cowl hood

[Guest zfan]

Anyone know where to purchase a cowl hood? Having problems with hood clearance due to highrise rpm airgap manifold. I know I can purchase a fiberglass cowl attachment but was hoping to go the hole hood.

[Guest Anonymous]

Look on www.arizonazcar.com. They have what your looking for.

Glenn

[Guest Fast Frog]

you can also try Jim Cook Racing and Motorsport Auto.

 

Good luck!!

[Guest Frank280z]

Hey a fellow air gap man. I have the same problem. My car fortunately had a fiber' cowl hood on it upon purchase. The manifold has a great design but it poses a lot of problems. 1 hood clearance. 2 With a holley dp the vaccuum port is very hard to get at. So I had to install a 1" spacer until I get a Edlebrock. I called Arizona zcar. They have a $1000- minimum for fiber' orders. And they are not making anymore until the weather changes/ temp drops. I'm dying for that rear clip and Pantera deck lid. OOOH YEAH!!!

Frank

[SpeedRacer]

Just got my catalog from VR Engineering and John Washington will sell just the cowl induction hood from his Subtle Z http://www.reactionresearch.com/subtlez.html

[BLKMGK]

I really like that hood and as finished fiberglass parts go $300 isn't too rude. Looks like a hood I had on a Vega GT once

 

SpeedRacer have you ordered from them before? Parts fit? They finish the underside well? How was shipping pricewise?

 

I noticed on Saturday just how much heat Mike's car was putting out under the hood. He's got the later model vented hood whereas mine is currently a stock 240 hood. I'm a bit worried that I won't have enough airflow! I looked to see how his vents were mounted but I don't think they would work well on a flat hood. If I've got to get and paint a hood anyway it might just as well be glass

 

I'm told the hinges in front can crack them if you're not careful - is there a way around this short of removing them? Any way to maybe weaken the torsion springs?

 

Liiiike that SubtleZ!

 

P.S. Had the SAME experience with Arizona that everyone else does. I really think he doesn't want any business! MotorSport now sells fiberglass bumpers BTW if anyone is interested. Arizona not only gave me attitude when I asked, wanted a $1K order, but also said they weren't sure they would make any more since they didn't sell well and often broke in shipping. Sheesh, a real grouch on the phone too!

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by BLKMGK (edited June 27, 2000).]

[SpeedRacer]

VR Engineering is owned by John Washington and he is a great guy to deal with. I bought some of the parts for my Ferrari GTO kit car from him and they were always high quality.

 

As a matter of fact, I bought the GTO dash from him and three years later I got around to installing it. It didn't seem to fit right so I called John. Turns out Datsun changed the dash in 1973 (the GTO dash uses the Z sheetmetal skeleton) and I have a 1971 so it will not fit. John calmly says - "no problem, just send it back and I'll refund your money" - mind you, this is after three years!!!

 

All the fiberglass parts I have purchased from John are hand laid and not out of a chopper gun. The fit and finish has been quite good but keep in mind that if you want it as flat as sheet metal you will have to block sand it.

[Guest zfan]

Thanks to everyone out there for the help re: cowl hood. Tried the guy at Arizona zcar, wow! What a winner, why does he bother he sure doesnt seem to want anyones business. At least thats my take on it!

 

Called John at VR Engineering, what a difference he was friendly, helpful and

quite knowledgable. He's going to be in delivering a z car in the Dallas area this weekend and said he would drop off a hood at cost. No tax, No shipping!!! Pretty cool. Once again thanks for the links.

[Guest Locutus]

Hey I have tried getting ahold of them to place an order myself but I have got no answer from him. Did you use the number on the VR page? I am begining to wonder since no one has answered my email to them either.

[Guest Anonymous]

I see you guys are having some of the same experiences with the fella at Arizona Z Car.

 

I sent him a couple of e-mails and the responses I received were very similar to the results of your phone conversations.

