A fiberglass hood reduces your car's weight while increasing it's performance [source: Magnante]. This is a messy project, so wear gloves, old clothes and a smock. You'll also need lots of patience. Doing a rush job may result in a hood that looks ugly or doesn't fit properly.
Materials:
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- 14 sheets of fiberglass cloth cut at least 3 inches (76.2 millimeters) larger than the original hood
- Gel coat
- Paint roller covered by a PVC pipe and coated with a separating agent.
- Resin
- Separating agent
- Three-to-five-inch (76.2-to-127-millimeter) natural-bristle paintbrushes whose bristles are attached with adhesive
Prepare the hood molds:
- Remove the hood from your car.
- Spray a uniform layer of gel coat on both sides of the hood.
- Place a fiberglass sheet on top of the hood, overlapping the hood by at least 2 inches (50.8 millimeters) on all sides.
- Smooth the sheet from the center outward to remove air pockets.
- Mix the resin and quickly brush it on the sheet, until it's soaked. Work quickly -- the resin begins hardening as soon as you add the catalyst.
- Place another sheet on top of the previous one and quickly brush it with resin. Mix up more resin if the resin gets too hard.
- Repeat Step 6 another two or three times.
- Smooth the sheets, removing any air bubbles with the roller.
- Allow the hood-top mold to cure for at least two hours.
- Turn the hood over and repeat Steps 3 through 9 to make the hood-frame mold.
- Remove both fiberglass molds from the original hood [source: Hotrodders].
Make the fiberglass hood:
- Apply the separating agent to the inside of the hood-top mold and the outside of the hood-frame mold.
- Spray a layer of gel coat on both molds.
- Place a fiberglass sheet on each mold. Brush resin on both sheets.
- Repeat Step 3, adding a second layer.
- Smooth the sheets with the roller.
- Apply a layer of resin to the sheet on the hood-frame mold before it's completely cured.
- Join the two mold halves carefully, matching up the fiberglass layers exactly -- you won't get a second chance.
- Allow the fiberglass hood to finish curing.
- Separate the mold halves carefully and remove the new fiberglass hood from the mold.
- Prime and paint the fiberglass hood [source: Hotrodders].
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