Repairing the hood

(05/08/00) Now to fix that damned Unlimited Products hood.
The center of the cowl scoop had been sagging very badly (and bugging the hell out of me) ever since I installed it.

So I got a section of 90 degree angle aluminum and fiberglassed it in with some glass cloth and resin. I used the clamps to hold it into position while it cured.

After it cured I removed the clamps and you can see that the bow seems to have straightened out.
Oh...I used waxed paper from the kitchen to keep the clamps from sticking to the resin.
I learned this trick from Julia Child. It worked wonders for her roast turkey.

Then I cleaned the whole underside with lacquer thinner and roughed up the surface slightly with 400 grit paper.

And then I sprayed it with Duplicolor engine enamel.
I think this is gonna be close enough to the final color that it should work out all right.

I cleaned up the old hinges and sprayed them with silver engine enamel.
I'd like to find some chrome ones someday but this'll do for now.

(05/09/00) Then I talked Gayle into helping me cut some lightweight insulation into shape.
You can see how it extends up into the cowl portion and how the bow seems to be gone (for the moment.)

Here's the insulation cut and shaped and ready for gluing.

Once it was cut to shape, I used 3M Spray Adhesive 80 (the local store was all out of 90) to cover the hood and the back of the insulation.
Then I gently positioned it into place and pressed the glued surfaces together.

And here is the hood back on the car. I haven't decided if I'm happy with the job or not.
Time will tell as I get further into the underhood detailing project.

Next page: Preparing for paint.

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