Well, the body shop says 'no' on cutting the steel hood. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/frown.gif So I'm now in the hunt for a fiberglass cowl hood. What size cowl would you guys suggest? I was thinking either 2" or 3" with the blower. 4" would be too radical I think...

Who makes the best quality cowl hoods? I've heard good things from Glasstek and Harwood but would like to hear from some TC'ers who have used their products. Thanks in advance!

Buddy of mine just went out and got a steel repro of his '55 hood. Cut it up. That way he still has the original.

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Dave Bradley
www.corvetteforum.net/classics/d1_bradley (http://www.temp.corvetteforum.net/classics/d1_bradley)
'69 SS396 ragtop
'33 3W Coupe
'65 Vette BB Roadster

GO with Harwood, they are a cleaner finish and require less work to get them completed as in bolted on and painted. Plus the cowl on the harwood looks nicer in my opinion than the glastec where it meets the windshield.

As for size nothing beats the look of a 4" on a Chevelle! anything else just looks funny. You should ditch the carbs and go injected, maybe EFI if it's a street cruiser, or Mech Gas just a WAYY meaner look.

good luck, and as always, for pics of my blown 70 chevelle with the 4" cowl click the link below.

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Jaber Racing&Restorations
My Blown Alky 70 SS (http://home.attbi.com/~superstreet70)
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Thanks for the idea Dave but a steel hood will not work due to design. The cuts I need to make will affect the integrity of the hood. Since I'm forced to replace what I have, I'm going with fiberglass just cut down on the weight as well.

J70, your setup looks aggressive IMO. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/cool.gif Thanks for the suggestion but I'm not ditching the carbs bro. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif I'd like the Holley's poking thru the hood somewhat. Just not sure how high the cowl should be. I've heard that Harwood makes a good product too.

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Blown 502, 1970 Malibu - Gold Member #39
Keep America Beautiful - Drive A Brute Force Chevelle!
http://bruteforcechevelle.freeservers.com/

Wes.....Young feller http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif I went with glasstek ...Great fit and finish ...However Harwoods have a show finish under side and the glasstek does not.......I would go with a 2 or 3 ich The 4 looks good but it hides alot of the blower......IMO........

You need to slam that thing on the ground and get some beefs back there........ http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif


We are all looking for some live action .....How bout some videos http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

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[This message has been edited by blaauboer (edited 01-31-2003).]

Thanks Scott, I think I'll be calling Glasstek on Monday to place an order. I hope they produce a 2" cowl hood for our year model...fingers crossed! Agreed, I don't want to hide all of the blower/carbs.

You want some vids, eh? A good one would have been me fish tailing the car while cruising at 55 mph! Talk about freaking me out this afternoon! Man, the torque on this thing is unbelievable!! http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif



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Blown 502, 1970 Malibu - Gold Member #39
Keep America Beautiful - Drive A Brute Force Chevelle!
http://bruteforcechevelle.freeservers.com/

I'd have to agree. I've seen a couple of blown cars with 4" (or taller) hoods. I like my 2 1/5", it just looks right to me.

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Jim

"You're not afraid of a little mouse, are you?!"
Noisy Cricket (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/10sec69/engine6.jpg)
'69 Chevelle, blown 355 (http://www.geocities.com/jimschevellepage/)

That's the pic I was trying to imagine in my minds' eye Jim. Is that a Glasstek or Harwood piece? Would you change anything about it? It looks cool, thanks for sharing. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

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Blown 502, 1970 Malibu - Gold Member #39
Keep America Beautiful - Drive A Brute Force Chevelle!
http://bruteforcechevelle.freeservers.com/

Actually, it's an Unlimited. Go with Glastek or Harwood, much better quality. I have mucho hours just getting the topside decent but there's no help for the underside. This is definately more of a lightweight race piece.

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Jim

"You're not afraid of a little mouse, are you?!"
Noisy Cricket (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/10sec69/engine6.jpg)
'69 Chevelle, blown 355 (http://www.geocities.com/jimschevellepage/)

Hey J70Chev,

Do you always paint with a dust mask or respirator?
I saw a pick of someone painting with a dust mask http://www.chevelles.com/forum/eek.gif

Actually that's the guy who did the bodywork. He wasn't painting, it was doing some spot prime work after body work was done on the panels. Personally I wouldn't use a dust mask, but this dude has been doing body for a long time so maybe he has enamel coated lungs to protect him lol

After doing some checking around, I ordered a 2" cowl hood from U.S. Body Source. Thanks everyone for the feedback.

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Blown 502, 1970 Malibu - Gold Member #39
Keep America Beautiful - Drive A Brute Force Chevelle!
http://bruteforcechevelle.freeservers.com/

What kind of lamo body shop are working with? The steel hood can be modified and still be strong. It's been done many times over the last thirty years. Nothing new to cutting and strengthening the hood. If you bring up here to Granbury, I'll do it for free. All it takes is some angle iron from Home Depot.
If you go with a fiberglass hood, a stock cowl rise looks best IMO. I like Harwood's products. No matter what fiberglass hood you get, it still will have to be modified quite a bit if you want a hinged hood. And the fiberglass will have to worked to get smooth and slick. I like steel better than fiberglass any day.

Jimmy, I think you are forgetting that this is a finished hood with paint already on it. No heat (ie welding) will work and they were not fond of using glues either. Besides that, with the cuts where they were going to be, one would be able to easily see the supporting framework underneath by looking thru the blower hole. It would not have looked as clean as I wanted it to.

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Blown 502, 1970 Malibu - Gold Member #39
Keep America Beautiful - Drive A Brute Force Chevelle!
http://bruteforcechevelle.freeservers.com/

Why not weld it, do it the right way and re-paint it?

I'm not willing to trash that hood considering what would have to be done. It's perfect as is and would serve as a good back up in the event that I ever go back to a NA set-up.

Besides, a nice 2" cowl induction hood will look better (IMO), be 45lbs lighter and only cost $500 more. It should be here in 6 weeks or so...can't wait. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

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Blown 502, 1970 Malibu - Gold Member #39
Keep America Beautiful - Drive A Brute Force Chevelle!
http://bruteforcechevelle.freeservers.com/

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Wes Colby:
I'm not willing to trash that hood considering what would have to be done. It's perfect as is and would serve as a good back up in the event that I ever go back to a NA set-up. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Exactly what I was thinking. No way I'd trash that hood.

I can't wait to see the finished product. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif



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