tapd117

My son's 05 Mustang GT got caught in a hail storm and the hood took so many hits we had to replace it and PDR the rest of the car. I had the body shop order a California Dream Hood from RK Sports.

It arrived on time at the body shop with a minor ding to a corner that I assume was a shipping problem, the body shop said they could correct it during the sand and prime prep before painting, not to worry.

Today when I picked it up, they told me the hood required several hours to get it to line up and fit and it was not notched out for the hood piece that holds up the hood.

They were able to get everything taken care of, I'm wondering if this is normal for the hood. The body shop did a great job on paint match and finish, but I was charged extra because of additonal prep time, for anyone that has done this hood modification, was your experience similar.

The shop couldn't or didn't want to install ford factory hood pins for some reason, said they could not figure out the correct mount in the engine bay. Everything I have looked at on people doing this mod have recommended hood pins.

I would appreciate your comments, I may call R K Sports and ask them if this is the norm. I would assume a fiberglass hood should come ready to prep and fit and not require a lot of corrective body work. I'm not bashing RK Sports by the way as they gave me a decent price on the hood, it just appeared to have some problems.

Just my thoughts.....

hippiehead025

anythign fiberglass requires trimming, and fitment, some are better than others.....i got my steeda hood ,and it was very nice, all i had to do was sand it down, prime it, block it and paint it, then i adjusted my fendefrs to get a correct gap on both sides, and walla, it was done. But steeda is high up in the quality output of their items.....other companies may not have tht quality control, or it just may be really hard to get a good mold with all the angles of the hood...... everything needs prep before finish and fitment is 100% perfect.

mlcrisis

The body shop that painted and installed my RK Sport hood only had to make minor adjustments to get the gaps between the hood and fenders to match up good. Mine had a small chip in the tips of the hood area next to the fender/windshield area when I took it out of the factory box to inspect it - shipping issue. It was a simple fix per the body shop. Also it had a "spider crack" in the front portion of the hood below one of the scoops that could not be seen with the naked eye. It didn't show up until they put something on the hood before sanding and priming it, another simple fix per the body shop. They did have to cut a slot/hole for the factory hood prop to go in. All in all the body shop was impressed with the hood quality, they said it was one of the best fitting aftermarket hoods they had come across. Your body shop might have been a little pickey, mine didn't charge ANY extra for doing/correcting the minor issues, the whole hood job plus removing, painting and reinstalling my rear spoiler was $400.00

I didn't initally install hood pins, didn't really want them. However, after a few months, on real windy days and/or driving 70 - 80 mph, I noticed some hood shake and the left front corner raising a little. That concerned me, all I could think of was the hood flying up on my windshield going down the road at 80 mph, so I installed hood pins myself, not too bad of a job, but it's not a piece of cake either. Search for hood pins on this forum, someone posted some great install instructions long ago - I would highly recommend you install the hood pins.

backafter20

My body shop pointed out numerous flaws in the hood when it arrived. They told me it would take five hours extra labor to make it "show quality". I told them I wanted it nice, but that my car was a daily driver. They fixed what they could, did not charge me any extra, and the hood is gorgeous! They then complimented the original quality of the hood, saying that it actually fit rather well, after some adjustments. One front corner is rounded a little, and they had to drill for the hood prop, but I think it is awesome! Apparently "show quality" is way beyond awesome.

SC67Stang

Ford Body shop told me this was one of the better quality hoods they had seen. They only had to cut the hood prop hole and make the washer hole a bit larger to make them fit. They didn't charge anything extra for the work. $400 for paint and install. They all took care of my car there and loved the way it looks.
I had the same problem with hood shake that you have.
The instructions for the pins on the forum are mine. I would suggest you add the pins ASAP before the hood starts beating the fender up or breaks the latch and comes off. It is well worth the install and they look good. Been up to 120 several times since the install and no hood shake with the pins.

tapd117

Hey thanks for all the replies, it seems what I had is about the norm on installing this aftermarket hood, the hood looks great.

