How To Make Your Own Fiberglass Hood

WARNING: You may ruin your hood's paint job unless the paint was applied properly! This method will work with all metal parts!

1. We'll start with the obvious: You must remove all attached parts ie. hood ornament, grill, headlights

2. The finish on the part should be as smooth as possible. It doesn't matter if the surface is primer, paint or bare metal.

3. Now you're ready to make your mold. You'll need 1 quart of tooling Gel Coat ($18), 1 gallon of fiberglass resin ($28),

    Pol Ease 2300 Release Agent Spray($12) or similar, Fiberglass Matting (different thickness' to build up and make your

    mold strong enough so it doesn't flex). Don't forget all the extras: Rubber gloves, acetone, Disposable mixing buckets,

    rollers, brushes, mixing sticks and paint trays.

4. Start with the release agent, Spray your hood completely and evenly. Let it dry 5 minutes.

5. Mix a pint of Gel Coat (don't add too much hardener) pour into your paint tray and roll onto the hood using the roller. No

    pressure required. Just cover evenly and quickly. Use the brush on the curved areas around the headlight and grill.

6. Let the Gel Coat layer dry for 1 hour and begin mixing your Fiberglass Resin. I suggest a quart- half gallon. Begin

   spreading the resin using a brush or plastic spreader. Then lay down some matting on the resin. Now add another layer of

   resin. Let dry 24 hours.

7. Separate your mold from the hood using some wooden paint sticks (Don't be afraid to push them in hard and move them

    around). This was a time consuming step for me! Doing this step now, while the mold is flexible makes it easier to

    remove. Once you've removed your mold, I'm sure you'll be impressed by the results, leave it on the hood to reinforce it

    with more resin and thicker matting! Here's a couple pics of the mold removed from the hood.

8. Congratulations! You made the mold! Now you'll have to fix any imperfections in the mold. I used resin and sanded

    it smooth.

9. Now you repeat the process to make the hood. Steps #4 through #7. Here's the hood pic and one of the grill!

At the time of the pics, neither piece is finished. The grill required tedious hand sanding that'll have to wait til after the finals!

This was my first attempt at making a mold! I was extremely impressed at the results!

I obtained my information from Fibreglast.com and purchased products locally and from Fiberglass Warehouse.

The whole project cost was $180