Has anyone bought a ram air hood from Thornton's. If so did it take a while to get it. I have been trying to buy one since past August and finally in Feb they took my order. Still dont have the hood yet but when I called this week they are now saying by end of June.

 

Funny you should say that. Same thing I got last year when they were supposed to start offering them for sale in JUNE 2008. I also put in an order; and they never contacted me back. I know they produce a good product. Their price has gone from expensive (1200) to ridiculous 2399 for whatever reason??? I don't know. At one time back in 2005-2006 they were supplying Fusicks exclusively with their hoods. Now it seems that you can't get them from either source. Let us know if you ever get your hood, cause I would like to get one too. But, like you I don't know if they will actually get around to it this year either\

FYI - We know what you mean by Ram Air Hood, but that's not the proper decscription. Ram Air was a Pontiac term. The proper way to describe it in Oldsmobility terms is OAI (Outside Air Induction). You will also have to get the air cleaner setup that goes with the carb to make it truly functional as intended by Olds.

 

I am beginning to wonder if I will ever get it,because they told me in Feb that I should have it by end of March,then when I called them,they said in about six more weeks because they had 2 orders ahead of mine and it takes about 2 weeks to make one because they only have one mold. So I called back this Thursday and they said they told me the end of June,but they said they may have one ready next week ready and will give me a call. I am going to wait til the end of June because in about 6 weeks I am going to be ready paint my car. I have heard thru this club that they are the best out there and that is why I have been willing to wait. The price is expensive I know but for a good fitting hood is better than the hoods I have seen on a couple cars around here,they just dont fit good,just might as well keep my original hood which is in very good shape and it has the louvres in it.

 

Good luck with Thorntons. Hope you get the hood. Shipping will probably cost a lot since they are in PA.

FYI on the louvers you have, one thing most people do wrong with them is paint them all the same color. They are supposed to have 2 colors. the top of the fake lovers, including the inboard line that connects them all up is supposed to be silver. The rest of the louver is supposed to match the car body color - if you need a picure of what I mean, LMK and I'll post it for you. You can get a really good job done at a powder coat shop. I talke to several of them here at a trade show and they said the two step process is no problem, just costs more.

Are you going to put the W-29 graphics on the hood? I'm thinking of doing that with my car and one of the local graphics shops can make this decal for me. It will match GM exactly because the dimensions are in the 72 Cutlass assembly manual.

Post some pics of your car b4 the paint so we can see what the transformation looks like ok?

 

I dont think I will use the W29 stencil. It looks ok,but not all that fond of it. If I dont get the Thortnton hood then I will paint or powder coat the louvres. But if I get the w25 hood I want to put the w30 appearance on it.The Parts Place sells the stencil or the stick on.

 

Thorntons stiffed me on a set of SS1 wheel centers on e-Bay.

Took the $$$ from PayPal, and never shipped the parts.

I eventually got my money back about 6 weeks later from PayPal.

Good luck.

 

I know what you mean about the stencil. When mine gets put on, if I don't like it, I'll peel it.

If you put W30 on the car, its not just the W25 OAI hood and air can you install. It means it should have the 455 and TH400, plus FE2 (heavy duty 1' sway bars front and back + posi with 3:23 or 3:42 gears. Also a "misconception" by a lot of would be restorers: 1972 wheel liners were all black; not the red ones that you could find in some pre 72 years. They stopped producing the red liners in late 1970, but you will find some 1971 cars with them. Some odd ball combos are out there with one side red and the other side black. Good old GM - consistent to the end.

W30 emblems are easy to get from most repro stores.

 

My 442 does have the 455 engine with 400 trans. The engine has the GA heads,not the original engine but it is the correct year. It also has the front and read sway bars,I am not sure if the rear end is posi or not but it is 10 bolt. I drove when I first got it for a bit and engine is very powerful with a cam in it. I know I wont be putting the red wheel wells on it either,I have already purchased new black ones from the Parts Place. Getting ready next couple of weeks to put disc brakes on it and replacing the body bushsings,I was going to take the body off the frame but I got under it a sandblasted the frame and use Por 15 on the frame. I was thinking that the Thorton hood would be a plus to this car,but I decided that if they dont call me by end of June,I am just going to blow it off and use the original hood on the car.

 

Good that you have a 455/400 combo. To check whether it's posi, put both rear wheels with jack stands. turn one side. If both wheels go the same way its a posi. If one turns one way and the other goes opposite - not posi.

To check the axle ratio, put a white chalk mark on the drive shaft. get a friend to turn one wheel 10 full revs. You count the number of turns on the drive shaft. 32=3.23, 34=34.2, 37=3.73 etc. You could also have higher ratios like 2:56, 2:73 etc.
If you wire brush the axle tube on the pass side you should find a set of stamped letters. You might even find the casting number of the axle (about 7 numbers long) Use this link to determine your axle/ratio (assuming the axle has not been changed out). http://www.442.com/oldsfaq/ofocd.htm

Since your car does not have disc brakes, its likely an early model production for 1972. Olds started putting disc brakes in the Cutlass around Mar/Apr 1972. Prior to that they were power drum fronts.

