First of all the California Dream Hood, in my opinion, is the best looking aftermarket hood available... Those of you who already made the purchase and installed them... CONGRATS!!! Your rides look sweeeeeet..... I'm jealous and really want to make the purchase, sooooon! I know there are a lot of threads on this subject, but I just wanted to know (after having them on for a while) if you are satisfied with your purchase? How is the quality of the hood, both fit and finish (including the underside)? Have you had any problems (ie. cracking, spidering etc)? Does the hood shake at highway speeds to the point you need hood pins or does the factory latch do a sufficient job? Any input would be appreciated..... Thanks!

 

If that is your car in the avatar it looks like you already have a RK sport hood. Don't you like it?

 

I have similiar questions as it's on my list os possible upgrades. The hood looks amazing, but I really like the idea of functional air flow into the hood for aftermarket intakes.

 

I absolutly love mine! I have had it on for 3 months now and it is doing great, no problems at all!! If you plan to go above 90 mph at all you will want to pin it for sure...

 

I just got mine (from ebay/RK sports) and the guy that preped and painted it said it was the best aftermarket hood he had worked with. The mechanic at the shop was able to install my Redline elite hood lifts which I didn't think they could do. The underside had a few rough spots that they were able to clean up. I had Muroso hood pins installed because reading all the post indicated they would be necessary.

 

Had mine for 5 months now.
The only issue was the hood shake at higher speeds. Once I pinned it it hasn't been an issue. The scoops work great to get the air to the CAI filter and no water to the filter in the rain.
The fit and finish are fine and it turns heads everywhere I go.
If you do decide on this hood see my thread on the pin install.

Steve

 

I love mine as well. It isn't perfect, but it sure does turn heads. My body shop guys showed me how rough it was on the underside, and how you could see slight waves on the top side. The front driver's corner was rounded off a bit, and it required a fair amount of adjusting of the latch and both fenders to make it fit right. I was told it would take 5 extra hours of labor to make it "perfect", but it would certainly look fine the way that it was. I chose to just go with it as it came. My car is a daily driver, not a show car, and a show is the only place that any of the deficiencies would really matter. It came out awesome. Despite the issues the body guys pointed out, they then complimented the hood on its quality. I've even had Ford salesmen look at me with a puzzled look on their faces and say, "Those aren't supposed to come out till next year. Are you the new rep?" (meaning they think it is a Shelby)
My hood had to have pins (see Steve's great thread on installing them). I couldn't go over 60 without them. I still get a bit of vibration at the back edge, but that is because I haven't added the weatherstrip back on yet. I need to get some stick-on aftermarket rubber for that. The pins were very cheap at Auto Zone, and the package said that all parts were stainless steel. It lied. The keys were chrome and started flaking right away, so I'm looking for some SS keys.
I've got no cracking, except one tiny one on the underside where I drilled for the pins, but it's no big deal. The underside actually painted up nice, which is good, since the factory blanket doesn't fit anymore. (the underside of the factory hood wasn't even painted under the blanket) I'm trying to think of some kind of airbrushing that could be done under the hood, because it is just begging for it. You will need a CAI to make the scoops functional. Mo at RKSport was very nice to work with.
One more thing, the hood struts are not undoable at all, they are just not recommended. You could end up stressing the hood and warping it in the middle. Good luck.

 

I love mine - I have had more people pull past me in traffic to slow down and give me the 'look back' than I can tell ya about.....

 

We love ours. No problems with hood shake at all. We may add the pins later in time but right now, all is good. Like Burke0011 stated, it's fun watching people stare at the car as they go by...

 

I really like mine. I don't have the hoodpins, but it's rare I push it past 80mph. Still shakes when the wind is blowing, so I will definately get the pins later. Had to adjust the fenders a hair here and there, but it lined up pretty good out of the box. I swear it gave it 1 mpg better gas mileage as well, but that could be within error even though it appears to be consistent last 3 times I checked it.

 

Hey, can one of you guys take a picture of what the hood looks like from the driver's seat. From what I can already see, the hood is slightly raised. Im just curious to see by how much.

Oh, how far back are those induction points from the front of the hood?

-Dan