I have a nice Accel BB stealth FI unit that I would love to put on my El Camino. But as close as I can measure, it appears that I need about 1 more inch of room under the hood for it to fit :-(

I had been considering the Unlimited Products 2 1/2" Cowl hood... but as I have read up on it here, apparently I do not want to go there.

The Goodmark metal version unfortunately has a bunch of support framework under it and thus really does not provide any more clearance than a stock hood.

I don't really want the large hump of a 4" hood.

What are my options?

The silence is ominous... it is starting to look like I have no options...

I saw a '67 at a show last year that had all the bracing cut flush and then had a flat sheetmetal panel attached to the underside of the hood to finish it. I would bet that you could do this to a stock hood and not loose that much strength. A 2-1/2 - 3" glass cowl hood would be nice, but I have not seen any less than a 4" for the '69.

Yeah don't go with unlimited products, they are a horrible company with a ton of complaints with LA better business bureau. They have over 130 complaints including mine. I bought one of their cowl hoods and some fenders. Long story short I received defective parts, they refused the return of them so now I am out $750. Just thought I would let you know since you mentioned their name.

I just put a tpi in the one I am building..I went through several motor mounts..and the ones I came up with was the old school ones..alot shorter...so I would lean into that,,

Randy

Goodmark Industries (http://www.goodmarkindustries.com) has a 2" steel cowl hood for $449.95 + $20 pallet charge. Part #4032-200-691 according to their website.

Look at my car in my signiture i have a goodmark 2" hood and it fits and looks awsome.

DId you find a hood that would work that was 2 inch rise?

How much strength will you lose by cutting the bracing out? I have an SS hood out in my shed that had it cut out, and it seems pretty ridgid. I wouldn't sit on it, but I wouldn't do that to my stock hood either.

Where I am at at this point...

I found a Goodmark steel cowl hood on Ebay that was semi-local. So I picked it up for $250. My current thinking is that I will not feel as bad cutting it up inside as I would an original factory SS hood like I have now.

I am going to try and cut as little as possible. I do not think the bracing is as much about supporting the hood as it is about making the hood more torsionally rigid. To that end I may end up making an inner perimeter brace around where I cut out the bracing X.

But I will see just where it all ends up when I put it all together and maybe with the motor mount selection I did previously and the variances of different hood sheet metal, I might not have to cut anything. Yeah right ;-)