 

The only way I will order anything from there is if it is the last place on the planet and I need the part in order to get the car on the road.

 

I never said anything about this before as I was thinking maybe it was just me...

 

Chris

[Mike kZ]

That guy is an A**HOLE! I had the same problems with him!

[Guest zfan]

Hey Locutus, Try 480-967-3289.

Thats the number I believe I used to reach John. Go to search and enter reactionresearch and see what you come up with. Good luck.

[DennisK]

VR Engineering's web site is www.kitcarz.com

The phone is right, 480-967-3289. Mention in your e-mail to John any and all of us that have been or are customers of his. He is aware of our group, and MAY be open to a little better pricing to the entire membership.

[John Washington]

Hi, Guys! Thanks for all the kind words from my customers and other folks who have talked to me in the past. I wanted to throw out a couple of things WRT cowl hoods that may be helpful.

 

First, this is my first visit to hybridz, and I hope this post is not perceived as blatant self promotion, and as such might violate protocol. All this is for informational purposes, and as always: "I am not an expert." I have found that as soon as someone represents himself as being an expert, someone smarter comes along and makes the "expert" look like a fool! I hate for someone (especially myself) to make me look like a fool.

 

I haven't seen Arizona Z's stuff in a long time, but as I recall his cowl hood was the more traditional design, i.e., like on the old IMSA kit. It had a very pronounced, tall center tunnel. My hood is more "subtle", thus the name. From about halfway back on the center tunnel, the top surface departs at a tangent, so as to arrive at the back edge about 1.5 inches above the stock location.

 

This will absolutely help with ventilating the engine compartment, both at idle/stopped (with flow upward), and when in motion (where the flow reverts and goes back in due to pressure differential between top and bottom of the engine bay).

 

However, it does not give as much clearance as a traditional IMSA-style cowl induction hood.

 

The Subtle hood will work for mild interference problems, particularly when your engine is located way aft (a la Jags that Run). It may not solve problems with really tall aircleaners and engines that sit way forward.

 

Other notes: the Subtle hood incorporates reinforcing that looks like the metal rib under the stock hood. It also has metal inserts with metal bolt-tabs that mimic stock location of hinge mounting, as well as an area where the stock latch can bolt on.

 

It was prototyped using a 78 hood, so the holes for the 78 vents are already cut out. If you are mounting on an earlier car that didn't come with vents, you will need to obtain some, or you can fill the holes (I can do it for a little extra $!)

 

One huge caveat about fiberglass hoods: Unless they are autoclave cured (i.e., under very high heat, and no manufacturer can reasonably afford to do this) they will always exhibit some post cure creep, particularly when exposed to the heat radiating/convecting off the engine. I recommend installing small aluminum angle brackets under two or four of the fender mounting bolts to help prevent the hood from sagging with age.

 

Also, removing the stock springs will help reduce the tension on the fiberglass. Just use the prop rod to hold the hood up.

 

Hope this was informative!

[BLKMGK]

Hey, thanks for the informative post! Yes, BIG difference to Arizona Z It's nice to see someone willing to take a few minutes and give everyone the facts.

 

I'm not sure I'm up to doing all sorts of massive conversions to my car anytime soon but I WILL keep you in mind should anyone else ask or should I need something like a hood!

 

I've got a glass cowl hood on my Mustang that uses pins and the stock hinges. I thought it would be a real pain day to day but it's not at all. My old Vega GT (V8) had one too and I really liked it. When I'm further along I have a feeling that added cooling could be needed and one of your hoods will probably fit the bill if the local paint shop can match my paint color.

 

Can you give a ballpark cost to ship out to Virginia? Chris, Mike, anyone else want to maybe consider a group buy? We'd save on shipping if nothing else. I'm not in a big hurry but if anyone else out this way considers it keep me in mind.

