dfire25

Well I'm finally in the market for an OAI hood for my 71 442. OEM or aftermarket. I know Thornton has the best hoods, but they are also the most expensive. I'm not doing a concourse restoration, but I want the fit and function of a factory style hood.

I've read several threads on here reguarding aftermarket hood manufactures, and I think I'll rule out glasstek. A couple people said they had to do too much work to them to get them right. Which leaves me to fiber concepts. Anyone try their hoods yet? They seem pretty good but how do they function? Can you use all the factory mounting and latching hardware?

The Parts Place also offers a steel framed OAI hood for the same price as a Thornton hood. Has anyone tried one yet? Their hoods come with the hold down pins and screen as well. They are only about 45 minutes from me but I don't know if they have any in stock for me to look at.

Also, if anyone has an OEM hood for sale please let me know.

Any thoughts and advice please feel free to share. This seems to be a popular subject here so I think people would like to know.

Thanks,
Dave

Gary's 2 442-S

The Parts Place must be now selling Thornton Hoods. I do have a Thornton Hood myself. By far the best choice I could have made. Some of the aftermarket hoods from what I have read required work. My hood required none. I have also seen a couple cars around here with aftermarket hoods and they did not look good at all in my opinion. If you do decide to use The Parts Place for one of their hoods, you might want to wait until Thanksgiving weekend to purchase one on line. They normally have a 10% discount during that weekend. Would save you some money.

dfire25

Thanks sharing Gary. That's the kind of hood I'm looking for, paint it and install it. I was at a car show the other day and this guy had a really nice 71 442 convert, I mean his car was beautiful. The only thing that wasn't beautiful was the big ugly bar he had propping his hood up. He had the light weight springs on it too. That's what I'm looking to avoid. Great advice about the holiday discount too!

Allan R

Honestly, I don't think PP is a vendor for Thornton. The 71!72 hood PP lists with a metal liner is their own design. Is it finally in production, because every time I contacted them about it in the past 4 years they never had it done.

Re: Fibrecocepts. They do reinforce the mount areas and hood latch so OEM spring as and latch can be used. Several members here have used them and haven't heard anything bad reported. Call Rob at FC and ask hom for references from customers.

I priced Thornton from buy, ship fit and paint and it's just not worth the $$$ it would cost for ny car. By the time you add under hood breather and lock pins, it would be close to 4500.00 for me.

dfire25

Thanks Allan.

I kind of had a budget of $5000 start to finish for a hood, but I really didn't want to spend anywhere near that. This is why the PP hood interests me. Their price includes the hood, screen, and lock pins as well. Granted what I would be spending in shipping I would have to spend in sales tax, but if I can get a holiday discount it might be worth it. That's of course if they have any like you said.

I guess I'll have to make some phone calls to talk to these venders. I also seen on their Facebook page that Thornton is out of 71-72 hood at the moment. How accurate that is I don't know. I'll defiantly call Rob at FC and get his advise. This might be the direction I will go.

Still waiting to hear from anyone out there that has an OEM hood for sale.

Allan R

I understand. OEM 71/72 OAI hoods are usually even more expensive than Thornton ones. Not 100% sure! but I believe the all FG hoods from PP with functional,air box are Glasstek. Have you also checked out VFN?

Gary's 2 442-S

Dave you might want to call The Parts Place and see if their 71-72 OAI hood comes from Thorntons. A few years ago Fusicks was selling Thornton Hoods. So as Allan mentioned The Parts Place did not have hoods in stock for the 71-72. While I am not certain who builds their hoods, I was thinking for the same price that they are getting the hoods now from Thornton. Take a look at my Thornton hood and another one from a different vendor. You can see the difference.

My hood
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Here is another vendors hood. The guy who owns this car said his body man had to do a lot of work on his hood.

tig66208

I'm doing this same research right now for my Rallye 350 and wondering if anyone has tried the Parts Place glass / steel hood. I can make the drive to pick one up and make sure it's in good shape, if it's worth the savings.

Allan R

Just got off the PP website and Holy Mackeral! Their hood is 2495 - just like Thorton's!!! I'd also love to know if it's a Thornton hood. If they're now distributing through PP, I'd bet they'll hit up Fusick and other vendors with the same product offering soon.

Allan R

There were 2 versions for the 1970 model. The first one wasn't a great offering but I'm told that the second one requires minimum tweaking. Check with Patton Glade (70Post on this site). He specializes in restoring the 70 models and has experience with the PP OAI hood. Their price is more competitive than PP and it is a steel lined hood.

tig66208

I'm talking about part # BP1151T at the Parts Place. It's the steel framed hood. For $729.

I'll check with Patton. Been trolling the forum all morning - seems this product is somewhat new and most info I've found is regarding the all fiberglass hood specifically.

Spoke with Thronton last week. They have that hood in stock and can ship within a week - so it does seem as if they are getting ready to supply others.

