Hello all,

I have a W30 hood and the 2 hood lock holes on top are covered up. I was wondering if I could use a hole saw to open them up to where they need to be? I was going to use the top off of a spray can as a template.
I believe the diameter is 3 1/2 or 4 inches.

 

The repop hoods I've seen have the depression cast into the hood skin. Then you only need to drill out the center for the pin rod. Would you post a couple pictures of your hood? Both the top where the chrome pin will go and the underside where the pin will come through? John

 

I ended up getting the hood for very very cheap from a guy who gave up on his cutlass project. He had the body shop do repairs and they ended up covering the locking holes. He included a brand new set of locks, hindges, and everything else.
So are there any recommendations for me creating the new holes? If i could do it with a hole saw I was going to stop by harbor freight after work tomorrow.

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Not much that i can think of. Seems like the guy's original plan was to have the W30 look while cleaning it up a bit by eliminating the twist pins. You could just run it as a normal hood without the twist pins if you were okay with that, otherwise im not really sure how you would fix it

 

If you can find the spot where they filled the hole, use a hole saw.



Use a 2 3/4. At the top of the hole it's 3", but it bevels inward at the bottom to 2 3/4. If you can do any fiberglassing you can fix up any messes you make if you cut too far.

 

Oops.....I didn't notice you already mentioned using a hole saw. It'll work if you can find the exact spot. From the looks of the pictures, you can see where they did the work because there's a flat spot.

 

I'm guessing you could find the EXACT location of the center on the undeside of the hood, drill a pilot hole from the bottom, and then finish with the hole saws up top

 

70 mach 1 mustangs and other ford cars used a very similar hold down, I believe it has a triangular shape grip instead of the rectangular olds shape and is probbably a little smaller, but these do not get mounted in a recess they get mounted in a hole, just a thought, they are sokled on ebay for the complete kit and also dearborne classics etc etc etc

 

Yep....that would be the best way to find the center. I'm assuming they fiberglassed the hole over because that would be a lot of mini-fiber and putty to fill that big hole.

 

I bought the Oldsmobile hold downs from The Parts Place for $130. I could have gotten it for $90, but didn't realize the light duty springs came with the $130 package. I didn't reallly need the springs as I have a factory hood on my car.

 

If it is a metal frame hood I'd run it w/out them. Depending how they filled it in you could end up with a real mess on your hands trying to fix it up.

 

I was thinking that too. But I like the looks of the hold downs and I can fiberglass and do the bodywork myself, so I'd cut them out. But if the OP doesn't do bodywork, I'd do like you said and leave it "as is".

 

I think your probably right I mean if you go slow, and keep checking where you are cutting maybe you could peel out much of the bondo? ( do you think they glassed over it?) I'd say you will be able to do a fairly neat job of it, on the other hand as droptop ron said what did they filled it with?

it still is fiberglass, and that is much easier to work with then trying to weld in a deopression... good luck with it, I am sure it will come out excellent.

 

I would say it's glassed over because the void for the hold downs is a pretty big hole. If it is just filled it with bondo it would be much easier to find the original opening....whereas if they glassed it, they'd grind some of the surface back for the glass to stick. Looking at his pictures you can see a different colored primer spot where the holes used to be. And it's pretty big......which makes me think they glassed it.

 

In that case the hood hold downs would be useless. They're designed to fit into the recess molded into the hood. Is it safe to assume this is a bolt on hood? If it doesn't have a metal frame, what's going to keep the hood from flying open? Without those hood lock downs, this hood is dangerous. OEM's had the double hood latch system AND the W25 lockdowns.

I still like the idea of a pilot hole from below. Will any chance you could post a pic showing the bottom of the hood where the lock downs should be?

 

I agree they'd be useless if this is an all fiberglass hood. I went under the assumption that this was a fiber on metal hood because the OP didn't say differently and the guy who covered the holes obviously thought the hood could be latched by the original method.



I'm not sure how helpful this will be if his has a fiberglass frame because mine has the steel frame. But here's what mine looks like.

