LordBritish

I'm thinking about getting the RKSport California Dream Ram Air hood.

http://www.lmperformance.com/5716/73.html

I've read over numerous posts trying to get all the information I can.

It appears that I can expect about $600-$800 in prep and paint work.
I can expect to have fit and finish issues.
I might have shipping damage of some kind - read several posts about this.
I may need to get hood pins to prevent the hood from moving.
I might need to use silicone in places to prevent rain from getting in.

Anything else I need to know?

I want to make sure I understand everything I need to know before purchasing this.

My car recently got into an accident and my hood, bumber cover, and fenders need to be replaced.
There might be other damages too.

Looks like I can expect total costs for the hood + install to be around $1400 some.

The accident was not my fault so I will only be paying for the difference between the stock hood and this hood (plus prep, paint, and install) - obviously the stock hood comes pre-painted so I'll have to pay for painting no matter who's at fault if I choose to install this hood.

05mustangman

awesome man... i just ordered mine about three days ago. getting it put on on the march 22nd. along with my cdc ducktail spoiler going on the same day. cant wait till then!

backafter20

Cost of paint and prep work depends on quality. I got my RKS CD hood painted and installed for about $750, but that included paint and install of a CDC front and SSE rear spoilers! Is it show quality? No, but it does look great, and since the car is a daily driver, I couldn't see paying twice that for a "perfect" finish. The body shop told me that it would take maybe 5 hours to get the underside of the hood to show quality. I said "Just make it look nice for the original bid amount." And he did. I have no complaints whatsoever. Fit and finish issues? Depends. The front driver's side corner of my hood was rounded a bit too short. I have seen the same problem on other RK hoods on this forum. Bad mold maybe? Others look fine. I let it go and once it was painted, you really don't even notice. Then again, my car is dark (sonic blue). On a lighter color, it might show up more. My body shop did have to adjust the hood and fenders a small amount, but no big deal, really. After pointing out all of the flaws in my hood, they ended up commenting that it was one of the best finished and fitting fiberglass hoods that they had ever seen. I guess they wanted to see if they could milk a few more hours' labor out of me? I didn't have any shipping damages, but some have. Usually just simple smoothing with bondo. You will DEFINITELY need hood pins! This hood flutters like a butterfly without them. Check out Steve's how-to on installing them. It's not as scary as it looks. You'll still have a bit of flex at the back edge, but some Auto Zone bulb-type weather stripping in the original location stops even that. My hood is solid as a rock now. I'm not sure where you'd put silicone to prevent rain from getting in. There are no open seams to fill, and the expanded metal grilles in the scoops are not removable. You'll also be drilling holes in your freshly painted hood for the pins, [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon24.gif[/img] but I'm not sure how you'll be able to seal anything. Once in a while I do hear water when I open the hood, but only once, and then it's quiet. I don't know where it comes from or where it goes to, but so far it hasn't been a problem. Also, I may be wrong, but I would be very surprised if the stock hood came pre-painted. Probably in primer. The only other thing you need to know is that this hood gets about as much attention as a naked blonde strapped to the bumper. The scoops just scream "Look at me!" If you hate being stared at, don't get it. I have no regrets.

runfox

Jim thanks for all that info!!! I think I told you, Im looking at getting my mods, and your car is pretty much the same as what Im wanting. I love the looks of the RK hood too, so thanks LordBritish for starting this thread, guess Ill be going through the same thing, gulp!!

I only hope I can find a good paint price like you got Jim. Im going to be buying my parts , then shopping for paint and install also. Im still torn between the CDC classic, CDC agressive or SSE gen 2 for the front.

LordBritish

What makes me nervous is Byron's experience with the RKSport GTR ram hood.

His story is here http://www.mymustangpage.com/common/defaul...7&mID=3&Page=20

Basically he spent $3500 on the prep & paint !!

One would think that you would stop after spending $1000 on prep work.

runfox

Lord british I agree , reading Bryons expereince is scarry at best, I dont think I could afford to go through that!!!I have followed Bryons mods and have a lot of respect for him, so I have to believe what he wrote.That's the worst experience I have heard of. But I havent heard horror stories like that with the RKsports cal dream hood.

So all you out there with the RKSport California Dream Ram Air hood, we need some feed back, please, I know there must be at least 25 memebers with this hood installed. We need to know what your experience was with the install on this hood... There's no question on the killer looks, I'm wanting this hood also, but I'm getting some concerns too!!.

SC67Stang

Hood prep, paint and install from Ford Dealership was $450. They said the hood was the best they've seen.
Adjusted the latch and fenders a bit but nothing out of the ordinary.
Only issue I had was the hood flutter and I fixed that with the hood pins. I also added the Autozone weather strip at the rear to keep the back of the hood from flexing, but left the center open to allow hot air to escape from the cowl. It works great and helps keep the engine bay and hood cooler.
You will love this hood. It does get the looks from everyone and their brother.
It looks mean!

Steve