Steve would it be to much trouble for you to post the hood pin instructions for me or drop me an e-mail at tapd117@aol.com.

The actual install and look on the hood is great and I had a good body shop, I was very picky about the hood replacement.

Burke0011

Hear hear on the pins.... I never wanted them but have grown to really dig them now - and the high MPH shimmy the hood would do above 80 on widny days is GONE......

The shop I went to had to do some minor adjustments to my hood but that was it....

I think it completes the look of the car, especially on a BLACK Stang......

backafter20

OMG Dave, your car looks awesome! We've done nearly the same things, but it is amazing how much better yours looks with the 18s, dropped?, and headlight covers. Of course black always looks best, when clean that is. I gotta get some rims, but I am hoping for some Halibrand look-alikes and haven't seen any at a reasonable price yet. I love this hood, but wonder if that Mystery8 package from Fang might be even better?

Burke0011

Fang is definitely rolling out some cool stuff now.

Yeah mine is lowered with the Eibach prokit - might be my favorite mod since I wanted to drop the car the day I got the darn thing. Well the Bullitts too - wanted to get the 18s on there since day one as well - just took me a while to find the best ones (and these were NOT expensive at all - Mustang Tuning all the way )

Man I LOVE these pictures I took that day but yeah, CLEAN is right. That day I claybarred the car and Zaino'd twice so that is why the thing looks so amazing. With I could vaccum seal the car and have it STAY that way after a treatment like that


---> hey where are you located again? You going to make the Birmingham meet in Sept??

BaSsFreAk89

burke, what tires do u have? i think they look great with the wheels, i plan on getting 18' athracite bullets from mustangtuning also

HOTLAP

Burke - nice looking GT you've built there. I have a black '05 GT as well with the same 18" wheels....I like the polished/grey look better than the all chorme. Here's another thing you can do....I wasn't really crazy about the center caps (kinda fake looking Cobra IMO) so I ordered the stock Ford Pony caps (R/W/B tribar running pony) and was able to make them fit on top (with some modifications) of the Cobra wheel caps.....just a thought - I like the look much better. I sanded the Cobra plastic cap a bit with a belt sander to make it completly flat - then countersunk a small sheet metal screw into the center of each cap so the cobra backing would never come off - then I sanded the rear side of the pony caps flat and glued them on top of the Cobra caps - they came out nice have held for over 7K miles and actually look like they came stock on the rims.

bpmurr

I have the Cali dream hood coming for my car. What hood pins are you guys using and where did you get them from?

hippiehead025

my steeda hood had washers already in it, under the cowl, i thaught tht was a ncie touch. no drilling, complete bolt on for me, except for a cracked corner fro mshipping.....could have been worse....the first hood came to me split in half.....ekkk...... lol, but yeah easy fix, ima bodyman/painter.

backafter20

Assuming you were still talking to me, Dave, boy I'd love to make it to Birmingham. I'm near St. Louis, but I'm applying for a couple of jobs out west, so I don't know if I'll still be here by then. Otherwise, it wouldn't be too long of a trip to make. September is very far away for me to be planning, but it would be great to actually meet the people I've been talking to for a year and a half.

Murray, I got my pins at an Auto Zone for $7.99. The package said that all parts were stainless steel, and was exactly the package that the ones Steve got came in. (Steve originally posted the install directions.) The scuff plates, however, are very thin and easily gouged, and the keys were not SS but chrome. While adjusting my hood tension, I gouged the plates and chipped the chrome on the keys, but it doesn't look bad when the keys are in. I can't seem to find any decent SS keys anywhere, but I guess at worst I can always just go buy another set from Auto Zone and replace the plates and keys. Now that I got my hood where I want it, it shouldn't be a problem anymore.

