jonstringer

I recently purchased a 1972 Cutlass S, which has a cutlass supreme hood for some reason. Naturally I'm getting rid of the Supreme hood and thinking about swapping it for the fiberglass hood w/ scoops. This may be a dumb question, but with the weight and structural differences between the hoods, will I be able to use the stock hood hinges?

Thank you in advance,
-Jon

joe_padavano

If the hood you're getting uses the factory-style metal under tray, it will work fine with the stock hinges. If it's an all-fiberglass repro you cannot use the factory springs.

frostbyte

Joe, I have an all fiberglass hood on my cutlass and it uses stock hinges! Mine was made by Glasstek and I have had no problems with it. Bought it on ebay from seller Tamraz but here is a link to the same hood, and this guy also sells low torsion springs for the hood, though I do not have them and have had no issues. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1971-...spagenameZWDVW
Good luck finding a steel lined ram air hood for the 71-72, I have looked and have found some aftermarket ones for the 70 but they wont fir the 71-72.

frostbyte

Color me wrong, there is a guy at this very site selling a real metal framed fiberglass hood. It is listed on the parts for sale page and here is a link; https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-oai-hood.html

joe_padavano

I certainly won't refute your first-hand experience. I will say that not all 'glass hoods are created equally. I'll also note that while there may not be a problem initially, repeated vibration from driving with the stock springs in place may lead to stress cracks. This is a fatigue problem, not an initial load problem. If you only drive the car infrequently, this may not be a problem.

frostbyte

Ill keep that in mind and keep an eye on the hood around the hinges. I probobly ought to pick up a set of the low- torsion springs just to be on the safe side. I really wish I could have found a steel lined hood when I was building the car.

sklbndt

Jon,
The Parts Place at www.thepartsplaceinc.com sells a reproduction ram air hood with steel frame and screen which will bolt right up. Haven't used them so can't testify as to their parts quality.

John

Omicron

I got my repro W25 hood from Tamraz, and have been using it with the factory hinges for some time now without problems. I think the fiberglass hood actually weighs more than the stock steel one.

Only odd thing is that the back of the hood (windshield side) is fully 1/2 inch higher than the OEM one. Looking at pics of restorations this seems to be a fairly common thing. Someday I plan to examine the hinges and see if there's a way to lower it. Anyone else seen this or fixed said problem?

Rallye469

I bought a set of lighter springs when I went with a glass cowl hood...
No go---
I thought my hood would crack the first time I tried to lower it.
So now I have no springs and a broom handle in reach.
(but this is not a W-25 hood, steel lined or not)

Ammo78

I ran into same problem. My new full fiberglass 442 style hood sits way too high on windshield end. Looks like underside might be up against the sheetmetal between wipers and engine bay.
otherwise gaps are reasonable. Not sure how to modify and sadly likely going to need body shop to do modifications. Very expensive hood so it’s pretty frustrating.