Can We Talk Hoods for a Moment?

[treepete]

Any of you guys running aftermarket hoods? I see Yukalade is, but anyone else?
Did you have it installed or install it yourself? will the insulation piece from my stock hood be usable again, or do most aftermarket hoods come with them?
So far, I found this one

you guys had any luck with other brands, or been unlucky with anything?

thanks for your thoughts,

Pete

 

[99TAHOE22'S]

you know i have wondered the same my paint is good except on the hood were the two body lines are it collects water and the paint has bubbled away? any others with this problem

 

[treepete]

I have a few rock hits/ chips on the hood and some bubbling of the paint, but in the engine compartment at the top of the fender area, where the hood sits when its closed.
I want a new hood mainly for looks. cause I think they look badas$.

 

[GMCYukalade]

Well, i'll tell you i only paid $65 for mine (from a good friend who was selling his truck) and its fiberglass... - i installed it myself (takes atleast 2ppl to do this) and that insulation you are talking about is glued on the factory hood, i did not re-use it.. i had no reason too all it does is keeps the hood latches from scratching the paint on the bottom of the hood.. and i had to re-use my factory spring and latch.. but other than that.. was fairly easy.. just a few bolts..

I've always wanted a denali - or esky front for mine.. but haven't found one in a j-yard yet... (well i have but, its not the junk yards yet, it was brought in for a new rear-end, and the guy never showed back up been over a year... Almost mine!! lol)

But, an after-market hood can run anywhere from the 250 area and up.. I would prefer a metal hood.. but i couldn't beat the 65 bux i paid for mine

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

the front of my hood is rusting out from where the previous idiot (owner) had taped/glued/screwed a bug guard to it. it held water and screwed the entire lip across the hood up.

i still need to set some cash aside for that ram air hood i had my eye on. i'll have to find it again, it was in the favorites before the computer crashed.

if you have the money to do so get a high end fiberglass or a steel hood. the cheap fiberglass ones i've seen need hours of work to make them fit the body lines and to take all the waves out of them. i went to school for autobody, so im really picky about the way my vehicles look.

i plan on putting a steel hood back on mine. with the lift trying to cut down the weight is a waste, and i don't have to worry about getting a badly made fiberglass hood..... either the ram air hood or a standard 4" or 6" cowl hood with some kind of artwork. airbrushed, vinyl under the clear. haven't decided yet.

 

[GMCYukalade]

ya i mean, you can tell my hood wasn't a very expensive hood to start off with, from what i was told it came off of a suburban that was traded in at a car-lot, and the car-lot wanted it to look more factory so they sold the fiberglass hood to a friend of mine, of whom i got it from.. but, i mean it shuts perfect etc, but the arch on it is off from the fenders a bit.. wouldn't be a huge deal if my vehicle was dark in color.. but with it being white... thats why im debating painting the hood white, or painting the truck a dark color lol... (could just buy a new hood i know but the truck really needs some fresh paint anyways)

 

[treepete]

Did you do away with the insulation piece?
I took a close look at mine, and I think that it is held in place by some giant panel fastners or 'christmas tree' rivets.
I wonder if a new hood will come with the same holes for these rivets.

I also understand that hood manu's 'do their best' on packaging and shipping hoods with minimal damage. "some finishe wok may be needed before paint, to correct damage that occurs in shipment"
Im just leery...

 

[loulblades]

When I installed the K&N setup I also installed a Keystone fiberglass heat remover hood. Thought it might help keep the intake air cooler.

 

[treepete]

man nice. I would like to see a 3/4 view of that if you happen to have one.

I wish I had as many hood options as you 94-98 dudes do. I got the damn escalade hood, and all I can get is a short cowl hood. no ram-air or different shaped scoops etc. Its slim pickins.

 

[loulblades]

Keystone has some nice ones for a '99.

http://www.keystonerestyling.com/

Here's a couple more shots showing the hood.

Road and woods version:

 

[treepete]

woah, they actually had one for my year/model. Its fiberglass though.. man.
Thanks for the extra pics, thats a nice rig you got there.

 

[sasquatch094]

theres one in my area thats a carbon fiber one.. look at it here.. http://cleveland.craigslist.org/pts/684112022.html

 

[treepete]

again, very cool with the carbon fiber.. but wont fit my year.

 

[treepete]

this is from streetbeat customs.. 595$

 

[sasquatch094]

ever check out keystone????

 

[treepete]

yeah thats where the blue one is from (above pic)

 

[BigBlackBurban]

Have you checked Goodmark?

http://www.goodmarkindustries.com/home/index.html

 

[treepete]

yeah, thanks, The goodmark is the very first post I made to start this thread.

I think these are the only aftermarket hoods for my ride. :sad:

 

[loulblades]

Thanks treepete.

As an aside:

I mentioned that I put the heat removal hood on to help keep the intake air cooler. I monitor the engine with an Autotap scanner and a laptop mounted on the console and the air temp did appear lower. I monitor alot of stuff but my main interest at the time was intake air and transmission oil temp (The trans oil cooler was upgraded along with an aluminum trans pan).

All was going well then I ran a Hypertech programmer on it and the temperatures I was monitoring jumped all over the place so I couldn't say how it is now. Both Autotap and Hypertech could offer no explanation. I will be removing the Hypertech programming within the next couple weeks before replacing the engine (383).

 

[treepete]

DUDE! right on@!

one day i hope to bridge the gap and get into an OBD connector and some software and the laptop. I would love to see some realtime numbers.