Hello everyone. I was looking at the ram air hoods for a 70 Cutlass from The Parts Place. Has anyone purchased one or have any recommendations on an aftermarket hood? Thanks in advance.

 

I've not really heard good or bad about the Parts Place hoods, but it's well known in the Oldsmoobile world that Thornton's produces the best reproductions. They are more expensive but you get what you pay for. See link below.

https://www.thorntonmusclecars.com/c...FdrhyAWaeBJrfb

 

Thanks Cincinnati Rick. I was looking at their hoods as well. It may be worth it in the long run to buy a better quality hood. My wallet is a bit of a cheapskate though. I appreciate your time.

 

I've heard several horror stories about the parts place. Their customer service is horrible. I would only buy sheetmetal from them if you are able to pick it up and inspect it before purchase.

 

Thank you. I’ve heard about their customer service. Do you have any experience buying from Oldsparts.com? Their hoods look identical to The Parts Place. I wonder if they source their hoods from them. Thanks for your reply. I really appreciate it.

 

I have bought a lot of items from the Parts Place over many years. My overall experience has been positive and certainly better than with, say, OPGI. When considering purchasing a reproduction hood from any seller, one needs to be careful and do a lot of research.

Before buying from Oldsparts, do a search on this Board.

 

I bought a 64-67 console base from them. They mis-shipped a later unit. I made 1 phone call, and they were very accommodating. The correct unit was promptly shipped and a return label emailed for the incorrect one.

 

I bought the steel frame w25 hood about 5yrs ago from ThePartsPlace (with the appearance package). The fit is mostly ok (front fit really well, even with the tooth, gaps are reall good. The trim area in the back is raised higher than the fender trim ( the angle of the fiberglass lip holding the trim is at a higher angle). i believe i can adjust this with some surgery (would be hidden by the trim) but haven't gone there yet. The fiberglass top (covering the steel frame) is ok and there are a bunch of imperfections that needed addressing. It's really heavy (not sure if it's more than stock), and if you use aftermarket hinges, like Ring Bros, the only shock that keep the hood raised also throw off the alignment near the rear trim due to the pressure, to the point that i might give up and go back to stock. You'll need some tweaks to the fiberglass to make perfect, or at least presentable.

As for ThePartsPlace, it's been fair and lead times are mostly accurate. OPGI is hit or miss with fitment and most stuff isn't in stock. Fusick is good. Avoid the after market sport mirrors from china as they are POS and the metal is defective (at least mine were).

Ed

 

I really appreciate it 70ish. Your reply is a huge help. There isn’t much information or experience reviews out there. Wish Thorntons weren’t so pricey. Looking at about $500-$800 just for shipping to California. May not have a choice. Thanks again.

 

Personally I have had decent experience with their stuff. Like all reproduction stuff the parts may not be perfect.

For the hood specifically I would take the advice of others and not cheap out. A mis-aligned hood or bad reproduction hood is one those things you will always be looking at on your car and my hard won advice for anything body work related is that if a more expensive part will fit with less fixing, then get that. The effort to make bad bodywork parts fit is almost never worth the price savings.

 

Thanks Earlspilner. You are absolutely right. I’m going to order one from Thorntons.

 

I have had nothing but positive experiences from the Parts Place, I think you mean the original parts group OPGI.. they are terrible. Unfortunately they have many many items and usually at the Best cost problem is is half the time they don’t have them in stock and you wait and wait and wait.

 

I’ve had to wait for parts from opgi in the past. I ordered some floor pans from them and wasn’t getting any updates on when they’d be shipped. I ended up canceling my order.

 

Not that it's my business, but you could be the one guy at the show with a non-OAI hood. Money can't buy that kind of individuality.

 

Glass is half full approach. I like it Koda. That’s always an option.

 

Koda, you're absolutely correct. I remember in 1970, the only time we saw OAI hoods were on W-30's, and they (W-30's) were few and far between. Today, you rarely see 442 steel hoods. AND TODAY, you see many, many, many, more "W-30's" than I ever saw on the street or track in 1970.

 

I’ve had good luck with PP, fast shipping and a fast turnaround on a damaged part, way better than OPGI.

 

Thank you. I appreciate it. I’m just worried about having issues with one of their hoods. Saving money now may be more costly in the long run.

 

For items like this, oftentimes, there is one manufacturer making a part that is sold through multiple vendors.

 

I would stay far away from Parts Place. Bad products, bad customer service and a return policy that sucks.
If that doesn't bother you, have at it!

 

I just now realized that. Thank you so much.

 

Too many negatives coming from Parts Place customers. I’ll steer clear. Thank you.

 

Thorton went to the extreme of effort, investment $ and time to get the OAI hoods to the level they sell today. I have never purchased one, but people that have claim they might be better constructed vs the factory original OAI hoods. I don't recall the full story, but it took years of work to create their OAI hoods you can purchase now.

 

Thanks for your reply. I have made up my mind and will pull the trigger on one of their hoods. The peace of mind alone will be worth the premium price.

 

While the owner Steve is a decent long time good Old enthusiast, he probably does not stock the 1970 Parts Place hoods. He is only a middle man that has connection with PP and re sale to you. I have a 70 PP hood that I never installed. I would consider selling, but its not worth the shipping hassle from Texas.

 

For what it's worth, the repro O.A.I. hoods probably don't fit any worse than the OEM ones.

 

Thanks for the consideration Texas442. I’m ordering the Thornton hood today.