no prep in order to paint.
Ya a lift off hood would be tough for me alone on my Satellite. No problem on my Arrow, but that was 30+ years & a lot of arm strength ago! LOL

 

[CoronetDarter]

Got the hood from AAR/Stinger. The hood is beautiful. The top side is smooth as glass (no pun intended); just needs a light sanding before primer and top coat.

 

[4mulas]

I also bought a hinged 6 pack hood from AAR last month and am 95% happy. Great customer service, delivered as promised, fit and finish was good, was able to get good gaps on all three sides. Will have to fiddle with making a new loop that goes into the hood striker as they drilled and tapped a hole for that slightly off.

Will require not much prep for painting.

I didn’t have much in way of expectations on it as they are made from a mold of an original, and the original ones never really fit that well. So, I guess they exceeded my expectation.

This is what I was talking about in terms of having a hole drilled slightly off.

Word to the wise to anyone buying one, fit it before you finish it in case it requires mods or body work. Century c-273 springs work awesome to hold up the new lighter hood.

 

[4mulas]

My body shop guy was fast! Dropped off Tuesday and it’s done today. He other black stuff to do I guess.

 

[Nevada dan]

Got mine from VFN test fitted and trimmed one from corner but I think it was my fenders fault , been repaired before, everything else fit pretty good including the latch

 

[CoronetDarter]

I also bought a hinged 6 pack hood from AAR last month and am 95% happy. Great customer service, delivered as promised, fit and finish was good, was able to get good gaps on all three sides. Will have to fiddle with making a new loop that goes into the hood striker as they drilled and tapped a hole for that slightly off.

Will require not much prep for painting.

I didn’t have much in way of expectations on it as they are made from a mold of an original, and the original ones never really fit that well. So, I guess they exceeded my expectation.


View attachment 1091959

This is what I was talking about in terms of having a hole drilled slightly off.
View attachment 1091960 View attachment 1091961

Word to the wise to anyone buying one, fit it before you finish it in case it requires mods or body work. Century c-273 springs work awesome to hold up the new lighter hood.

I'm test fitting it this weekend. I also got the hinged hood so I'll be sure to measure up the loop and the latch.
I've searched for the C-273, even on Century's website couldn't find it. I wound up ordering a couple from Century that have close specs to the 273. Where did you pick up your springs? EDIT: I searched online again and found a plumbing supply store in South Sac that has a pair. I cancelled the online order and picking the pair up.

 

[beanhead]

I didn’t have much in way of expectations on it as they are made from a mold of an original, and the original ones never really fit that well. So, I guess they exceeded my expectation.

So true.

 

[CoronetDarter]

Busy weekend so I didn't do much on the car, but I wanted to see how the hood latch and hoop lined up. Turns out it was a perfect fit.

 

[CoronetDarter]

My body shop guy was fast! Dropped off Tuesday and it’s done today. He other black stuff to do I guess.
View attachment 1091975

So now I'm searching for someone to paint the hood. A couple local shops I reached out to weren't very interested, too small a job.
Looks like it's going to be a side job for someone in the trade. I got put in touch with a guy in Sac that restores classic cars and he's willing to take it on. He quoted $1,500 all-in. Is that a reasonable quote?

 

[beanhead]

So now I'm searching for someone to paint the hood. A couple local shops I reached out to weren't very interested, too small a job.
Looks like it's going to be a side job for someone in the trade. I got put in touch with a guy in Sac that restores classic cars and he's willing to take it on. He quoted $1,500 all-in. Is that a reasonable quote?

Ouch $1500? I think that's too high for just a fiberglass hood, and yours appears to need very minimal prep. I'd keep searching and try to find someone that wasn't necessarily the "classic car resto shop' type of place.

 

[CoronetDarter]

Ouch $1500? I think that's too high for just a fiberglass hood, and yours appears to need very minimal prep. I'd keep searching and try to find someone that wasn't necessarily the "classic car resto shop' type of place.

I thought so too. I think this case was one where he doesn't need the work, but if I'm willing to pay he'll fit it in. I'll keep looking.

 

[4mulas]

So now I'm searching for someone to paint the hood. A couple local shops I reached out to weren't very interested, too small a job.
Looks like it's going to be a side job for someone in the trade. I got put in touch with a guy in Sac that restores classic cars and he's willing to take it on. He quoted $1,500 all-in. Is that a reasonable quote?

Sounds pretty high. Depends on what level of finish you want. Concours - yah maybe $1500, list of filling and blocking to accomplish that on both sides.

For Driver quality - $500. Some sanding, fill pits in the gel coat because they will start to show with some sanding, fill those, sand, primer sealer, paint.

 

[CoronetDarter]

Sounds pretty high. Depends on what level of finish you want. Concours - yah maybe $1500, list of filling and blocking to accomplish that on both sides.

For Driver quality - $500. Some sanding, fill pits in the gel coat because they will start to show with some sanding, fill those, sand, primer sealer, paint.

Yeah, I'm going towards Driver quality.

 

[CoronetDarter]

Picked up the springs today at a hardware store, C-273. Ironically if you go on CSC's website and search for the part number nothing comes up; you have to Google it.
I had a pair of old hinges laying in the garage so I tried removing the original spring. It's not too hard, put the hinge in a vice and using two stout screwdrivers I was able to pry one of the hooks off the hinge. Now for the obvious statement: do not attempt to remove the springs while the hinges are on the car. Something will dent or break.
Comparison of the 273's against OEM:

 

[33 IMP]

Darter, are you painting your hood to match the car, or a hot rod black, like an a12 car?
Edit. Those new springs are stouter looking than i thought they would be. Hope they work good for you.