zakbradshaw

I will be ordering an L88 hood for my 1981 this weekend. I have read a lot of people saying the Ecklers hood requires little to no fitment and is the best for the money. Is that where I should order the hood from? Also, it should bolt straight up with my existing hardware right? Thanks, Zak.

Easy Mike

Up to you but it sounds like you've answered your question..

Have you called Eckler's to ask? They should be able to tell you whether their hood is 100% bolt up.

You should expect to have to spend some time aligning the hood and working with the latches.

Bloodzone

I can't speak for the L88 but I just had a local body shop install a stinger hood from Ecklers this week. The fit was just as good as my old hood and used the original hardware. I was happy with the quality and the shop owner was too. It did seem lighter/thinner than my 80 factory hood. I will post some picts when I get it home.

Mod75

This is my Ecklers L88 hood from 1977. The body-shop that did the mods to the car said it was a good fit. I was happy with it, still am after 38 years. Yes, the product has changed somewhat in 38 years but a hood is a hood, some work will be needed on any after marked hood/fender/clip/etc.

Hope this helps.

zakbradshaw

Ordered the hood from Ecklers this morning. Got it for $475 with their Easter sale and also ordered a new nose emblem and the Stage II sway bar kit. My car will be getting a new paint job in the next year or so. I am planning on having Maaco paint the hood to just get me by for now.

68/70Vette

For the early C3's, I don't think hood fitment is a certain thing even between factory cars. The factory 68 SB hood on my 68 was not a perfect fit. When I had the car painted and fiberglass aging effects addressed, they fit the hood perfectly. To do so they had to break loose the inner wheel wells, and I think the front clip. I have a stock BB 69 hood and before the paint/body work tried to put it on the 68, but the hood fit was worse that the stock SB hood.

In the early 1970's, I bought a L88 hood from GM parts for my 69. This must have been a NOS hood. t didn't fit my 69 very well. I had to have a GM dealer's body shop do some body work...can't remember what they did, I do remember that the front clip had to be repainted.