Guest 73TPIZ Posted March 4, 2004 Share Posted March 4, 2004 I just got my Subtle Z cowl hood this morning and i didn't realize it came with the 280Z style hood vents. I'd pictured it all smooth in my dreams. I had grafted some vents into my metal 240 hood for cooling but i knew with the cowl i wouldn't need them anymore. Anyway, i put my hood on the sawhorses and lay the vents over the holes and tried to talk myself into the look but no go. I thought to myself "this hood cost too much to go cuttin' it up" but then i thought "this hood cost too much not to have it exactly as i envisioned it" soooooo, out came the Dremel tool............ I had to cut back 1" more 'cause of the raised section. This left me with an 8x16" hole. OUCH. That just broke my heart. The quality of this hood is unbelievable (top and bottom). I have one side curing now and will do the other side shortly. I taped sheet metal w/ wax paper on the top side and flipped it over and 'glassed from underneath. The worst part is that the bottom side looked as good as the top. The top i'll make perfect but the bottom i'll probably leave the patches showing. The good part is now i'll probably go ahead and rake the cowl back some more over the cowl panel behind it. The car definetly won't be painted by SEZS4 next week but it probably wouldn't have been any way. I'm building a spoiler from scratch as MSA's was on backorder and that's gonna take a while. She should look pretty good in the white 2K primer though. I hate to break the news to John Washington at Reaction Research. Great guy and so helpful on the spoiler building tips. i'll wait til i'm done with pics to tell him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted March 5, 2004 Share Posted March 5, 2004 The quality of this hood is unbelievable Make the "was" unbelievable BTW, John's looking over my shoulder.........crying Any risk is worth it if you put the time to get just what you want. Looking forward to see it when its done. Anyway, it sounds like you chose a good method in patching it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 73TPIZ Posted March 5, 2004 Share Posted March 5, 2004 I just got done roughing it in. looking fine so far. yea, i cried a little to when the dremel first hit the gelcoat. As you can see i'm extending the cowl a little. i'll trim it so that just as it clears above the windshield cowl panel it tapers back to ~2" longer than original. Hopefully give it that laid back look. i'd better stop there. 1 more modification, she'll be one helluva expensive belly pan I was worried from underneath the patches would look like crap but they didn't turn out too bad. Fog a little basecoat white on it and she'll look fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted March 5, 2004 Share Posted March 5, 2004 Looks like you saved the day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-Gad Posted March 6, 2004 Share Posted March 6, 2004 Lookin Good Charles!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToplessZ Posted March 6, 2004 Share Posted March 6, 2004 Is that hood available without the vents in the first place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 73TPIZ Posted March 6, 2004 Share Posted March 6, 2004 Jared, I'm not sure. John never asked if i wanted vents and i didn't think to ask how it came. A little too late once the hood showed up. It never occurred to me that it might have 'em. i've seen a couple of pics of cars with this hood and didn't notice any vents, but the camera angle was so low they may have been there. The vents were originally to help cooling i believe. The cowl would seem to eliminate the need for them since it's open at the rear. now that i think of it that hood's part of his 280YZ kit i believe and 280's have vents so it's prob and overlook on my part. A lot of assumptions on my part and we know what A.S.S.U.M.E. stand for. But that extension on the cowl is gonna make it worth it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilRufusKay Posted March 6, 2004 Share Posted March 6, 2004 Vents!!! The job you are doing looks great!!! The extension id pretty cool!!! What did John charge you to ship it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 73TPIZ Posted March 6, 2004 Share Posted March 6, 2004 Yea thanks for pointing that out. Well, between shaving the side markers, quarter vents, inspection lids, headlight bucket joints, gas lid, drip rails, welding hatch up, and welding up all the moulding and emblem holes, the hood would feel left out if i didn't modify it somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilRufusKay Posted March 6, 2004 Share Posted March 6, 2004 When you shaved your drip rails, how close to the roof did you cut? Did you weld before you cut the whole rail off? And again what did John charge you to ship the hood? Thanks, Rufus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Looks good Charles. I'm pretty certain the SubtleZ cowl hood comes only with the vents. Now that you've done the work this is a bonus, you will have the only one like it! John does sell a set of cowl style vents to fit in the openings. I have these on my stock '77/'78 hood so my hood would kind of be an inverse of yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 73TPIZ Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 Hey Rufus, forgot about the shipping question. $136 w/ crating. 50 for crating and 86 for the carrier. He said crating sometimes more but he used recycled materials so he knocked some off. i cut the rails pretty close, and yea, welding was a SOB. turned my mig as low as it would go and stitched a little at a time. turned out pretty good. Hey Dan, i'm looking forward to how it'll turn out. My cowl now rakes back similar to how your vents do at the rear. I may get primer on it tomorrow and post an "almost" after pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToplessZ Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 hey Dan hope you see this if not ill try pming you. Do you have a front shot of those vents or a top shot from dead on. I was looking for pics on johns site for those last night. I have been debating back and forth about them. Looks good with paint though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted March 7, 2004 Share Posted March 7, 2004 I knew it! There ARE some more pictures of Dan's car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgia Flash Posted March 8, 2004 Share Posted March 8, 2004 It isn't exactly the same but the JC Whitney hood came with no vents Not all 280's have vents, just the 77's and 78's. Nice job filling in those holes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Your Car is Slow Posted March 9, 2004 Share Posted March 9, 2004 What was the actual cost of the hood itself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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