I received my new hood today. It's Ecklers copy of the Motor City Mold Hood. I purchased the fiberglass model. My painter has upped the price by $200.00 so far because of the very ,very rough underside finish. The transition of the scoop to the hood on the top side is also very rough and is going to require alot of extra work. Needless to say we haven't even looked at fit yet. So far I haven't spent the amount I saved, but we'll see!
I'll keep you posted!

 

Quality comes at a cost and many times it's better to pay for it than deal with the headaches later of trying to save a few bucks.

 

Hang in there, Vette45. When it comes to purchasing aftermarket FRP, Fiberglass, AND, even Carbon Fiber (CF) automotive body panel parts, some refinishing, sanding, re-sizing, re-adjustment, and, the possibility of having to perform some modifications to the new body panels, is to be expected. In my experience with these products since the seventies, I have found that the polyurethane bumper products to be the most difficult to work with because the product is so pliable, and, sensitive to extreme temperatures. Recently, my colleague just had an Home Depot cart bump into his front bumper. The polyurethane bumper did what it was supposed to do, and, absorbed, AND, deflected the impact. However, this small area of impact did cause the paint to lift, separate, and, crack in long, deep spider web fashion, forcing him to have the entire bumper redone, and, not merely spot treated as possible with a true fiberglass (less flexible product) section.

On the other hand, QUALITY Carbon Fiber products are quite exceptional. However, CF products can also have their share of concerns. The CF products must have specialized high grade UV protectants mixed with the resin, or, you will have gaps and sagging sections of, as an example, a custom CF hood, as the resin reacts with high ambient and environmental temperatures. Not even MCM CF hoods are immune to this. However, I have found MCM to consistently produce an exceptional CF hood product that is vacuum bagged, and, fitting well right out of the box. Kudo's to MCM!

ACP and ACI are still yet other well known fiberglass Corvette body parts providers and manufacturers. And, when you solicit their customers (i.e., DucatiDave), you will find that these C5 owners had to struggle with their local body shops to physically fit, finish, and, even modify these custom fiberglass body panels just to get the new body panels fit on right.

Moreover, do keep in mind the type of vehicle that we are dealing with: an SMC (high tech molded and layered) fiberglass type exterior (not steel) that does sag over time. In fact, there are TSB's for sagging doors and body panels on the C5. Moreover, when installing a "body kit" to your C5, a kit may very well fit differently on one C5 (i.e., visible overlap on an '98 C5, vs. some gap between panels when mounting onto an '04, etc.) than another. What I find important to note is that there exists far less inferior "plastic" (do you remember the wavy, and, unsightly contours notorious to the C3 and C4 front and rear bumpers?), and, far less body flex, and, body panel fitment issues than in the preceeding generations due to the higher quality SMC body panels, and, newly designed C5 frame. Finally, do not worry. You paid hundreds less (i.e., $799 vs. $1,599) for the fiberglass version, AND, a competent body shop should certainly be able to very easily perform the necessary improvements to the fit and finish that are needed to the new fiberglass hood, to provide you an amazing finished product and new look for your C5. Good luck to you.

 

Thats why I got the MCM....good luck.

BTW..nice of you to post up some truth about a purchase..most folks try to cover it up if things end up costing more later. Hope it works out for ya

 

I just received my MCM CF hood. It is the best hood out there (just an opinion), but I have looked at many and you get what you pay for. It is worth the extra to get quality plus Mike at MCM is a great guy and has great customer service. Good luck and enjoy!

 

I like you got a fiberglass hood, mine is the RK Ram Sport Hood, the finish is very good and it needed minimal sanding, the inside is a bit rough too but I plan on installing the black insulation so no big deal. I knew the MCM hood was superior but I didnt like the look and I paid less then a grand for it delivered. I got it thru T BRYNE and had it in less then 10 days. I did have to use some heat lamps and a very heavy vice to get it to fit as good as my factory but with a little patience it fit perfect. I cant wait till its painted.

 

Sorry to hear that Hope it works out without extra $$

 

I went with the MCM hood for exactly the reasons mentioned - exceptional finish and the fit was perfect. Hope that your body shop can get yours to look and fit right without too much expense. Once on the car though, it should look killer.