stock hood made lighter

[Wayne S]

Was thinking of this the other day while washing the car.
Hood is made of 2 parts outer section and an inner liner.
Anyone try and pop the inner liner off? Wander what the hood would weight with out it. I know that latch bracket in the hood must at least weigh a few pounds looking at how big it is with the place they put the rivets.

Maybe the same can be done with the trunk :dontknow:

[96GTS]

Here's what my hood looked like under the liner. It was like that when I bought it:dontknow:

Darren

[RacerGT]

I'm afraid to take off the liner... I heard it gets noisy (engine noise) if you take it off.

[96GTS]

Originally posted by RacerGT
I'm afraid to take off the liner... I heard it gets noisy (engine noise) if you take it off.
Nothing you would notice if you have an O/R mid pipe...

Darren

[RacerGT]

Originally posted by 96GTS
Nothing you would notice if you have an O/R mid pipe...

Darren

Hmmm... I guess, but the stock injectors are really noisy. I'll try it.

[Wayne S]

Originally posted by 96GTS
Here's what my hood looked like under the liner. It was like that when I bought it:dontknow:

Darren

IM not talking about the fire blanket being the inner liner. Don’t know about your hood. But the 99 up fiberglass hoods are made out of 2 sections the inner braces that you see in yours are all the way to about an 1/8th in from the sides of the hood is one section. The hood latch piece and hinges are riveted to it and they are big hunks off metal. The trunk looks like it is made out of 3 sections of the same design.

RacerGT
The fire blanket is about 1.5 LBS or so, If you count the grounding wire.

[RacerGT]

Originally posted by Wayne S


RacerGT
The fire blanket is about 1.5 LBS or so, If you count the grounding wire.

Wow, not worth the trouble then... thanks. :usa:

[Brandon Alsept]

You would also have to make the hood a lift off being that the hinges are part of the lower section of the hood.

[HyperGT]

I took off the fire blanket cover last night. I'll be able to pull the wheels now!! :headbang:

Actually, I had to do it and grind some on the hood to make some clearance for the discharge tube from the blower. :dontknow:

[jimfitzgerald]

Originally posted by Wayne S
Was thinking of this the other day while washing the car.
Hood is made of 2 parts outer section and an inner liner.
Anyone try and pop the inner liner off? Wander what the hood would weight with out it. I know that latch bracket in the hood must at least weigh a few pounds looking at how big it is with the place they put the rivets.

Maybe the same can be done with the trunk :dontknow: Sounds like a good idea to me. The hood is made of fiberglass with a metal frame inside. If you could just cut betweek the fiberglass and metal to cut the rivets, you would then be left with the fiberglass part. Get some fasteners to make a lift-off out of it.

[Stickshift]

Originally posted by jimfitzgerald
Sounds like a good idea to me. The hood is made of fiberglass with a metal frame inside. If you could just cut betweek the fiberglass and metal to cut the rivets, you would then be left with the fiberglass part. Get some fasteners to make a lift-off out of it.

Is it figerglass or FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic)?

[jimfitzgerald]

Originally posted by Stickshift
Is it figerglass or FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic)? I don't know, but I bet it's light. I wonder if it is stiff enough to work?

[Wayne S]

Originally posted by jimfitzgerald
I don't know, but I bet it's light. I wonder if it is stiff enough to work?

When I took my wing off I filed the holes so I could epoxy the plugs in. It looked like fiberglass to me.

I pulled a few plugs from under the hood today to feel inside it.
There isn’t a steel brace going all the way through the inner section. Its just steel up to were the rivets are. Making it a lift off hood "IF" the inner section can come out easy would be great long as the outer part does not weigh too much. The size of our hoods and say 20Lbs weight would be a pain to take off and on by your self.

Will see what’s up with it, don’t think ill get to it this weekend though.

[96GTS]

Remember, there is also glue between the 2 sections of fiberglass......

Darren

[Wayne S]

Originally posted by 96GTS
Remember, there is also glue between the 2 sections of fiberglass......