Fastback65

I was thinking about getting one of these hoods, but what is with the hood pins? I think they look good I just don't want them for me. Why is this hood not stable above 80 mph? Is it because of the design and air is being jamed in under the hood?

tapd117

The actual hood pins came from Pep Boys if you followed Steve's instructions, he took the center posts only out. The stock number is S/N 4256.

Pep Boys has free shipping right now if you order off the web. I'm using the rest of the stuff out of a stock Ford Racing Pins set with two center pins that are to short. Need to be atleast 4 inches on C D Hood.

I haven't heard one person say their California Dream Hood didn't shake even after very good installs from people who know what there are doing.

Steve has posted some directions and I'mn going to print them off and take to the body shop. It's a real pain to purchase a really nice quality hood and then find it won't stay on the car. RK Sports needs to work on this, their Cal Dream Hood also is not notched out for the hood support.

If you note on Steve's instructions, there are two pre drilled holes on the radiator support that he used. Not trashing RK Sport, but a little more work on the hood design should be inorder, or they should include a hood pin kit, "the correct one when you order".

Kevin from Clevenger Ford did send me an e-mail the 67 shelby ford hood pin set would work, but I had already purchased the ford racing pins set the same as Steve did and it was just cheaper to get the correct length pins from the Pep Boys kit for $7.99 plus free shipping and no tax.........

The hood is on my sons car and I must admit that it really looks nice, just shakes way to much for my taste.

Just my thoughts :bang:

Ileana

Hi!! I met you at Tower Shops Friday

Love the car!! I'm sold on that rk sport hood now. Later down the line I'll be looking into that hood.

Burke0011

Hey Illeana! Great meeting you guys too Friday night! That Vista Blue is SWEET! Get more pics of your car up. (and you guys sold me on the MGW brake handle... $&@%$@^% more money!! )

Fastback65 - from most things I have seen, most people doing fiberglass hoods on their car end up doing the pins (not just 05 mustangs) - not all but alot. Add into the equation that the S197 design moves enough air into the engine bay to make the STOCK hood on some cars shimmy.... and then the funcational aspect of the vents....... and you'll see what convinced me to pin it. (I wouldn't say the shake is an RK Sport design defect at all) I did NOT want the pins at first - but it is funny cause I have really grown to like them now and they are part of the cars personality now.

backafter20 - keep me posted on that as Sept gets closer! cause I'd love the see that hood in BLUE on your ride!! I plan to get plenty of pics at the meet and the lastest idea I had besides taking pics of DK II next to as many Source cars as possible, was to try and line up as many S197s with the RK sport hood and get a pic.......

Hotlap - yeah man I have been thinking about the center caps since the wheels showed - but EVERYONE around here keeps telling me to keep them! But I have had the tribar running pony caps in my garage for months now so I will still probably swap them out down the line here. And YEAH, I am with you on the finish of the wheels. If anything I wanted SILVER and there was no silver out at the time I bought. I am not a black wheel on a black car kinda guy and the chrome was too loud for me (just personally cause I think they look great on a black stang). So I went with the anthracite and MAN was I happy the second I saw them on the car. Not too dark like the black and just light enough to stand out - but keeping the whole dark scheme of the car. Plus I LOVE the design - EVERYONE keeps thinking they are deep dish because of the lip. And after seeing the new 18 inch Ford bullitts you can get with the 06s, I am GLAD I went with these as I like the design a whole lot better.

Bassfreak89 - running NITTO 555s - love 'em. On my first set of wheels, I had the BFG KDWs new tread and didn't like them at all - not enough of a flatter sidewalls, they made too much roadnoise and I didn't like the way the car felt with them. The Nittos are great - 255s up front, 275s out back.

THE-BOSS

is this hood a real ram air hood ( to the air box ) or does it just dump on to the engine. can someone take a pic of the hood underneth.............

Burke0011

I don't have any pics on me that show the underside - but both vents shunt together and then dump the air in right over the stock airbox location through a single opening.