 

Also, other than the hood what else might you have that we'd be interested in? Glass bumpers are pretty nice, Mike Kelly has them and I've got some in a box for my car. Sounded like you had a dashboard replacement - is there a pic anywhere? The fenders look to use bonded on flares - yes? Lot's of Z folks are interested in flares especially those who need the extra rubbertraction Anything new coming down the pipe perhaps? Open to suggestions maybe?

 

It's nice to see someone continuing to keep the Z going. Some of the vendors seem to be dropping out and that makes it all the harder for those of us left. Thanks for taking the time to stop by, I for one appreciate it!

[Guest Locutus]

John and Me have been discussing the dash replacements he offers. You can see one of them at http://www.newtier.com/graber/z-car/gauges.html

I believe this is the Italian style dash(Alpha version) If John has one in stock I will be purchasing one this weekend, with pics forth coming. They are very nice looking in my opinion and are great for our already unique Z's.

 

To John for still offering great quality products for a great car, My hat's off to you. I hope you have many years of success with your products for the Z car.

 

Michael Vondran

 

[This message has been edited by Locutus (edited June 28, 2000).]

[SpeedRacer]

Yup, you are right Locutus, it's the Alpha 1 GTO version of the dash. As I mentioned earlier, I have one in my car that I bought from John Washington and you can see a pretty good picture of it in my album http://www.zing.com/album/?id=4294856715

 

As you can see I installed some large 5.25" Stewart Warner guages in it instead of the Datsun units.

[Guest Locutus]

Ok since I am putting in this dash in my car. I have some questions if you don't mind.

 

1. What year is your base car?

 

2. How did you mount the A/C vents on the outside edges?

 

3. Did you have to modify your center console to use with the Alpha Dash and is there still room to put the radio if you did have to cut it?

 

Lastly, Is there any other advice you can offer to simplify this operation and achieve professional results?

 

 

Mike

 

PS Just out of curiosity I saw the little lights on your dash, I assume the top 3 are blinker indicators, and the high beam indicator, but what are the bottom 2.

 

[This message has been edited by Locutus (edited June 29, 2000).]

[SpeedRacer]

Hi Mike, My base car is a 1971 but, since John did not have a dash to fit the earlier model, I bought a dash from a 1974 Z and adapted it to my car which is a ton of work and I would not recommend you try it.

 

The vents on the edges are actually fastened to the original Z car dash sheet metal skeleton just like stock. All you have to do is carefully cut a hole in the fiberglass dash. BTW, although it looks like it is leather, the dash is just black gel-coated fiberglass with the "leather" type grain and stitching designed into the mold.

 

To use a radio you need to have a Z console that holds the radio since there is no provision for one in the dash. Again, you carefully cut out the center section of the dash and the entire original center section of the dash fits in and mounts it it's original location. That is not to say you can't leave the center section in and do what you want with it but you will have to make up a face plate since it is just filler and the glass is pretty rough. My console is stock and un-modified so I do not have a radio - however, the engine is music to my ears!

 

The design is rather ingenuous. You strip off all the old vinyl and foam from the old dash leaving the sheet metal skeleton. You then cut out and fasten the new fiberglass dash to the old skeleton with sheet metal screws. By carefully adjusting the screws along the windshield you can get a perfect fit. Then you use an expanding foam (I used the latex low expension type) to fill all the gaps between the fiberglass and the sheet metal which makes for a real solid installation and deadens sound.

 

Yeah, the three lights on top are center (blue) for the high beam indicator, left and right (green) for turn signals. The lower left (amber) is for the alternator and lower right (red) for the emergency brake. They are Ron Francis units and all have a ground on them since they are going into a fiberglass dash.

 

Also, the is no glove box unless you want to cut one in!

 

Hope this helps and good luck.

[BLKMGK]

Speaking of foam - some of us were talking about this after one of the latest Sport and Compact mags used this to stiffen thier 300ZX. I noticed that VR's site sells a structural foam so if anyone is looking around for it this is a potential source...