Are there any good reliable fiberglass hood manufacturers?

[nbostaph]

I'm considering getting the VIS Terminator GT hood, but I actually really dislike the fact that it's carbon fiber. I'm not looking to lighten the car or really improve performance, and carbon fiber appears to require more care. And I really don't want to worry about hood pins or my hood flying up. And the cost increase is considerable.

My primary reason for considering this hood is the appearance, and the fact that everyone that's ever said anything about it seems to feel that the quality and fitment is absolutely top-notch. I've rarely seen such unanimous positive feelings for a manufacturer in any industry. I've seen some fiberglass hoods I like, but when I Google the manufacturers I see mixed comments and usually a non-trivial number of complaints about fitment. And VIS doesn't appear to product fiberglass parts.

Are there any manufacturers that provide as professional a product as VIS with as much reliability in fitment, but that produce fiberglass products?

[Deftones]

Harwood.

[BluePhoenix]

VFN

[1JEWLDSSRS]

One of my friends got a Harwood cowl hood and it was junk!! It didn't fit very well and it was full of tiny "pin holes" that the body shop had to fix and it took them 2 days to get it all sorted out to paint. Good looking hoods but the fitment was off a bunch, but they got it to look good.. Just my 0.2..

[nbostaph]

Thanks. I had never heard of either of those.

One of my friends got a Harwood cowl hood and it was junk!!

This is sort of what I meant.

I see one person recommending, and someone else saying they had problems. It makes me really nervous.


I looked at both manufacturers. Harwood didn't have anything that was too exciting to me. VFN doesn't have anything like the Terminator hood, but their Stingray Yenko Style hood is interesting.

[gtstorey]

Everything I have seen on the fiberglass hoods are that they are pretty much just a starting point and will almost always have to have a lot of work put into them (sometimes less, sometimes more) but if you are looking for oem fit and finish, it will almost always take work to get there.

[SSEssence]

All fiberglass hoods come pretty rough and will need a body shop to clean them up. Carbon hoods are finished products and are usually come way better presentation wise. Both hoods will need some sort of hood pins, however I've seen some carbon hoods do fine with the integrated factory latch. You could always get a carbon hood you want and have it painted to cover up the CF finish.

[hesster]

Anything other than VIS, Siebon, or Anderson CF products may require serious finishing labor (pinholes, warping, primer, sealing, painting, etc), and will prob not fit very well. I have 1st hand experience in building cars with fiberglass, like the hood (and Fenders, doors, Fascia) in this pic of my '73Camaro. Most of the body panels were from VFN, and the hood required serious underside bracing, bondo, and featherfill primer to get the gaps, flushness, and surface finish correct. These panels are really meant for racing, are flimsy, and fitment is not a primary consideration (weight is). Not to mention fiberglass is thermal sensitive, and can close up the gaps and warp in a hurry when it is hot outside. Maybe some of the vendors have improved on the quality of recent fiberglass panel offerings, but just read some of the horror stories in threads on this web site.
So the choice is lots 'O rework on a cheaper fiberglass part, or a bolt on quality CF part. My 2010 has a VIS hood, and Siebon Skirts and Deck Lid. All were bolt on with little massaging, except the Havoc rear Diffuser which took some massaging to make it fit OK.
Ref post #13:
https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=192170

[Deftones]

Originally Posted by SSEssence

All fiberglass hoods come pretty rough and will need a body shop to clean them up.

This. Pretty much common knowledge.

[Tpeeler31]

I’ve had nothing but good to say about my Harwood fiberglass hood. To my body shops’ surprise, it bolted on perfectly from out of the box. While this may not be the norm, it was for me.

[Deftones]

Originally Posted by Tpeeler31

I’ve had nothing but good to say about my Harwood fiberglass hood. To my body shops’ surprise, it bolted on perfectly from out of the box. While this may not be the norm, it was for me.

Nice hood.

[Tpeeler31]

Thanks man! I appreciate it