Cobra R Hood - After market or Ford Racing I can't decide

[Methodical]

I have a 95 Cobra. Soon I will be purchasing a Cobra R hood and I need you'll opinion. Which hood manufacturer should I purchased the hood from and why? Thanks for the help.

Ford Racing
Cervini
Others

 

[_MATiC]

i have heard good things about cervini's fitment and overall quality. i think it would run u a bit more if u went with the ford racing one. not too sure on price but if ur lookin for a quality piece, go with cervini.

 

[ponyboy19]

I believe the Cervini's is actually 1" higher than the OEM R hood.. I bought mine from Classic Design Concepts and it has a 1.5" cowl over stock for a 2.5" total cowl. I believe Cervini's is 2.5" over stock and according to Cervini's catalog theirs has a 3.5" total lift.. When I bought mine at CDC they told me that the R hood they sell is made by the company that supplied Ford with the OEM 95R hoods? Anyways here is a link.. Quality and fitment is excellent.

http://www.classicdesignconcepts.com/catalog/itemdisplay/496.html

 

[Nik_95Cobra]

I parked next to one with a cervinis R hood and they were the same height only the rear cowl's shaped a bit different on the cervinis. I run the Ford Motorsport one, has a big factory metal striker so you don't have to worry about it flying up on you and you don't have to run fugly hood pins. Cervinis is prepped a bit better out of the box though. Also you can save the money on shipping (around $100) from cervinis and get one from your local Ford Motorsport dealer.

Edit: HO Fibertrends is the one that made them for ford.

 

[SorsCode]

I drove hour and half and picked my hood up for HO Fibertrends... Got it cheaper than you would thru ford plus no box and shipping fee.... But I live in Ohio..

 

[Methodical]

Hey thanks for the quick responses. It appears both the ford and cervini are good pieces. I guess I have my work cut out for me with the decision.

 

[ponyboy19]

The link i posted for CDC states 1.5" rise. factory is I believe 1" which would give a total of 2.5" cowl

Cervini's list there's at "height of lift 3-1/2" which is an inch taller.. You can read for yourself here at the bottom of page 10 or 12 in PDF format.
http://www.cervinis.com/NewFiles/2004 Catalog.pdf You may want to call each and find out.

Either hood is top quality.

Methodical: I forgot to give you a link in response to you PM. here are two pics of mine.

 

[Nik_95Cobra]

I get wholesale from the dealer so that was the deciding factor when I got mine, no shipping either. Actually, I have to say when mine was parked next to the car with the cervinis hood, it actually looked better the way the cervinis has a tad more setback on the rear cowl. Prep is VERY important with the FMS hood, they like to get pinholes in them after a few weeks/months I as have other fms hood users have experienced this...

 

[Methodical]

The link i posted for CDC states 1.5" rise. factory is I believe 1" which would give a total of 2.5" cowl

Cervini's list there's at "height of lift 3-1/2" which is an inch taller.. You can read for yourself here at the bottom of page 10 or 12 in PDF format.
http://www.cervinis.com/NewFiles/2004 Catalog.pdf You may want to call each and find out.

Either hood is top quality.

Methodical: I forgot to give you a link in response to you PM. here are two pics of mine.

Ponyboy I like that. I'm starting to lick my chops. Do you remember the part number for that hood?

Also, a dumb question, but one I must ask. Is their a chance that I will have to use hood pins? I do not want hood pins. Again Thanks

 

[Nik_95Cobra]

You'll need hood pins unless you do the HO/FMS hood. It uses factory striker. Do a search on how many aftermarket hoods fly up, there was a recent post about it not sure if it got lost in the stangnet crash or not. If you don't use em it's your gamble pretty much IMO.

 

[94CobraPace]

The Cervini hood is finished on the under side, I don't think the Ford one is, it is rough.

My Cervini hood is top quality. The underside is as nice as the top.

 

[Venom351R]

I just bought a cervini's stalker bumper that is being painted now. Its a very good high quality peice just like all there Items. Even the body shop said it was one of the highest quality aftermarket parts they had seen. I was able to do the prep work on it myself and saved about $75-$100 on the paint process. There products dont need to much paint prep.

 

[RIO5.0]

I went with H.O. Fibertrends 1 1/2 Cobra R....I wanted a good latch from the horror stories.... when this mother shuts you no its not coming up...and didn't wanna run hood pins anyway...
FRPP gets 595.00....H.O. makes em anyway...I pd 354.00 shipped.
The top is gel-coated but the blanket area is raw fiberglass but sealed well.
Only thing I had hoped for was to have the cowl open to the engine bay, which its not...there's a 1" gap for airflow though...this summer's project is to cut the mother open...Although you get alot more motor noise with the R hood...you can def hear the RRs singing away...

