Shelby fiberglass hood

19simmons65 · Jan 9, 2006

Guys:

I'm dropping the Mustang off at the shop on Tuesday afternoon for a much needed paint job. The original hood for my '65 is in good shape but I really want the Shelby fiberglass hood. I've heard that the fiberglass requires a lot of body work but I'm wondering if the "fiberglass over metal" version requires less body work. My thought is that the metal prevents warping. Is this true?

Also, what are my options for locking the hood? I'm not crazy about the standard hood latch. Nor, am I crazy about the pins the P/O installed. Pictures of a '65 would help.

Thanks in advance,
Regie

xoxbxfx · Jan 9, 2006

glass over metal is an option but no matter what you get or where you buy it from, its gonna need some work. All fiberglass products shrink and expand a bit after its pulled out of the mold when it warms and cools. Its going to have its highs and lows no matter what.

19simmons65 · Jan 9, 2006

Is it worth the extra money to get the metal version?

fasttback · Jan 9, 2006

I was woundering the same thing about the metal frame version.

I recently purchased a plastic/fiberglass framed version from Mustangs Plus. I knew that the fiber hoods would take some work, but not as much as I experienced.

I had or need to work on:

wavy top finish
bowed drivers side (sticks up above fender)
hood short about 5/8"
safety latch drilled about 1/2" too short

other than that...it looks good.

frost0100 · Jan 10, 2006

I have the fiberglass shelby hood, and it is of pretty good quality. Im sure once I primer it, I'll need some slight sanding to smooth it all out, but over all it is a high quality piece, and fits perfectly. Sorry I cant help out with a vendor, I purchased it used from a friend. But I can tell you that it is not the cheap flimsy ones - Keep in mind, when buying fiberglass go for the higher dollar ones - they are usually better

geordie · Jan 10, 2006

fasttback said:
bowed drivers side (sticks up above fender)
hood short about 5/8"
safety latch drilled about 1/2" too short

\

Wow. I'm looking into buying an A/FX style teardrop hood from Crites or similar for my '65.....when I get some money. These problems your describe sound serious, I'd be sending the thing back. How do you go about fixing a hood thats 5/8" short in length.....build it up in length with fiberglass.......sounds like a hell of a lot of work.

fasttback · Jan 10, 2006

geordie said:
\

Wow. I'm looking into buying an A/FX style teardrop hood from Crites or similar for my '65.....when I get some money. These problems your describe sound serious, I'd be sending the thing back. How do you go about fixing a hood thats 5/8" short in length.....build it up in length with fiberglass.......sounds like a hell of a lot of work.

I would have sent the thing back, but Mustangs Plus described these things as "normal" and an associate should have told me about them. That day, I refrained from blowing up and decided to post the poor quality GT350 hoods Mustangs Plus was selling...hopefully others will not make the same mistake.

As for fixing the short hood, a suggestion was to drill/bond some metal as a base and fiberglass around it. Paying nearly $400.00 for a hood - I shouldn't have to do this. The best way to buy one of these hoods is to see it on the car before purchasing.

19simmons65 · Jan 10, 2006

$400..wow. I haven't seen one that cheap yet. Both of the mustang shops I visit don't have anything for less than $525. The metal version is about $625.

I think I'm going to spend the extra money and cross my fingers. The good new is that I have some time before i haveto make the decision.

I dropped the car off at the shop earlier today and my body guy wasn't too happy when I told him what I was planning. I think he's had a few bad experiences too.

Frost, how did u handle the hood pins? I'm looking at the repo Shelby pins. I also think those cables are pretty cool.