 

If a body shop did that to an original OEM hood, they'd have a lot of explaining to do - especially if it was my hood. I'd bet dollars to donuts that the hood in question is all fibreglass. No one in their right mind would just give up an OEM W25 hood like that when their Cutlass project tanked. As you know, they are very pricey (you just lucked out my friend)

 

You're right about the person having a lot of explaining to do if they did that to a real W25 hood, but I've seen stranger things than that. (not to a W25 hood, but I've seen people smash "like new" condition Trans Ams and Camaros just for ***** and giggles)

But in this case, I'm wondering why they would fill the holes if there won't be any way to hold the hood down? There's no way they can use the hood latch unless they did something similar to Ahpilot's hood where they took part of the frame of the steel hood for the hold down.

Yes.....you're right about my hood. I was extremely lucky to find it at the price I did. I still get excited whenever I look at it. The car is going to be beautiful when it's done! If you ever want to see full pics of it, let me know. I've got some before and after pics.

 

There's no accounting for what people will do to parts like this. I wouldn't discount the idea that it's an all fibreglass hood. One of our members sistered in the front metal work from his 72 hood on the front of his VFN hood, which would give the necessary strength and be able to use a factory hood latch system. The tie downs are also part of the look that helps give authenticity (???) to this style of hood. I would REALLY like to see the bottom detail of that hood.

I would LOVE to see before and after pics of your car. You should start a thread with it for all of the guys to see. As you know, we're a very visually orientated bunch..

 

I'd also like to see the bottom detail of his hood and if it is possible to find where the original latch down holes were.

My car has quite a bit to go before it's done, but at least it's in primer. I'm hoping to have it painted before the summer is over. Then next year I'll tackle the interior.

I have it temporarily assembled so I can take a few pictures of it for friends who'd like to see it before I paint it. I plan on starting a thread showing pictures of the car very soon.

 

Hello all. Sorry about being absent. I'm usually on here almost every night but dealing with long hours at work and 4 kids tends to get a bit distracting. LOL!!!!!
I'll go to my man cave and take pics of the underside tomorrow after work and post them for you to see. It was a mystery to me how the previous owner planned on holding the hood down also because the holes underneath are completely covered up. The bottom is as smooth as a baby's bottom.
To answer a few of you guys question the hood is ALL fiberglass. I couldn't pass on the $100 price tag. My plan was to drill a hole from underneath and basically do what OLDS 71 442 said with the hole saw. I'm pretty crafty so if i take my time I'm confident that it will turn out well. I'll even post the pics of before and after.

Luckily I have a OEM w25 hood to mimic from. I'll have the hoods next to each other and work that way.

 

Major score for 100.00. Plus you have an OEM?? X2 on the wow factor. You have any idea who the manufacturer of the all fibreglass hood is? Looks like VFN quality (which is really decent). Looking forward to your pics. Glad to know you have a plan to 'fix' that problem with the hood locks. I'd prolly use some extra metal reinforcing in that area now that it's been modified once already.

 

$100! Very good deal. I would've bought it for that too. I do bodywork for a living so that wouldn't be a big challenge for me to fix that. Plus....if you have a factory steel hood, you can use the front part of the hood to make a regular hood latch out of it. Urethane windshield sealant would be all you'd need to fasten it to the fiberglass hood. I use a compound called 920 sealant....which is similar to the windshield urethane, except it's used for marine purposes.

 

You should start doing that with some of these VFN hoods. Buy a bunch of scrap 71/72 hoods and start making higher quality steel reinforced ones. (latch and spring mounts) I'd buy one from you depending on what kind of margin you need to get. You'd still get reasonable salvage $$ on the donor parts. Heck you could even do fitment to perfection and prime so it's ready to just paint on arrival...

(Ducking for cover, cause I'm sure you don't need all this extra work...but I was actually serious there....)

 

I could definitely do that. The biggest problem is finding steel hoods to junk and add the frame to the fiberglass hoods. I think the best fiberglass hoods to use would be the pin ons as there are no fiberglass frames underneath to cut out of the way. I'm not sure what the Glasstek hoods look like underneath?

I wonder if anyone with aftermarket hoods can post pictures so we can see which ones can be modified to a steel frame. I'm not sure what VFN or Glasstek look like underneath, but the other one that costs around $1100 has a fiberglass frame underneath that looks similar to a factory hood.