I painted the center Black...to kinda hide the textured look of the glass.

Then paint...something different..

 

[Rrich]

I went with H.O. Fibertrends 1 1/2 Cobra R....I wanted a good latch from the horror stories.... when this mother shuts you no its not coming up...and didn't wanna run hood pins anyway...
FRPP gets 595.00....H.O. makes em anyway...I pd 354.00 shipped.
The top is gel-coated but the blanket area is raw fiberglass but sealed well.
Only thing I had hoped for was to have the cowl open to the engine bay, which its not...there's a 1" gap for airflow though...this summer's project is to cut the mother open...Although you get alot more motor noise with the R hood...you can def hear the RRs singing away...

I painted the center Black...to kinda hide the textured look of the glass.

Then paint...something different..

do you have a website for the ho hood?

 

[RIO5.0]

Here you go...http://www.hofibertrends.com/

I had to wait for 2 wks for mine while it was being made...He was out of em..

 

[ponyboy19]

Ponyboy I like that. I'm starting to lick my chops. Do you remember the part number for that hood?

Also, a dumb question, but one I must ask. Is their a chance that I will have to use hood pins? I do not want hood pins. Again Thanks

http://www.classicdesignconcepts.com/catalog/itemdisplay/496.html Is the hood I have. I went down and picked it up a few years back. You can call them and check, but it sounds like it may be made by HO as well. As far as hood pins.. You won't need them with this hood.

 

[SMOKEDYA]

dont cheap out man!!!! go with cervini's i bought mine and to the state of washington it was a grand total with shipping $540.00 awsome fit and yes the underside looks as good as the outter side as well!!! no complaints from me top quality!!!!!!! peace




john

 

[SeventyMach1]

I went with H.O. Fibertrends 1 1/2 Cobra R....I wanted a good latch from the horror stories.... when this mother shuts you no its not coming up...and didn't wanna run hood pins anyway...
FRPP gets 595.00....H.O. makes em anyway...I pd 354.00 shipped.
The top is gel-coated but the blanket area is raw fiberglass but sealed well.
Only thing I had hoped for was to have the cowl open to the engine bay, which its not...there's a 1" gap for airflow though...this summer's project is to cut the mother open...Although you get alot more motor noise with the R hood...you can def hear the RRs singing away...

I painted the center Black...to kinda hide the textured look of the glass.

Then paint...something different..

That doesn't appear to be a functional cowl hood..... but I may be wrong. I know the Cervini's that I have has a mesh backing and catches air from the cowl.......

 

[Methodical]

What's up all. Just an update. For reasons below, I decided to go with the original Ford Cobra R hood from Ford Racing. I know it costs about $100 more but for reasons below I was comfortable with that. I purchased it from my local speed shop, therefore, no shipping cost involved.

1.There were some comments out there (this forum and other forums) about the possibility of having to use hood pins for the Cervini hoods. No hood pins for me. Yes I know it depends on how the hood is installed, but I did not read any of those comments about the Ford piece. Also, the price of the Cervini Cobra R hood (per Cervini) in the MM&FF (I think May issue) was $459 plus $80-$100 for shipping, which put it right there with the Ford Racing costs or slightly higher. I figured I might as well get the original hood and therefore, I can't go wrong . I am not knocking Cervini products.

2. I could not get Ford Racing, companies that sell Ford Racing products and Ford dealerships to confirm that HO Fibertrend actually produced the Cobra R hood for Ford (i.e. proprietory information per Ford). You see I am an Auditor and I will do lengthy research before I delve into any project. Also an auditor I need confirmation (professional skeptisism) - hard to let go been doing this for years and I know how people can tell you anything and paint a rosy picture but show you nothing. Hey, just one man's opinion.

3. I talked to a person at HO Fibertrend and was told that it would take 4 weeks to get the Cobra R hood, plus the person was not very informative or forthcoming with information about there hoods. I need to feel comfortable with someone to purchase from them. Plus I am not waiting 4 weeks to save $100 and have my project pushed back a whole month. I am ready to get my Cobra back on the road for the summer.

Thanks again for all of the information you fellas provided. Very helpful in my decision process.

 

[yellowstang1994]

I don't understand why everyone is saying you need to use hoodpins with cervinis hoods. They are one of the best aftermarket body parts companies to date. I work at a bodyshop and we've done many cervinis hoods before including a lot of my friends that have them. If you install them correct I don't see why they would fly up, unless someone put one on their car and installed it incorrectly. When you get your hood painted, just get the bodyshop to install it for you. So in the case you are worried about it flying up then it will be on their install and most shops that warranty their work will gladly fix the damages for you. Other than that, please don't boycot cervinis because a few people might of installed their hood incorrectly.