Regie

frost0100 · Jan 11, 2006

I too like the cables, but kinda worried about paint chips etc. Im thinking about getting the pins that just turn and lock down no wires.. Havent gotten that far yet.

tillerman85 · Jan 11, 2006

Shelby Hoods

Hey Guys,
I have just gone throught the Shelby hoods fits this month myself. After much research here and elsewhere, all the advice I was getting was telling me to buy either a Branda hood or one from Cobra Automotive in Ct. I ended up buying the Branda and was very disappointed. I bought the steel reinforced fiberglass framed one and it didn't fit well and was very thin. It would been a nightmare to block sand. Of course when I called them they claimed never to have complaints about their hoods. They didn't offer to take it back and with the shipping costs I figurerd to just sell it locally at a loss. Their shelby side scoops even fit worse but I am shipping those back. In the mean time I was meeting a guy in Seattle to buy some fenders and he was getting a hood from a guy that makes them in Canada (near Seattle). Dave (the canadian), was taking a date coded steel frame and bonding the Shelby Fiberglass hood to it. This was for a concourse restoration. It looked great. My body man talked me into buying a different hood but Dave in Canada didn't have any steel frames to use. He also builds a steel reinforced fiberglass framed one that he also reinforces with I believe both carbon fiber and kevlar. So I had him build me one of those. He uses his own mold off of an original Shelby hood and went a far as using the front 6"-8" of a steel hood for the mold to correct the length and lip issues of the original Shelby one. When I got mine I was nervous that it wouldn't fit well (I'm really anal) but it fit excellent! Better than I could have expected. It took minor block sanding of the gel coat and only needed spot priming to fill minor imperfections. My body guy says he has never had a fiberglass piece so nice. Dave is also one of the nicest people you'll meet. He has been building this Shelby stuff since the 70's and his business is fiberglass, plastics and other composites (he may be able to do a carbon fiber one. He even does improved 67 Shelby fiberglass. His prices are very reasonable and no, I don't get a commission, just trying to save someone the same headache that I went through. Within the rules of Stang net can I put his name and number on here? Or just e-mail me and I will get it too you.
Good Luck,

John

P.S. 2 weeks until paint!!
How do I post Pics on here? They are always too big???!!!

fasttback · Jan 11, 2006

tillerman85 said:
Hey Guys,
I have just gone throught the Shelby hoods fits this month myself. After much research here and elsewhere, all the advice I was getting was telling me to buy either a Branda hood or one from Cobra Automotive in Ct. I ended up buying the Branda and was very disappointed. I bought the steel reinforced fiberglass framed one and it didn't fit well and was very thin. It would been a nightmare to block sand. Of course when I called them they claimed never to have complaints about their hoods. They didn't offer to take it back and with the shipping costs I figurerd to just sell it locally at a loss. Their shelby side scoops even fit worse but I am shipping those back. In the mean time I was meeting a guy in Seattle to buy some fenders and he was getting a hood from a guy that makes them in Canada (near Seattle). Dave (the canadian), was taking a date coded steel frame and bonding the Shelby Fiberglass hood to it. This was for a concourse restoration. It looked great. My body man talked me into buying a different hood but Dave in Canada didn't have any steel frames to use. He also builds a steel reinforced fiberglass framed one that he also reinforces with I believe both carbon fiber and kevlar. So I had him build me one of those. He uses his own mold off of an original Shelby hood and went a far as using the front 6"-8" of a steel hood for the mold to correct the length and lip issues of the original Shelby one. When I got mine I was nervous that it wouldn't fit well (I'm really anal) but it fit excellent! Better than I could have expected. It took minor block sanding of the gel coat and only needed spot priming to fill minor imperfections. My body guy says he has never had a fiberglass piece so nice. Dave is also one of the nicest people you'll meet. He has been building this Shelby stuff since the 70's and his business is fiberglass, plastics and other composites (he may be able to do a carbon fiber one. He even does improved 67 Shelby fiberglass. His prices are very reasonable and no, I don't get a commission, just trying to save someone the same headache that I went through. Within the rules of Stang net can I put his name and number on here? Or just e-mail me and I will get it too you.
Good Luck,

John

P.S. 2 weeks until paint!!
How do I post Pics on here? They are always too big???!!!

John, nice to hear someone found a good fiberglass hood. To post pics they have to be a rather small size (I think it's something under a 100 Kb?). Also, you can post a link to these pics if you have access to a web page.

Could you PM me "the canadian" name and contact?