Allan R

Thornton has new molds for both the 70 and 71/72 hoods. You can see their process for product development on their FB page and you will see they have no shortage of steel frames/fibreglass tops for their inventory. I was just surprised to see that they've possibly taken on the PP as a vendor. I'd expect they'd do vendors like Fusick and Supercars Unlimited, OPGI, Tamraz and Year One first.The 70 hood from PP was the reference I was alluding to in the previous post btw. Seems like a heck of a good price point if it's what you're looking for.

dfire25

There is a huge price difference between the steel frame 70 hoods and the 71-72 hoods. I know they are a little different but, $795 for the 70 hood, and $2495 for the 71-72 hood! REALLY? Makes me wish I bought a 70 instead.


Allan I believe you are correct, the all fiberglass hoods at PP are from Glasstek. I had asked them when I was there awhile back about where they get there steel frame 71-72 hoods and they where really vague. They may have said something like they reproduce them but I cant remember. I know on their website they state they reproduce the 70 hoods, and the 71-72 hood just stated made in the USA.


Gary your hood looks great! Do you have any pics of it installed? The hood on the blue car looks pretty good, but YIKES! those stripes! Why would you do that? I guess to each is own, as long as he likes it.

dfire25

Also Allan, who is VFN? I'm not familiar with them.

tig66208

I called PP and inquired about the 70 hood, specifically how it is different than the Thornton.

I felt like I was talking to a slick used car salesman. "Oh man, you're gonna love it. Looks great, we sell a million of them." And no other real detail. I clearly got the impression, however, that it was *not* a Thornton.

He said I'm willing to pick one up from their warehouse, but would be hard to look at / inspect because they are all packaged up.

Anyone have experience with their OAI air cleaner assemblies? They seem reasonably priced as well.

I figure driving out there (6 hours, but through my home state with family along the way) is worth the risk if it turns out to be quality and a bargain.

dfire25

LOL that place kills me. I called PP myself a little while ago and got a different story. The guy barely said anything about the hood and I had to pry any information from him. He said they had several instock, and when I asked if they had any complaints on fit he's said no they sell a lot of then and they go fast. What? Kind of contradicted himself. I also asked him if I could stop by and look at one, he's said sure. Didn't say anything about being hard because they were boxed up.

dfire25

I'll probably still go and take a look at one at PP just for ***** and giggles. I just got off the phone with Scott (oldspackrat) and he straightened me out a little. I think my car is nice, but it's not that nice.

I would love to buy a Thornton hood but around $4500 for everything is a lot of money. Money that I can spend on other parts

I added up all the other parts I would need (new hood hinges, chrome trim, pin kit, new latch) and it came out to around $560. Plus figure around $1000 to paint it.

I have a call into FC so I'm waiting to hear back from them. My guess would be around $2600 for paint and parts. That's hoping it's just a paint and bolt on deal, no other work needed.

Gary's 2 442-S

Here is a picture of it

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Gary's 2 442-S

Tig,

My OAI assembly came from the Parts Place. You can see it on one of the pictures I posted.

Allan R

The 1970 steel frame hood that PP carries is NOT Thornton. It was developed by PP many years ago, and like I said the first version had its issues. The second version is reported to fit better and has most of the fitment issues addressed. It doesn't matter which hood you buy, it will need some bit of tweaking. The question is - how much? Because that's the other $$$ side of the equation - labor to fix,fit and paint.

Sounds familiar.

My bad, VFN Fibreglass Parts. Here's a link to their site. The Olds all fibreglass OAI with functional airbox is 450.00 plus ride. The make their own hoods - not glasstek. Folks I've talked to in the past who used them have good things to say about their products. Doesn't make this search any easier does it? http://www.vfnfiberglass.com/site.htm It's pretty easy to navigate the site and find the Olds section. Choose parts catalogues on the left side to get started.


Sounds about right. Some of their counter staff have the knowledge of road kill sometimes. And, if you go to pick up a hood? No brainer - you don't take it without inspecting it first. Note: when shipped the delivery agent is required to have you sign off that it was inspected and found satisfactory on arrival. How is that any different than pick-up in person?

Buy the air cleaner assembly from Thornton. Thornton guarantees their parts, plus they are 70.00 less expensive than PP.

Gary's 2 442-S

You wont have to replace your hinges,latch or your chrome trim with one of the Thornton Hoods. You would only need to replace yours hinges if you go with the all fiberglass hood.

Allan R

Gary, I think the all fibreglass Glasstek hoods aren't reinforced for the hood latch. They are cut out but I was under the impression no reinforcing added. Only vendor of all glass hoods I know of that allows for stock hinges and latch is Fiberconcepts.

Gary's 2 442-S

I think you are correct. From what I know is the stock hinges which I used on mine, are too heavy for the glass hoods. But Allan I still believe that those 2495 hood from The Parts Place is being manufactured by Thornton. I believe that any of the other vendors hoods can be made to look good, but at what cost?

Allan R

You very well may be right Gary. It's just too much of a coincidence to have a 71/72 hood magically appear with the same pricing as Thornton.

