New Hood

[Wraith2097]

I want to put in the 98-02 5inch Ram Air WS6 lift off hood over at vfnfiberglass.com. In the description it states that the hood is race only. Now is that because the raised part of the hood extends to the windshield? Or something I'm overlooking? I wanted to get it before I had the car painted but my bird is street only. I'm not worried about being ticketed for it. Just don't want it to be detrimental to the health of my bird.

Secondly. Would I have any trouble having it installed on my base model?

[Fbody3400]

It should fit on your car no problem, but I don't see whats so appealing about a 5 inch WS6 hood on a V6... I mean that hood makes it look like your packin' a big block

[v6mOtOrhEAdftOp]

Wow that hood is montrous!!! I like it, but would it look good with our bumper?

[BLLDOGG]

you shouldnt get a ticket or anything. but the race only is like almost all offroad only labels cause in alot of places, anything not stock isnt legal for street use plus if you dont use hood pins, there is a chance of the hood coming off. its just a warning to save their asses

[Wraith2097]

To me its not so much pretending to have something I don't. Its that I find the look of that hood on a glossy black firebird to be very aggressive. Thats the kind of look I'd like to go for. I once saw a picture of it on a firebird with my same bumper and I thought it had some style to it. It was jet black with white flames just licking past the front of the nostrils.

As for hood pins. Good call, I hadn't considered that one. Can I just hand them over to whoever installs them and they will put them on? Mechanical work I don't mind trying myself. But body work I want done perfectly the first time and I don't want to mess something up that cost that much.

[v6mOtOrhEAdftOp]

hood pins are very easy to install. All you ahve to do is mark off the area, prep, then drill, then sand out afterwards. I'd suggest a body shop though also

[Steve Caroccia]

Are you sure that is 5" or 4"? And with the hood going to the windsheild would you be able to use your wipers?

Did yu read my pros/cons about the VFN hoods? Scroll through the appearance section

[Wraith2097]

Originally I was looking at the 5 incher. But it says its extended to windshield. My guess would be that wouldn't allow me to use my wipers? If so then the next best would be the 4.

[FunkZ]

You do realize that a lift-off hood means you can't bolt it to the stock hinges? There is no support structure molded into the hood, so there is nothing to bolt the hinges to. This makes it very light (half the weight of the bolt-on) but also means you have to pin it down at all 4 corners and take one person at each side and lift it off when you need to access the motor. Also, most local regulations say you can't have more than a 4" rise in the hood because it blocks your view. This is why they say race-only.

[Wraith2097]

My impression was that the 4" did not require hood pins and only required very minor modification to fit and flow perfectly with the car. I'm sure any body shop can do this without great cost. Is this correct?

[v6mOtOrhEAdftOp]

funkz, you put it perfectly. There is an alternative though. I have seen hinges mounted onto hood pins. 'm not sure how they did it, but it worked. Oh well, I do believe the 5 is illegal in 27 states, may be more now. you'd be best tgo with the 4. it shouldn't need any more modifications than the normal ws-6 hood. the hinges would be the only problem. still not any place for them.

[FunkZ]

Good point, maybe if you took the struts off so that they wouldn't keep trying to force the hinges up, and then rigged up one of those fold-away rods to support the front of the hood when in the up position. If that hood is like I think it is, there's no channels molded into it to keep it from flexing. So if you put it up with it attached to the hinges only, it would try to fold in half and crack. It's worth a call or email to the company though to find out for sure.

I think I would just stick with the bolt-on unless you're after saving every pound that you can for racing purposes. The bolt-on is already almost half the weight of the stock steel hood, and looks the same as the pin-on from the outside.

[guy]

those hoods are awesome

[nycto]

I like the 4inch. To expensive for me right now though. I'll buy one when I get my LS1.