When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
First time owning an OIA hood. Fiberglass with steel frame. This was repaired once before I purchased the car but I'm getting some hairline cracks /fractures in my paint (possibly fiberglass itself) again around one of my locking pins. The hood does drop lower on that side a bit . The other three corners are lined up pretty decently. Is this cracking common? Will an adjustment of the rubber stopper on that side help this? One concern is will the pin still reach it's bracket if I raise the rubber stopper a bit. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I'll include pics.
The factory OAI hoods didn't fit that well from the outset. Your hood droop is not unusual.
If you look closely you can see your chrome trim on the hood is mis-positioned, making the droop look bigger. If you correct the chrome trim placement, the droop appearance would be within normal range.
Don't use the hood bumpers to try to correct this; that will cause stress in the fiberglass. Adjust the bumpers to have light contact. And make sure you have the third bumper (near the latch in the center).
The factory OAI hoods didn't fit that well from the outset. Your hood droop is not unusual.
If you look closely you can see your chrome trim on the hood is mis-positioned, making the droop look bigger. If you correct the chrome trim placement, the droop appearance would be within normal range.
Don't use the hood bumpers to try to correct this; that will cause stress in the fiberglass. Adjust the bumpers to have light contact. And make sure you have the third bumper (near the latch in the center).
That's interesting. Thank you. I don't believe I have the center bumper definitely going to look into that.
But what about the cracking/fracturing in the paint around the lock. That's my true concern. Is that common? Should I be trying to close that hood more gently. Maybe dropping it from a lower height or not dropping it at all? What's causing that fracturing?
If an original hood it could be called age
It can be fixed but may not be cheap how bad is it overall
Alain
Red W-31
I posted pics above in the original posting. The car had been painted in June by the previous owner who noticed cracks around both pins and sent the hood back to the body shop to be redone. When I got the car the cracks were gone but something I've done to it between then and now in the last few weeks has caused the cracks to reappear.
Last edited by FINISHLINE; Sep 20, 2021 at 10:41 AM.
Maybe hood is on to tight to hood cushions these compositions hoods have a terrible fit and finish
Like I said it can be fixed but $$ and the adjustment
Alain
That is an odd one. I have seen plenty of these hoods. Never seen that. Is the hood original or aftermarket? Do you know how damaged the hood was before it was fixed?
Last edited by no1oldsfan; Sep 20, 2021 at 04:30 PM.
I'm really not sure if it's original or aftermarket. It does have a steel frame which I At one time believed made it an original hood. But somewhere on this website in another thread I read that there are some aftermarket that have steel frames. Anyone here correct me If that's wrong.. I did get pictures of the original cracks before they were repaired , followed by pics after repair. And like I said when I took possession of the car the cracks were gone. This new damage looks very similar .
How badly was it damaged? Could it be that the metal frame is not fixed properly and is stressing the fiberglass? Can you post pictures of the underside of the hood? That might help identify the hood as original or not. Maybe post pictures of the hood damaged.
The pics of the current damage are at the beginning of this thread. Not sure if I have still have the pics of the original damage that was then fixed. But ..this current damage looks very similar in size shape. It's not horrible. I can live with it for now. But I would like to do whatever possibe to stop it from getting any worse.
As ar as pics of the inside frame. Is there a particular section, part, part # etc that I could focus on that would help identify it. It's a big hood as you know for just a wide shot of the underside.
The more I look at it the more I'm realizing it can only be a few things causing it. Strong/hard contact of the underside of either the hood or pin assembly against either the hood bumper or that latch on the receiving end of the pin. Something is jarring that area around the pin hard enough to crack the paint.
Many body shops do not have sufficient experience in fiberglass repair. If you decide to have it fixed, take it to a shop that repairs Corvettes. They will be able to diagnose and fix the problem, whether it be loose bond to the frame or incorrect glass repair.
I suspect the latter because even the paint around the repair is not done well (tiny fish-eyes are present).
A Corvette specialist repaired my OAI hood 10 years ago and did a superb job.
Yea, and too, someone has had an orbital sander on your hood pins, but that is an easy fix compared to the paint. I'm a fanatic about my W30 hood, so I don't drop the hood to close it--ever.
Many body shops do not have sufficient experience in fiberglass repair. If you decide to have it fixed, take it to a shop that repairs Corvettes. They will be able to diagnose and fix the problem, whether it be loose bond to the frame or incorrect glass repair.
I suspect the latter because even the paint around the repair is not done well (tiny fish-eyes are present).
A Corvette specialist repaired my OAI hood 10 years ago and did a superb job.
I agree. The way that the same cracks keep showing up I would suspect incorrect fiberglass repair.