 

Hey Allan believe it or not,Thornton's just called me. I paid them and they are shipping the hood on Monday.They are saying that I should get it in about 4 days

 

Impressive. I'm really glad to hear you got it!!! Let us know how it looks when you unpack. Like to know how close it is to a straight bolt in without much tweaking. You can use your original hinges from the steel hood on the Thornton one. No changeover required like the straight fibreglass replicas.

PM me and let me know who you were talking to at Thorntons. I'm gonna call them about a hood for my car.

 

OK EVERYONE I FINALLY RECEIVED MY HOOD FROM THORNTONS TODAY. IT APPEARS TO BE VERY WELL BUILT

 

MORE PICTURES

 

SOME ADDITIONAL PICTURES

 

real early 72 w-30's got leftovers from 71,saw one at an Olds meet here a few years back.

if you dont want to fake your car up with a w-30 emblem,you could do the triple pin stripe on the side(these are in the wrong spot,should be lower on the belt line),and still do the stripes on the hood,like this car.

 

Very good looking car. My car was very similiar in color with the vinyl top being the same color as yours,that is a great combo ,same interior color too with the pin stripes also but I am sold on the W30 package and going back with a vinyl as well. I know a lot of people dont like the vinyls but my car had no rust under it at all

 

That is the first time I have seen a Thornton hood. Looks pretty nice, I would like to see them built. Let us know how the fit is because everything else looks great. How much did that set you back?

 

with shipping 2665

 

I'm wondering if a friend of mine might have been ahead of you in line for the Thornton hood. He ordered, and waited, and waited, and WAITED! Many, many phone calls, and it finally arrived at his shop about 4 weeks ago........BENT!!!!!!!!! He said that their packaging of the hood for shipment left a whole lot to be desired. So, now he's back on their list to get a replacement. Not a happy camper. They build them one at a time?

 

You are correct they do build them one at a time. They said they have only one mold and it takes about 2 weeks to build one. I intially made an order with them back in Feb and they told me I should have it by the end of March,got a different time table every time I called. I dont see anything wrong with the hood I purchased from them. If anyone wants one of their hood they are going to have to be very patient.

 

Naw, that's not a very good looking car,.... It's FANTASTIC looking. In fact it could be mine, except it's the wrong color, has 442 emblems, grills, Thornton hood...etc Are you going to paint the hood stripes on too?

I'm also going with vinyl top on mine. It will be black on a silver body with the wider side striping.

I just noticed, there's a pretty good sized gap between the stone shield and the hood tongue. Is there anyway to adjust the stone shield to close it down? I have this same problem on my car; the gap is around 1/2 inch and I've seen lots of them with a much smaller gap.

 

Does it squeak when you move it up and down ..?

 

This is one of the reasons why I did not go with the Thorton! Too much money to gamble with little recourse if it doesn't go well. What are you going to do now?! Wait another month for them to build you another?!?!

 

WOW! That's pricey! I went with VFN for $595 since the hood is not original anyway.

DSC_5077.jpg

 

geat looking car and the hood looks really great. I could have gotten an all fiberglass hood for 500-600 but I had seen couple of those hoods here in town and they just didnt fit all that well. Sometimes a lot of work has to go into them just to align properly. Your hoods aligns very well from your picture. I had to think about it long and hard before I bought the hood. My wife thought I was crazy but I told her that you only live once.

 

Thanks. My hood lined up great. Maybe I got lucky... and wives will always think we're crazy

 

Well, I buckled and got the PartsPlace hood (steel bottom with glass top). Turned out to be not too bad! Paint is just finished and now it's time to finish putting the car back together !

 

I see they finally got them, I had called them also. They could not tell me at the time when they were going to get the steel frame hoods for a 72. And I called many,many times. Did it fit for you ok with an modifications? I still dont know how my Thornton hood fits since I am still (slowly) working on my restoration. I thought I would have gotten to the painting stage but I finally finished my floor and now just have to put the brake system on. Did you paint yourself?

 

Looks really nice. You might have to shim the rear of the front fender so it lines up with the rear of the hood. Awesome looking car!

Ummmm, that's the same old line of BS I've been getting from them since 2005 about their 71/72 OAI steel lined hood. Sure their fibreglass hood looks good and is functional, but I want a steel lined one too and at a reasonable price. I'm thinkiing you'll have a Thornton hood installed and painted for at least 5 years before PP ever comes close to putting theirs on the market.

 

I got a OAI hood from Tamraz and it completely blows. when i got it, the hood looked like it had been sitting in the back of the shop for 10 years. it was all scarfed up. then i tried to fit it, an the hood was warped, the one side matched up ok, then the passenger side dipped down below the fender about 3/4 of a inch. i called them back on it, and they said there was nothing they could do about it. i have had nothing but greif from tamraz, terrible customer service

 

Sorry for your bad experience.Others have had problems similar to yours when buying these hoods,I know that is the reason I went with the Thornton hood (still no guarantee). Looks like 442 much had much success with his hood, it looks wonderful. I have used Tamraz on many occassions and have never had a problem with them. I bought all of my sheet metal from them with no problems. The guy at Thornton told me that if there is a problem with the hood to send it back before I do any type of alteration on it which I thought was fair. The thing about any part that we might purchase,that is not fitting correctly even if the vendor does accept it back,the buyer still has to spend money on shipping again,so I guess you still loose.