US Body 81-88 W30 style hood

01-28-2003, 04:05 PM

Decided I'll probably put together one more cutlass for now, just not drive it until people stop tryin to steal my rides or drive into em lol....

Anyways, I've been toying with using one of the US Body hoods or just grabbing a alum hood off a diesel cutlass. Any of you guys actually run one of the us body hoods on you car? whats the long term durability like on it, esp for a car that will be a summer daily driver? Difficult to get good paint adhesion? Stress cracks from the stock hinges exerting pressure on the glass? Overall quality and ease of fit/installation? Just wondering what kind of experiences everyone else has had..

88 Cutty Classic · 01-29-2003, 09:39 AM

don't have experience but i wouldn't use stock hinges with any fiberglass hood. Even though i think they say its ok with the heavy duty version

FE3X CLONE · 01-29-2003, 11:02 AM

You can use stock hinges no problem. You just can't use the stock hood springs since they would put too much force on the fiberglass hood.
I just popped the hood springs off of my hinges and drilled holes then through the hinge so that I could slip a bolt through there. Holds the hood up just fine.
I'm going to look into using GN hood shocks for my hood for a more sanitary solution.

As for the US Bodysource hood, I've never dealt with them but have heard people say that it would cost between $1000-$1500 to get the hood in good enough condition to paint it.

88 Cutty Classic · 01-29-2003, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BigBlockOlds

As for the US Bodysource hood, I've never dealt with them but have heard people say that it would cost between $1000-$1500 to get the hood in good enough condition to paint it.

that much !!!

sounds like who ever told you that was a perfectionist or they got their butt raped severly by a body shop.

FE3X CLONE · 01-29-2003, 11:34 AM

Supposedly the body shop the guy went to has dealt with US Bodysource hoods in the past and hasn't been impressed with their craftsmanship.

For what its worth, VFN Fiberglass makes a top notch fiberglass hood. Very good fit and body lines line really well. Unfortunately they don't make a W-30 hood for the '81-'88 Cutlass as far as I know.

Quote:

Originally posted by 88 Cutty Classic

that much !!! sounds like who ever told you that was a perfectionist or they got their butt raped severly by a body shop.

JAYSRTD · 01-29-2003, 03:51 PM

That was me commenting on the US Body hoods. To repeat: the shop that installed my HO kit had installed a hood on a Corvette. I wanted one for my car but after he told me it was a royal PITA because of the amount of time it took to get it to fit right. He told me to expect to (possibly) return one or more hoods to get one that would fit without being a pita.
Unless US Body has greatly improved their QC, I would be skeptical. I don't want to completely discourage you, but....... caveat emptor

01-30-2003, 07:53 AM

This is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. I was mainly interested in that particular glass hood cause of the w30 scoops, otherwise I'm thinking the aluminum would be the way to go. I'd rather have metal than deal with the headaches of glass when its only going to be a stock style hood (dont like cowl hoods either lol). Thanks for the imput guys.

01-28-2003, 04:05 PM	#1
Kcze9159 Posts: n/a	US Body 81-88 W30 style hood Decided I'll probably put together one more cutlass for now, just not drive it until people stop tryin to steal my rides or drive into em lol.... Anyways, I've been toying with using one of the US Body hoods or just grabbing a alum hood off a diesel cutlass. Any of you guys actually run one of the us body hoods on you car? whats the long term durability like on it, esp for a car that will be a summer daily driver? Difficult to get good paint adhesion? Stress cracks from the stock hinges exerting pressure on the glass? Overall quality and ease of fit/installation? Just wondering what kind of experiences everyone else has had..

01-29-2003, 09:39 AM	#2
88 Cutty Classic Title: The Ruthless Villian Status: Offline Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Banned in the USA Posts: 6,843 Photos: 8	don't have experience but i wouldn't use stock hinges with any fiberglass hood. Even though i think they say its ok with the heavy duty version __________________

01-29-2003, 11:02 AM	#3
FE3X CLONE Title: I Have an Olds Life Status: Offline Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 4,612	You can use stock hinges no problem. You just can't use the stock hood springs since they would put too much force on the fiberglass hood. I just popped the hood springs off of my hinges and drilled holes then through the hinge so that I could slip a bolt through there. Holds the hood up just fine. I'm going to look into using GN hood shocks for my hood for a more sanitary solution. As for the US Bodysource hood, I've never dealt with them but have heard people say that it would cost between $1000-$1500 to get the hood in good enough condition to paint it. __________________ Andrew 1987 Cutlass Supreme FE3X Clone project EFI455/T-56 6 speed/4.30

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01-29-2003, 03:51 PM	#6
JAYSRTD Title: Oldsmohaulic Status: Offline Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Upland, Calif. Posts: 1,802 Photos: 7	That was me commenting on the US Body hoods. To repeat: the shop that installed my HO kit had installed a hood on a Corvette. I wanted one for my car but after he told me it was a royal PITA because of the amount of time it took to get it to fit right. He told me to expect to (possibly) return one or more hoods to get one that would fit without being a pita. Unless US Body has greatly improved their QC, I would be skeptical. I don't want to completely discourage you, but....... caveat emptor

01-30-2003, 07:53 AM	#7
Kcze9159 Posts: n/a	This is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. I was mainly interested in that particular glass hood cause of the w30 scoops, otherwise I'm thinking the aluminum would be the way to go. I'd rather have metal than deal with the headaches of glass when its only going to be a stock style hood (dont like cowl hoods either lol). Thanks for the imput guys.