69 DART fiberglass hood

[JERICOGTX]

Who makes a good quality glass hood for a 69 Dart? Looking for one with 68 HEMI scoop. can either be pin on or bolt on. Need one that the quality is good not some US body source junk. Thanks.

[Sly Fox]

AAR Fiberglass makes a pretty good quality hood. They also make a good fiberglass 68 HEMI scoop too. You have to cut the hole in the hood and mold the scoop into the hood. I'm not sure if AAR makes a hood with the scoop already molded into the hood. They didn't when I bought mine, but they might now. It's really not that hard to mold the scoop into the hood though. I put the same setup on my 68 Dart. I can't remember their contact info or whether or not they have a website. I'll take a look and post back. Unless someone else knows and posts it before I return.


Sly

[JERICOGTX]

Thanks Sly. How was the fit and finish on the hood? I know fiberglass is never perfect but sometimes it never resembles the part you ordered.
Were the original Hemi scoops molded to the hood or bolted?I always thought they were bolted.

[Sly Fox]

My hood fit very nicely. The fit was really close to the original steel hood. The hood comes in a very smooth gloss white. To paint it, you would need to wet-sand it a little with very fine grit paper for the primer and paint to stick to it.

I set it beside my steel hood and you can't tell a difference. So it definitely looks like a Dart hood. Make sure you have the chrome for the front of the hood. The fiberglass hood does not have the chrome molding molded into it. You will need to drill holes in the front of it and attatch the original chrome molding.

As far as the HEMI scoops being bolted on or molded into the hood, I'm not sure. Most of the SS/AA Darts I've looked at had steel hoods. I think, but I'm not sure, they have to run a steel hood due to NHRA rules for that class. So I would imagine, being a steel hood, they were bolted on or riveted on. The SS/AA cars I've seen though, the scoops all looked like they were a part of the hood. Sorry, but I never really paid that close of attention to it. I just molded mine in. I think it would look better being molded in. It would make the hood appear as being a one piece hood instead two pieces bolted together. Even though, it really doesn't make difference, it would still work the same.

Sly

[Sly Fox]

Oh yea, almost forgot. The rep. I talked with at AAR said, with a HEMI scoop, you will probably want to make sure you have the front of the hood pinned down really good. He said the original steel hoods don't have a problem because they have more stiffness and weight to them. But a HEMI scoop on a fiberglass hood is liable to fly off at high speeds due to their light weight. AAR hoods are not thin, wobbly pieces of junk. They have some decent rigidity to them. It's just that the HEMI scoops suck in so much air at one time that they cause the hoods to raise up during high speeds. He said if you have it securely pinned down though, you won't have any problems. I have hood pins on mine, front and back.


Sly

[snoop rob]

there seems to be a lot of substandard fiberglass parts out there. I've been shopping for a hood and fenders for my 68 dart all winter long. I was more than pleased with aar. They just haven't come out with fenders yet for a 67 to 69 dart. You can check them out @ aarqualityfiberglss.com. They've got two styles of hemi scoops: bolt on or glass on. I think the originals were bolted from the inside of the scoop. Good Luck, Man.