My 66 has been in the bodyshop for 23 months, the paint job is near completion.

The major problem my bodyman is having right now is with the die cast hood louvers.

The louvers just don't seem to fit the curvature of the repo hood. (these louvers are originals)

Also, when he had them off the car, they were nice & flat, he had them all painted & buffed. When we put them on the car, and tightened the speednuts, the corners of the louvers curled up from the hood surface, and the louvers developed 3 sink holes on the flat portion of the top surface of the louvers, corresponding to where the studs are located.

Bottom line they look like hell!
Anyone with experience in getting 1966 SS hood louvers to be perfectly flat and matching the hood curvature please help me out!

Should I get the repo louvers, or continue trying to get the originals to work? The material seems to be too unstable & pliable...

Does this die cast white metal get more dimensionally unstable with age?

Anyone have the repo louvers, how well do they fit the Goodmark repo hoods?

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the world of reproduction "Junk"......but be careful ......(Vendor Bashing).....Actually....I had the same problem and ended up finding an original "SS" hood and the problem went away......Imagine that...

Ken graemlins/beers.gif

http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/SS396Convert/side4.JPG
http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/SS396Convert/nova.jpg

Well, actually the hood is not the problem, its the original louvers that are giving me problems...

I just don't want to waste more $$$ on repo louvers if someone can give me a solution to fixing the originals...

they will never lay perfect. mine are not perfect either. I have noticed on other 66's that they are not perfect at the corners. this must be the way the are. i slightly pounded mine down at each corner and they look better. WARNING they will break easy! i dont encourage any one to do that.

test fit, test fit, test fit. The importance of test fitting every body part before final stages of bodywork and paint is very important for a quality job, and less stress.

Well, thanks...

But test fitting we did, that is not the issue.

The problem is dimples develop in the top surface of the louvers when the speed nuts are tightened to attatch the housings to the hood.

My painter went and looked at a few all original 66's and he says he sees the dimples on all of them.

As far as the corners, he says he has seen cars with and without repo hoods, the repo hoods just don't match up as well with the louvers as the original hoods.

It appears the dimpling is an "original" flaw, just so happens that I am only noticing it now...

i went back out and looked at mine. i guess i never noticed either. they are a little wavey when you bend down to eye level and look at them. Not as bad as yours i dont think. cant even see it when standing upright.