Hood/lightweight hoods

69427

69427

The Artist formerly known as Turbo84
Joined
Mar 30, 2008
Messages
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Clinging to my guns and religion in KCMO.
Was bored driving down the highway this evening and was trying to pass the time with something of interest to think about, and my mind wandered to the next project to take weight off the front end. I got to thinking that the hood is the highest thing up front, but I don't know how much my hood weighs as I was in such a rush last week to get the car put back together that it didn't occur to me to weigh the hood while I had it off putting the radiator and support in. Anyone know how much the 68-72 hoods weigh, and are there options for reducing that weight?

I'm in the middle of putting the later side windows in the car, and looking for the next thing to do. I have the later stamped steel steering column/pedal assembly bracket that replaces the cast iron bracket, but I'll confess I'm not looking forward to the dash disassembly that is required to change over that bracket. So I'm spending my spare time thinking about less painful projects.

What's the thoughts on lighter hoods for C3s?

Thanks,
Mike
 
Mike,
I seem to remember, but I could be wrong, that one of the features of the Owens Corning cars were that the bodies were hand laid up at 1/2 the factory thickness.
I am sure Howard can set me straight on this.:search:
 
big2bird said:
Mike,
I seem to remember, but I could be wrong, that one of the features of the Owens Corning cars were that the bodies were hand laid up at 1/2 the factory thickness.
I am sure Howard can set me straight on this.:search:
Click to expand...


I have never heard that one but kinda doubt it, the 68 car was built from parts they took off the line at GM and the 69 car started life as an off the line L-88. too bad you didn`t ask a few weeks ago I had a nice talk with Tony Delorenzo at Bloomington.
 
I have the long style hood that was on Ol' Red hanging on the wall in my garage. We can weigh it when I get home is you don't get it figured out between now and then.
I can guarantee that's it's way heavier than the Vanacor hood that's on there now.
 
IF you have a stock SBC 'flat' hood on there, the way my '72 was originally, you can splice on a aftermarket BBC hood bulge/scoop...they seem to be made really thin glass, I would stiffen it up for appearance sake, stick it to the hood, then cut out the old hood glass from under it....I wound up doing just that after some years of having the heavy/complete assy under there, cut out the old glass, and noticed it was no longer a chore to put the hood on/off the car by myself, it is about 1/2 the weight....or damn nearly seems like it....weights, I dunno would have to take it off and weigh it,
when you get something to compare it to, I can do that, no sweat, only takes 30 minits....

:smash::thumbs:
 
FWIW - I have replaced my 78 stock front clip, urethane bumper, and hood with an old Ecklers "Tilt Front End." Its MUCH lighter than the stock. Mind you, it was also a bit "jiggly" - so I laminated in some coremat and balsacore and improved its stiffness - with not too much weight penality. I'll give it a weight check this weekend - just for more data.


thum_12694e2aaae95ab89.jpg


Cheers - Jim
 
redvetracr said:
big2bird said:
Mike,
I seem to remember, but I could be wrong, that one of the features of the Owens Corning cars were that the bodies were hand laid up at 1/2 the factory thickness.
I am sure Howard can set me straight on this.:search:
Click to expand...


I have never heard that one but kinda doubt it, the 68 car was built from parts they took off the line at GM and the 69 car started life as an off the line L-88. too bad you didn`t ask a few weeks ago I had a nice talk with Tony Delorenzo at Bloomington.
Click to expand...

Oops. It was the 63 Grand Sport. My memory is foggy at times.
 
I messed up my old hood and have since got a replacement and have been thinking. What if i cut out the whole center section leaving just the perimeter with the stiffener and latches.

Get some thin aluminum sheet and rivit it to the perimeter. If its too hard to shape maybe leave a rib of fiberglass down the middle and reinforce it a little to help shape things.

I bet that'd make a pretty light hood. And would look jet fighter cool with the bare aluminum and rivits, if someone takes the time to do it nicely. I know it'd look good on my car as the whole thing is painted to look like bare aluminum.

Someone else might just paint it.

But, race cars need to look a little raw.
 
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Used to be a place near Jacksonville that made super lightweight glass parts for racing, don't remember the name, might still be there.
 
turtlevette said:
I messed up my old hood and have since got a replacement and have been thinking. What if i cut out the whole center section leaving just the perimeter with the stiffener and latches.

Get some thin aluminum sheet and rivit it to the perimeter. If its too hard to shape maybe leave a rib of fiberglass down the middle and reinforce it a little to help shape things.

I bet that'd make a pretty light hood. And would look jet fighter cool with the bare aluminum and rivits, if someone takes the time to do it nicely. I know it'd look good on my car as the whole thing is painted to look like bare aluminum.
But, race cars need to look a little raw.
Click to expand...

This is a cool idea and the aluminum could be bonded to the fiberglass hood sub structure. It would need to be made in two pieces, the flatter hood perimeter in one piece and the raised center section separate and welded together later. It would be labor intensive and require making a wood buck for shape, but additional hood skins could be made and sold to recoup investment.

Try reading Sheet Metal Handbook by Ron and Sue Fournier HP Books or
Ultimate Sheet Metal Fabrication by Timothy Remus. Both books are sold by Amazon and their website has detailed description of their content. I know a retired bodyman who built two 32 type Ford replica body's using the information in these books.
 
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