Hood reconditioning fun

[Robert Collier]

I can not leave my car alone. So the hood hinges, after having them chromed, were horrible loose and would bow out and not let the hood sit flush in the back, they needed to be rebuilt. I ordered the hood pins from Russ and rebuilt one side of the hinges, because I found I did really have to rebuild both sides. The holes weren't wallowed out, the pins were just loose, I think from the chrome company polishing as close the pin as possible and took too much material out. I decide to just repress one of the hinges, after making sure the holes weren't oblong or damaged. After pressing the pins the hinges were really tight and I guess felt the way they should. The other hinge I had already drilled out the original pins and pressed the new ones in, so they fit really good.

All of the issues with the hinges and the hood was off anyway, I thought I would repaint the hood and put some brushed aluminum inserts in the openings. This was suppose to be done before the Good Guys car show this weekend. As I ran into issues with the primer not setting up right, it was too cold and moist the only freaking week in Phoenix, the week I decide to paint. So I end up stripping the paint back off and repainting after it warmed up. Thursday night I got the final coat on and things started to look good. When I taped the edges of the hood, I got right along the edges so there would be no paint transition. So Friday when I started peeling the tape back it started taking the paint off with it, which really started making things aggravating. I ended up using a paint brush and cutting compound to smooth the edges that were messed up, I think it turned out pretty cool. I am also not going to be able to make the show today, Saturday, still need the paint to dry more and I am waiting for help to get the hood back on, so I might be able to go on the last day Sunday. I swear this always happens when I have I am in a hurry and have deadline or need to get something done within a certain time frame.

[Jason Edge]

David, From the factory you would have had insulation in these openings. I redid mine using the insulation from OPGI as seen below. I think it looks good but is not 100% accurate after looking at the material under the 41K mile Fleetwood I had a couple years ago. It had more of a membrane outer layer than the stuff OPGI sells.

Here is the picture of my hood with the stuff OPGI sells. For more :

[Robert Collier]

No, purely for looks.

[Jason Edge]

That last picture of the aluminum inserts looks really cool. If and when I get into a slight custom  job I will have to remember that trick.