I looked at Fusick and their newest catalogue (48C) shows page 18 having both the 70 and 71/72 OAI hoods for 2495.00 also BUT they at least say the hood is produced by Thornton.

OPGI - no manufacturer stated

Year One - states Glasstek hoods all fibreglass.

Supercars Unlimited - does not sell hoods, just underhood components.

Tamraz - sells all fibreglass but not sure of supplier.

dfire25

I forgot to mention earlier, I talked to someone at Thornton and they said their only supplier is Fusick. No other.

Tamaraz uses Glesstek, I'm 99% sure of it. Heck, they are just around the corner from each other in Plainfield Il..

dfire25

Allan, thanks for the link to VFN fiberglass. I completely forgot about these guys. They are like 15 minutes from my house as well. Unfortunately it looks like they have a "Glasstek" style hood. Bolt on but to provisions for a latch. But it's another place I can check out because there close.

oldsmobilty

I talked to a guy today that has an original hood that needs some work on the metal frame for $1400 and a mint original but very pricey.

dfire25

Btw Gary, thanks for the extra pics. The car looks awesome!

DewChugr

I picked up a fiber concepts locally on CL for $600 for my 71. I don't know what the fit is like as my car is apart. The guy I bought the hood from is a friend of a friend and seemed to be very honest. He works at a high end body shop in town. He told me that he had test fit it on his car, but decided to sell it to put the money into another car. He said it fit very well.

What I do know, it looks nice and straight, it's black, there is no screen and the holes for the pins are not drilled. Some work is going to need to be done around the openings and I assume to make it fit.

I don't have any photos right now, but I can upload some later if anyone is interested. I'm pretty happy as I think it would have cost me 1000-1100 to buy it.

theoldsguy

I have a extra brand new thornton hood in the box and a new set of pins and hold down brackets and ram air cleaner I would pay shipping to you if interestd for3000.00 call me tomorrow if interested thanks Bob 813 267 5107

dfire25

Bob that sounds like a good deal, but I purchased a Fiber Concepts hood a little over a week ago. Hopefully in a couple weeks I should be getting it. I'll post pics when I do.

71cutlass350

Sorry to dig up an old thread but I'm going to be buying a fiber concepts hood here pretty soon and I'm wondering how yours turned out.

dfire25

Well.... There where a couple problems. I'm working with Rob to sort them out though. He has been very helpfull, and I have no dought in the end I will be very happy with the hood. As far as the fit, it fits good and looks good too. I still feel the hood quality is much higher then a glastek hood, so I wouldn't hesitate to by one from fiber. Unless you've got big bucks, then get a thornton hood.

71cutlass350

Glad to hear about the quality of the fit. FC appears to be much nicer than glasstek and I really like the metal support plates mounted in. I have talked to rob and he is very helpful. Hope you get your problems resolved

GINCSC

Re: Fibrecocepts. They do reinforce the mount areas and hood latch so OEM spring as and latch can be used. Several members here have used them and haven't heard anything bad reported. Call Rob at FC and ask hom for references from customers.

Hi Guys,
We are installing the Fiberconcepts hood on the 71 today. Here's the Question
Can the OEM springs from a flat OEM hood be used? I bought a set of lighter springs from Brothers and they are so light it can't hold the hood up. the weight of the Fiberconcepts hood seems to be close to the OEM flat hood.

Any suggestions on other springs etc would be helpful.

Thanks, Gary

dfire25

Gary, I also purchased a set of light weight spring for the hood but they weren't even close to holding up the hood. I then installed the springs I was using for the metal hood and it worked great. It wasn't too much effort to close the hood and it opened fine. I was worried about the springs being too strong, but that wasn't the case. It could possibly be that these springs are a little weaker then new ones, but I don't know.

How did your hood come out? Any problems? Please let me know.

GINCSC

Just got the hood it looks great out of the box. We will be fitting it in the next couple of days. I ordered another set of springs from OPGI they said they are rated for a 70lb hood. Rob at Fiberconcepts told me yesterday to not use the OEM springs unless they are really worn out. He said in the hot summer here in SC it could bow the hood when it got really hot. So far the fit seems really good.

Thanks, Gary

dfire25

I got lucky with my springs then I guess. It takes no effort to close or open the hood, so I'm going to stick with my springs.

I have a few problems with the finish on my hood, high spots, extra gobs of glue, and the catch not lining up. Rob ended up giving me money back on the hood, but I guess it is what it is. The car is at the body shop now for a repaint so it's up to the body guy to see if he can straighten out the problems. It's a good hood, it just need some work. Work I wasn't expecting.

GINCSC

How long have you had the hood? Did you paint it and then the issues came out or did you get it that way?

Allan R

According to Robb at Fiberconcepts that's the reason for the reinforcing being done. It's supposed to accept the stock hinges.

EDIT: funny he would say that. Just read your earlier post several ^^^ there. When I contacted him he said OEM hinges would work just fine. Something's changed??? IDK what to think now.