HOOD VENT MOD.
Tools used.
Air “wizzer”
D.A. sander
Air angle die-grinder with 3m roll-lock sanding discs.
Various body files (slap file and metal body file)
BONDO
Filler Primer
Sanding blocks
Harbor Freight Mini Tig.(NOT SHOWN)
22 GA sheet stock for side gussets.
Measuring tape
SAFTY GLASSES!
First let me apologise for my poor spelling and sloppy paragraph structure.
I work better with tools in my hands/not keyboards.
I decided I would document my hood vent modification. I did
this on a cheap junkyard hood.
Start by deciding where on the hood you want the vent.
Remember to check clearances for the valve cover and
front engine mount.
Find the center of the hood (using a tape measure) and
draw a vertical line the depth you want the vent to be.
Now draw a horizontal line perpendicular to the vertical
line set at the width you want the vent to be. Draw this
horizontal line at the bottom (toward the front of the hood)
of your vertical line. Add in your hood vent depth to the ends
of your horizontal line. You should now have a
I______I drawn on your hood.
(I have mine set at 13 in. back from the front center of
the hood,3in.depth or width,20in length)
TIP* I would NOT make the vent this width again
as it runs the vent into the hood bubble making it
VERY hard to bend the hood down evenly.
Now the fun starts. Using a wizzer (cut off wheel).
You need to cut away the sections of the bottom hood
bracing in the areas where your hood vent will be located .
(Sorry I have no pic. of this process,but you can see from the bottom
shot where I cut the bracing.)
Give yourself some extra room here as you will be adding side
gussets and will also be bending the hood down.
(bracing near the bend will cause distortions in the hood)
Now that the bracing is gone flip the hood over (top)and have
at it with the wizzer tracing the “I____I” shaped line.
USE SAFTY
GLASSES!!!!
*TIP 2 Drill holes at the lower corners of your “I.____.I” this will
allow you to run the wizzer into the holes and create nice round
corners. It will also reduce the risk of cracking at the corners
of the vent.
Once you have the vent cut out you can start rolling the hood
down. If you made your vent too wide (see tip 1) it will not want to
roll down even on the bubble side and you will become a Bondo
expert by the end of this project.
Now that you have the hood where you want it to be (bent my
hood down 1 ¼ in) it’s time to make the side gussets.
I started buy placing a piece of cardboard on either side of the
bent down vent corner (from inside/under the hood) and tracing the angle
with a marker on to the cardboard. I then transferred the two“v”
shaped angles to a piece of 22ga. scrap metal. Next I cut out the
gussets from the metal stock leaving some extra “tang” on the
top and bottom of the transfer (you need to bend this tang at
opposing angles so you can weld it to the hood). I next tig
welded the gussets to the sides of the hood. I also added a small
center brace.
* TIP3. If I do this again I would just tack the gussets in with a small
Mig welder. Due to my lack of welding skills and not a low enough
setting on my tig welder this took ALOT of cleanup (holes and slag).
The rest is a lot of finish work. I started smoothing my welds (with 3m sanding discs
and the die grinder)
and shrinking/sanding/filing some of the warp-age I had from the welding.
This is a shot after some filler work (Bondo) and a coat of primer.
On car NOT bolted down (gaps are off a bit).
Sorry I don’t have a"finished" on car picture yet.
I don’t plan on painting it for a while (need funds for go fast parts).
Overall it turned out fair for having done VERY little body work
before. I can say I know what I WONT do on my next one.
(read tips).
PLEASE BE SURE TO WEAR SAFTY GLASSES! I HAD TO
GO TO THE EYE HOSPITAL AND HAVE A SLIVER OF METAL
REMOVED FROM MY EYE FROM CUTTING THE HOOD.
NO FUN!!!!!
