I'm in Hood Hell!!

[AusTx68]

I'm on my third hood and counting..let me explain.

Hood #1 - New cowl hood purchased from a now defunct board vendor. Looked great but fit like garbage. I'm anal when it comes to lines and gaps so it had to go.

Hood #2 - Found a pristine 68' hood. I mean this thing was beautiful. Paid $400. Kinda high but it was damn nice. I dropped the hood off at the paint shop along with $450 worth of paint material. Add $175 to media blast the hood and $500 for labor (includes welding up all the holes)...this has turned out to be an expensive swap. A few days go by and I get a call from the paint guy. Hey, the hood is ruined. The media blaster warped the hell out of it!! SOB!

Hood #3 - Media blasting company (Highpoint Power Coating) takes full responsibility and agree to replace the hood. I tell them to get one from Green's Restoration in Cameron, Texas. I called Larry ahead of time and explained the situation. He picked it out and they made the 2 hr drive to go get it. Hood #3 is now in the hands of the blaster who insists they will get it right.

A week goes by and I get a call from the paint guy, "Hey, I need you to get over here. We got a problem." Sob! Guess what..the hood is warped..again! WTF!!

That was today. Now the paint guy insist we go with an aftermarket hood and have them pay for it. Hell, my whole reason for swapping was to get away from aftermarket garbage!

Now I wish I kept the first cowl hood! Lines were bad but it looked good with the hood up! Luckily the guy I sold the hood to is a friend of mine. He's not using it and said I could have it till I get a new hood. I just might buy it back!

[Beat68CST]

No media blasting for you, soda blasting for now on.

[AusTx68]

Originally Posted by Beat68CST

No media blasting for you, soda blasting for now on.

These guys had previously soda blasted my whole truck so I didn't think I had to worry. On hood #2 they used sand. Said it was their mistake. On #3 they said it was soda.

[Jacfourteen]

wow that sucks! I don't have any advise for you, but I hope your luck changes.

[69 GMC forever]

oh Man I feel your pain ................ I am almost in tears that 2 mint hoods got wrecked. Hope it all works out for ya

[tonypaul]

You should get the orginal hood back that I bought from you, its a good hood. Just got a very minor spot on the crown thats not even a big deal- Super easy fix....
. Im not gonna use it, I was about to put it on craigs list.....

[AusTx68]

Originally Posted by tonypaul

You should get the orginal hood back that I bought from you, its a good hood. Just got a very minor spot on the crown thats not even a big deal- Super easy fix....
. Im not gonna use it, I was about to put it on craigs list.....

Thanks for the offer Tony. At this point I'm thinking of going with something new or get my old cowl hood back. It's already painted!

[gkesseru]

I use aircraft stripper on flat sheet metal that is prone to warpage. I only use sandblasting on heavier metal or on areas that are structurally strong, like the bed steps, for example.

[71meangreenc10]

I here ya, I am in the same boat, that just drives you crazy.

Smitty

[fishingjred73]

What was the fit issue on the cowl hood? The crown on the top of the fenders not matching the hood or somewhere else? I've got one for mine so that's why I was asking. O I love your truck!

[cdowns]

Originally Posted by Beat68CST

No media blasting for you, soda blasting for now on.

soda blasting is media blasting soda is the media

[nastyc10]

Joseph, I've got an original 68' hood in my shed if you want to see if it fits like you want. I'm not going to use it on anything.

[stich626]

walnuts are your friend..
I'd have d/a'd it and only have plasted where the d/a didn't get..
sorry man sucks al around..
at least you can see the junk ones to guys that want a solid hood that isn't perfect..

[AusTx68]

Originally Posted by fishingjred73

What was the fit issue on the cowl hood? The crown on the top of the fenders not matching the hood or somewhere else? I've got one for mine so that's why I was asking. O I love your truck!

The area between the hood cowl and the side edge was slightly bowed on the passenger side. So as you sit in the truck looking out the windshield, the flat part of the hood on the drivers side was flat. On the passenger side you could see the hood was slightly bowed. This prevented it from reaching the far edge to line up properly with the windshield cowl.

Originally Posted by nastyc10

Joseph, I've got an original 68' hood in my shed if you want to see if it fits like you want. I'm not going to use it on anything.

Thanks Phil. I will keep it in mind.

[Dieselwrencher]

I just purchased a cowl hood and it is a tri-plus one. It fits way better than I was expecting. If I put it back in this week, I'll post up some pics for you.

[BadaSs_Cal]

Originally Posted by gkesseru

I use aircraft stripper on flat sheet metal that is prone to warpage. I only use sandblasting on heavier metal or on areas that are structurally strong, like the bed steps, for example.

X2 on that one... Or poor a half gallon of Jasco.. that metal on that hood is too thin, and expensive to fix if something goes wrong.. U can bondo the hell out of panels... but hoods always look like crap if their not 100%.. Good luck getting it figured out man.