 

I'll give you a little sample of my work. The reason I got my hood so cheap is because there was damage to it. Everyone seemed to be afraid to buy it. The guy I bought it from kept saying "you're crazy man! You're crazy" thinking it wasn't fixable, but when I sent him photos of what I'd done (which took me a day and a half to fix) he flipped. Telling me that it looked amazing.

Before:



After:





Also.....the Bittersweet paint on that hood is the original paint. When I sanded it, it went from the orange paint to the black gel coat down to the plastic-y looking fiberglass. It's the same type of glass that's used on Corvettes.

 

Eddie,
You did do an incredible job! Only a day and half? WOW. But then I know your time is geared to production.

The VFN hood is supposed to be a high quality - similar to fibreconcepts. They do have functional air boxes, which is a big draw (no pun intended). And the price of VFN is 595 + freight. If I can find the front of a steel hood (not the one one the car now - it's too nice) and separate the inner liner, you want to try a VFN reconstruction? I like the idea, but I gotta check with the Mrs. about the $$$ because I am retired now and not making the big $$ (ha) I used to.

 

I just purchase an fiberconcepts hood. It's has an fiberglass frame, but I'm happy with it. Rob did use steel reinforcement. I'm not sure how to post pics, but it looks real nice

 

Sure......whatever you wanted done, I could do. I'm not sure how much the shipping from there to here and back would be, though. I think it would get pretty expensive.

 

I upload my photos to Tinypic.com. After it's uploaded, then hit the [IMG] option to post it here.

 

Hey Alex! Glad you like your fiberconcepts hood. I'm just playing with options right now. From what I've seen on the web, FC is right up there with fit and finish quality. Love to see pics of your hood project! You'll start your own thread on that, right?

 

@ Allan R- Thanks, and i will continue to post on the thread I starting a couple of weeks ago. I just have not had time to post any pics.

 

[QUOTE=Allan R;409512]Eddie,
You did do an incredible job! Only a day and half? WOW. But then I know your time is geared to production.

X2

 

I'm going to try and tackle mines tomorrow. I have to go get a hole saw.
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Would you like me to take some measurements of the hole on the bottom of my hood so you can get an idea of where to drill? I'll even try one of my holesaw bits and see what size you'll need to drill up from the bottom.

I should also add that hood looks nice underneath....that was a very good deal! I'm still not sure if it's Glasstek or VFN or Fiberconcept?

 

Would you like me to take some measurements of the hole on the bottom of my hood so you can get an idea of where to drill? I'll even try one of my holesaw bits and see what size you'll need to drill up from the bottom.

I should also add that hood looks nice underneath....that was a very good deal! I'm still not sure if it's Glasstek or VFN or Fiberconcept?



Yes please. That would be great.
I will start working on it as soon as I get the measurements from you.
I'm not sure who manufactured the glass neither. I havent seen a mfg marking on it anywhere.

 

Ok.......from the front of the hood, where there's a drop (see arrow) from that crease, it measures 2 1/2 inches from there to the center of the hole. From the driver's side of the hood (if you're measuring for the driver's side hole) it's 2 1/16 from the edge of that bump to the center of the hole. And from the passenger side of the bump (for the driver's side hole) it measures 1 inch to the center of the hole. I didn't check to see if the passenger side was exactly the same....it should be. I'll go check after I post this just to make sure.

And the lower hole for the hood hold down is just under 1 1/8. I used my 1 1/8 holesaw bit and it was binding a little bit. I also think the 1 1/16 will be slightly too small. It's your choice which one of these you'd like to use. Either will work.

So the hole should end up somewhere around where this dot is......

 

That looks like a glasstek hood. The fibreconcepts hood will have a cutout and reinforcement for the hood latch. VFN also comes with a screen mesh over the airbox. I think that hood could have come from Parts Place, Tamraz, or OPGI

 

?? You giving up on it already? http://www.ebay.ca/itm/ws/eBayISAPI....#ht_500wt_1271 FYI the selling price you listed is pretty high considering that a new one (glasstek or VFN) can be bought for less than 600 and no mods needed to put the hold downs in. Well, good luck with your sale.

 

No, I'm not giving up. I've already started working on it. On my iphone i have a app that lets me post my listings automatically and the hood was thrown in there from previous postings. I should have it bolted on after the holiday weekend.