i have an 80 something hood on my 69 that eliminates the wiper door and grill area, im looking to replace this with a 69 hood, but wouldnt mind putting on an lt1/l88 style hood or something for a little more intensity in the body lines. would this be considered faking the funk or is this "ok" to do seeing as i only have a 350. just wanted some input from other vette owners. thanks

 

You'll likely receive a variety of responses, but my personal preference would be an LT-1 / Big Block hood. It's era-correct for 1969 and integrates well with C3 body lines.

 

get the L88 hood it looks allot better

 

I would use either the BB/LT-1 or the L-88. You'll at least have factory styling for your year. The plus of the L-88 hood is that you'll have abundant hood clearance so intake/air cleaner issues are non-existant.

 

This is a good question. My 70 came with a 76 or so hood on it, and I hated it. No offense to the rubber bumper car guys BTW.

This was a common fix back when the cars weren't so old because of the never ending wiper door problems. Aside from wanting my car correct, I just think the old hoods look better with the lower pointy "hood bump". I also dont like how you can see into that ugly wiper area. They do make those covers, but the wiper door just looks better IMO.

I actually got mine all put back together with the wiper door and correct hood after much money and searching. But the main pain in the butt I ran into, was when people do this switch, they have to bondo or glass the heck out of the fender corners to match the contour of the rear lip on the hood (from the hood lip to the doors). The early C3's didnt have this lip. They had 2 small pieces of chrome trim that attaches to the fender corners. I actually had to cut off about 2 inches of fiberglass work off the fender corners to make it look right, and it was probably the worse part of the whole bodywork project on my car with the rebuilding of glass I had to do there. It wasnt bad looking back, but it wasnt fun either.

If you're not concerned with an original look, you can get the aftermarket big block hoods and they look cool. Just make sure you order one for a 73 or newer, so that lip matches the shape of the hood, and also so the hood is longer since you wouldn't have a wiper door. (the 68-72 hoods are much shorter because of the wiper door and steel cowl.)

I was going to go this route originally until I came across the original parts I have on the car now. I really wanted an LT1 hood like stated above, but I couldn't find one that would be the longer 73+ version, for a non wiper door setup. The L88 may be the only factory looking option you have from my recollection. The only others are the more wild looking ones out there.

Just remember if you go back to a wiper door, it can get expensive, and there will be body work on those fender corners, from the late model hood switch.

Good Luck.

 

Mine's a small block and has the L-88 hood...nothing but positive comments

 

Long style L88 hood here. I dislike the wiper door setup so I eliminated it.

 

You don't have to have an L-88 to have an L-88 hood. I have an L-88 hood on my Vette. That is what made the car faster. You see now it THINKS it has an L-88 engine.

 

Scooter70, what did you do with the fender corners and how they mate to the "lipped" late model hood?

 

Buddy of mine's got a '69 with a FI 350 and L88 hood, looks great IMHO--and I'm a big block guy.

 

If you don't need the extra height, don't use the hood. That's the way I see it. The short hoods were used on purpose to exaggerate the fender lines.

 

Well said CGGorman. Thats one of the main reasons I put mine back to original. It looks good and the fenders (best part of a C3) seem higher and more pronounced.

Its JMO, but a bumper car with a 73+ stock hood on it just doesn't look right. The L88 would be a better alternative to the late model stock hood, I think (at least on a 69).

 

My vote is for the long L-88 hood. Wicked looking and the general public won't know until you open the hood, or not. That part is up to you.
Now, the vette owners who really know, will know by the missing deep rumble of a Rat when all they hear is the squeak of a mouse
Just had to toss that in. Nothing wrong with a stout mouse!
Glenn

 

Go with the LT-1/L88 hoods, I personally like "original" modifications/parts off different years. Like hood swaps, side-pipes etc.

 

heres the lip I mention on the later models. See how it blends right from the door into the hood lip. This is what stops you from being able to just swap back to an early model hood and go with it. If you're car has this lip on the fenders, then its been glassed up to look like a 73+. If you still have the 69 trim there, than you got lucky, and wont be limited to just 73+ hood styles.




Here's a 68-72 with the trim piece. If you remove that trim, the fender corner is actually about an inch lower than the door. Its not even and matching at the top like on a 73 and newer.

This is what makes it harder to just swap out. Its can be a lot of work to just change a hood if your not going back to an early style hood to start with. (In other words if you wanted a stock 68-72 or an LT1 hood like I did.) If you're not real picky about it and if you like the L88, I would go with the L88 for 73+. You won't have to worry about it then. Like I said, the L88 is about the only oem looking hood for the 73+ in aftermarket though. I couldn't ever find an LT1 in the long version.
Most of the long style hoods, except the L88, are custom styles.
Hope this helps.

 

ive always preferd the looks of the 427 hood.

heres my 69 350 with said 427 hood.

(hoods not shut all the way, thats why it looks a little off)

 

this was also the "LT1" hood in 1970

 

70inSBin: im in the exact same situation you were in, but im repainting the car anyway and they put over a centimeter of body filler on the fenders to make the hood match corectly like you were talking about. ive since removed all that and am back to the bare fiberglass so this will not be an issue, i also plan on getting the wiper door back in and using a short hood unlike the later "longer" hoods. if any body has any parts i might need, please let me know.

everyone else thanks for all the replies i think i might just go with the l88/lt1 hood as i really like the design.

- bob

 

awsome! Glad you got that taken care of. Its amazing now that these are classics to think people did this. But at one time they weren't classics and it was just a "fix" for an unreliable wiper door. I still haven't got all the vaccum parts I need, but getting there. Since you are going this route, you can indeed go with the LT1 hood like the "427" hood on the green vette pic. Thats my favorite hood and its unique to the 68-72 body style. Plus its got a factory look since that hood was actually available in those early years.

 

Put what ever hood you like on.