Originally Posted by tnswt
Yea, and too, someone has had an orbital sander on your hood pins, but that is an easy fix compared to the paint. I'm a fanatic about my W30 hood, so I don't drop the hood to close it--ever.
EVER. I never slam any hood. Let alone a fiberglass hood.
Ok guys . Thank you Lesson learned, go easy on the fiberglass slamming. As always I appreciate the knowledge and camaraderie. Newbie has been schooled again!!! 😂.
Depends on your definition I guess lol. I was definitely dropping it from 3"-5" inches . Haven't owned a car like this since 1986 and that's how I closed that one back in the day. Of course it wasn't an OAI. I will definitely be taking more caution with this one.
I bet every OAI hood has been slammed any number of times over the years, but since the hoods are so darn expensive today, and hard to find too, I just take a little extra precaution and lower the hood until the safety catches, then give it a final push to catch the primary latch before twisting the hood pins down. It may take 5 seconds longer, so no big deal. In my mind at least, I think I doing the right thing as I don't have fiberglass cracks...yet
Something else? Do you mean something else other than my theory that the hood is making too hard of a contact somewhere? Either with the inside pin bracket or the hood bumper or?
I only worked fiberglass in the car stereo world. To me it almost looks like the fiberglass was repaired right at the crack. In that circular pattern. I don't see that happening in a normal circumstance. Like it was cut out and repaired in that pattern. Might make sense to repair the hood to a broader circle. Unfortunately so many 69-72 hoods met the demise of people hitting the nose on whatever. That's one reason 71-72's have the tongue mounted separately. Post a picture of the front of the hood from underneath. Like where the pins come thru.
I only worked fiberglass in the car stereo world. To me it almost looks like the fiberglass was repaired right at the crack. In that circular pattern. I don't see that happening in a normal circumstance. Like it was cut out and repaired in that pattern. Might make sense to repair the hood to a broader circle. Unfortunately so many 69-72 hoods met the demise of people hitting the nose on whatever. That's one reason 71-72's have the tongue mounted separately. Post a picture of the front of the hood from underneath. Like where the pins come thru.
We can see some possibilities for the source of the stress cracks.
In the first picture, there is a crack in the hood frame, starting at the round cushion pad and extending back beyond the hood-pin retainer. Also appears to be a delamination between the hood frame and the fiberglass. Look to the right of the hood retainer, near the edge there is what could be a crack. Examine that spot.
In the second picture there is evidence of heavy contact between the hood pin retainer and the core-support bracket. The upturned edges of the bracket have been hammered down in two areas. The aft bolt of the pin retainer has contacted the bracket.
That contact would cause the stress cracks on the fiberglass surface and in the hood frame.
Last edited by VC455; Sep 23, 2021 at 07:33 AM.
Reason: added an observation
The crack in the hood frame must be welded. A Corvette repair shop or a skilled welder can do this without damaging the fiberglass.
The hood pin engages the core-support bracket about thirty thousandths forward of center. Sometimes you can adjust the hood pin retainer to center it better. At worst you will need to nudge the hood back at the hinge. Use some modeling clay to see where the pin engages the retainer. This will prevent contact between the pin and the bracket.
The impact between the bracket and retainer is more serious. You will need to adjust the hood hinges to give more room between those parts, even if other parts of the hood wind up too high.
Remove the rubber bumper, put your modeling clay in the area where the retainer bolt hits. Close the hood gently and engage the pins. Adjust the hinge until you get clearance between those parts.
The delamination between the hood and frame will require adhesive to repair. This is another job for a Corvette shop.
Wowsers...that's a project right there!!
. I'll put it on my list!!!
For now, until I can get into the depth of what you just explained to me and make that a project in itself... Would you suggest just taking off the receiving bracket on that side? Just to avoid any more hard contact and further damage? The hood still has the two stage latch through the bumper and then up under the nose of the hood so the pin is not the primary latching system for me.
Ty
Last edited by FINISHLINE; Sep 23, 2021 at 09:07 AM.
Compare this picture to the one in post #29. It appears the hood frame is pushed up between the bolts of the retainer. This picture even shows the bolts holding the retainer are at a slight angle caused by that damage to the hood frame. The retainer is straight, so the problem does not lie there.
You will eventually need to take the hood to a qualified shop that can repair the glass and metal parts. They should be able to weld the crack in the hood frame and pull out the damaged portions of the frame. Don't let them completely separate the frame from the hood unless they have a way to positively and correctly locate the two parts before rebonding. Otherwise your hood will no longer fit your car.
From your pictures, new core-support-mounted brackets would be a good addition.
If an original hood it could be called age 