HistoricMustang · Jan 11, 2006

19simmons65 said:
Guys:

I'm dropping the Mustang off at the shop on Tuesday afternoon for a much needed paint job. The original hood for my '65 is in good shape but I really want the Shelby fiberglass hood. I've heard that the fiberglass requires a lot of body work but I'm wondering if the "fiberglass over metal" version requires less body work. My thought is that the metal prevents warping. Is this true?

Also, what are my options for locking the hood? I'm not crazy about the standard hood latch. Nor, am I crazy about the pins the P/O installed. Pictures of a '65 would help.

Thanks in advance,
Regie

Mine is a Shelby with metal frame from Branda. Very little prep work.

HistoricMustang
www.historicmustang.com

19simmons65 · Jan 11, 2006

I think the hoods are really hit and miss. I've heard both sides from a number of people. Historic, your car is awesome. I noticed you didn't use the shelby hood pins. May I ask why? The pins in my current hood are just like yours but I was thinking of using the hood pin kit from cal-mustang.com instead. Also, how much was your Branda hood?

Tillerman, can you PM or post that guy's info. I like to have a backup plan. Also, are you painting the engine bay? I was talking with my body/paint guy today and he asked what I intended to do. I'm on the fence. I'm already in the hole for a big chunk...but I'm thinking about having it done so...it's done.

tillerman85 · Jan 11, 2006

Guys,
I've pm'd you "the Canadian" 's name and number. Good luck.

Historic,

How do you post the big pics? Even when I take the pics on the lowest resolution they are over 1KB. I've seen some people post thumbnails that open to nice pics also. I've got a bunch that I would like to share.

John

DukeGnarley · Jan 12, 2006

1kb is really small. i hope you were thinking 1mb otherwise you might be out of space on the server. you can always go to a place like www.imagedump.com and then link the url here on the boards.

HistoricMustang · Jan 12, 2006

19simmons65 said:
I think the hoods are really hit and miss. I've heard both sides from a number of people. Historic, your car is awesome. I noticed you didn't use the shelby hood pins. May I ask why? The pins in my current hood are just like yours but I was thinking of using the hood pin kit from cal-mustang.com instead. Also, how much was your Branda hood?

Tillerman, can you PM or post that guy's info. I like to have a backup plan. Also, are you painting the engine bay? I was talking with my body/paint guy today and he asked what I intended to do. I'm on the fence. I'm already in the hole for a big chunk...but I'm thinking about having it done so...it's done.

I can not remember the cost of the hood...............it has been ten years! Where does the time go?

Also, I wanted to use the pin style, which I believe was actually used on the Shelby race cars, because they can be secured with a 'wire tie" and wont come undone.

HistoricMustang
www.historicmustan.com

dennis112 · Jan 12, 2006

Branda hoods:
http://www.cobranda.com/categoryget.asp?CatID=362&DeptID=1

Note that they offer 3 variations of the Shelby hood. The full steel under frame is just shy of $495. They also offer a partial steel frame for $460 and an all fiberglass for $420.

DarkoStoj · Jan 13, 2006

little dirty but heres mine, the pins are in the back and uses the stock front latch. The hood is a lift off.

View attachment 491324

Marshall · Jan 14, 2006

The guy at Branda talked me into a fibreglass frame shelby hood as he said they were best. quality was good except for the cowl end which was flat instead of curved.

Horrors - 3 months after the hood was painted and on the car it has developed slight irregularities, like shallow dents across the front.

Please post the 'canadians' contact details -- there does not seem any reason why not, nobody is defaming him.

Marshall

HistoricMustang · Jan 14, 2006

tillerman85 said:
Guys,
I've pm'd you "the Canadian" 's name and number. Good luck.

Historic,

How do you post the big pics? Even when I take the pics on the lowest resolution they are over 1KB. I've seen some people post thumbnails that open to nice pics also. I've got a bunch that I would like to share.

John

You got to forget about the pic set up here at StangNet. Go to: http://www.imageshack.us/ . Do the free sign up and follow the instructions. You can post as large as you like.................check this one out!

HistoricMustang
www.historicmustang.com

Took down the big dang pic -------------------------

Shelby fiberglass hood

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