Homemade steel cowl induction hood.

August 19, 2009, 06:02:59 PM

A couple months ago I set out to make a steel cowl hood for my V8 Ranger. I did not want a fiberglass hood or a mold on fiber scoop.

So I took it upon myself to make one. It's raised 4" in the rear. The top tin has been cut away from the underhood bracing leaving the structural metal intact while I fabbed the sides. The pic is grainy...so it looks choppy. The sides are fabbed from 18ga sheet metal, welded in, dollied to final shape, seams sealed w/ JB Weld (suggested my a paint tech) and then skim coated in bondo. I'm very happy with my first attempt at any kind of body work.

The finished product is in paint now. Total time was about 15 hours.

Anyhow...I'm contemplating the same mod on the T-bird. My only reservation is cutting up the factory hood. I had six hoods for the Ranger so messing one up was no problem. I was lucky and got it right the first time....lots of measuring and template making!!!

Has anyone ever tried this on a VERY looong hood like the 'birds? I may need to find a donor hood and start measuring....