Darren

Will see how good they attached the 2 sections. The middle braces are already free. I can’t smoke in the house and they were making faces at me while I was out side :lol:

[Wayne S]

The middle brace sections and some of the parameter around them are cut out of the hood now:lol:
There are a few spots that are caulked with foam type glue (stop vibrations).
And a few spots on the middle brace sections are glued with what looks like epoxy. The whole out side parameter is glued together about 1 inch in. The Latch part inside the hood feels heavy. To some people it might be worth just cutting the Latch part out and using pins for the front of the hood.

Hood is fiberglass, I went out just to have a smoke, shorts on and short sleeve shirt and the bitch was giving me dirty looks so I cut her:evilgrin: I forgot what that crap tasted and felt Like all over your skin:barf:

So looks Like Ill have to get it done by this weekend now. Still debating on hood pins or quick fasteners :headbang:

Noted: This is not a job for the average Joe to take on.
85% chance Joe will fffff up the hood.

[Quiksilver]

Originally posted by jimfitzgerald
I don't know, but I bet it's light. I wonder if it is stiff enough to work?

KenB's hood is exactly that. It is a Cobra R hood skin. He uses the Dzut fasteners to hold it on with. You should have no problem with the hood being too weak, unless the bolt-on hood scoop is too heavy.

Good Luck man, you need to post pictures and weigh that thing when you are done.:cheers:

[Stanman]

I've been told the hood is fiberglass, but I think it's SMC (Sheet Molded Compound). SMC is like fiberglass molded under pressure that has to be heated to cure. Not as hi-tech as carbon fiber but light years ahead of fiberglass. Not surprisingly, the two halves are bonded by SMC adhesive. In theory, you could cut the brace you want to remove and then heat the glued areas. A really good heat gun can do it, on semis I use a propane torch.

You have to heat it for a good length of time. It's not how hot you get it, it's getting hot enough for a long enough time. It can be done without discoloring or blistering the paint if done with EXTREME care.

Done this way you could leave the latch mechanism and hinge mounts intact. You would probably shave 5 pounds off the nose of your car.

With the stock hood being about 20-25 pounds, and a lift off aftermarket about 7 pounds, I believe I'd rather retain the factory crush dynamics and save up for an aftermarket hood. (my personal opinion for my personal car, doesn't mean I think it's a bad idea)

The biggest problem I've seen with removing the insulator was on a car with a steel hood. '84 Trans Am. On rainy days the engine heat would make so much steam I couldn't see past the windshield at stoplights. Never had a problem with the '76 Vette.

Hope this helps.:thumb:

[Wayne S]

I just finished cutting all the inner part of the hood out. I Left about 1 inch of inner section around the outer parameter on were it was glued. I weighed the hood my self and it came to 25LBS. It doesn’t feel that heavy to me but every time I do the math with all the stuff I cut and took off, it still comes to 25LBS.
All together with the brackets, hood Latch off etc the weight reduction is 19LBS.

[jimfitzgerald]

Originally posted by Wayne S
I just finished cutting all the inner part of the hood out. I Left about 1 inch of inner section around the outer parameter on were it was glued. I weighed the hood my self and it came to 25LBS. It doesn’t feel that heavy to me but every time I do the math with all the stuff I cut and took off, it still comes to 25LBS.
All together with the brackets, hood Latch off etc the weight reduction is 19LBS. Can't wait to see some pictures. How do you attach the hood to the car. What kind of tools did you need to do the job. Maybe you can give us a short "how to" write up. Thanks.

Jim

[Stanman]

Huh! I never would've guessed it was that heavy stock. 19 pounds is great! I have a spare hood I'll have to take a closer look at!

[Wayne S]

Originally posted by Stanman
Huh! I never would've guessed it was that heavy stock. 19 pounds is great! I have a spare hood I'll have to take a closer look at!

All 19 pounds isn’t just from the hood its self. That’s including the hood latch all the way to the hood handle and the hinges etc.

Remember it is still a 25LB lift off hood with all the crap gone. So to me it isn’t light by any meens.
Jim I used a dremel with a cut off wheel and kept a close eye on what I was doing. Im using hood pins to hold it down.

My guess is you can get a hinged after market hood that will weigh about the same as the stock hood is the way I have mine.