karkrafter

Getting ready to send out my '66 to have a small block hood painted to replace the 'wrong' stinger hood. I told the body shop it would be aligned and ready for finish sanding.


I have the hood fitted as good as I can get it.


I split the difference on all the hood gaps and the way it is will have to do plus or minus 1/16 here and there.


Height wise I have all 4 corners pretty flush with the corresponding areas on the hood surround..


Here is the issue, although flush along front and rear 'edges', Hood bows up close to an 1/8 of an inch in the center.


Is there a trick to bow the hood down in the center? [Let is sit with weight in the center?]


Thanks in advance.

DUB

"in the center" where ????? You lost me...you need to better clarify where this 1/8" high area is.

DUB

karkrafter

From front to back, over the wheel openings. Flush front and rear and bows up over the wheel openings.

DUB

Thanks...

Applying weight and HEAT to it can possibly help. If you do that...before you do. Make a support system that hold the front and back of the hood....so when weight is added...you can measure how much drop you are getting.

Sometimes this may not work due to the bonding adhesive along the sides is holding it. But that can help but you have to be careful in how much heat you apply so you do not actually break the bond of the adhesive and then the hood can begin to delaminate.

DUB

karkrafter

Can you describe a basic plan regarding 'heat'? You mean use a heat gun? just on the support underneath?

DUB

A heat gun will not work due to you will not be able to keep a large enough area heated up and allow it to do anything.

You might get lucky with a kerosene 'salamander' heater that can blow on the panel....but that can be a bit dangerous if the hood is raw and you are blowing heat from a kerosene heater directly on it to really heat it up...and then get oil contamination. If you do this you might need to blow a coat of primer on the hood and then strip it off again. I do not knwo if applying masking tape on it would do any good due to the heat. It may just peel off or you possible get adhesive staining in the raw fiberglass due to the masking tape.

I use heaters in my paint booth and get it hotter than heck.....or I pay an owner of a powder coating shop I know who has a bake oven and pay him to let me run it in a bake cycle when he is not needing the oven. It can be an all day thing for me....which is why I only do this IF I have to...because the cost of the hood can sky rocket for the time I have to put into it.

DUB