Afternoon everyone,
After my recent visit to the junkyard I came home with a very nice hood. It only has one spider crack and a couple of very small chips. A hell of a deal for $20.

I'm going to be fiber glassing a cowl induction hood scoop. (yeah flame me all you want) It's going to be small and well blended in. My question comes into play when I will be making the mold of the hood scoop off of my dad's car. My dad is very, very picky about me not ruining his hood. It has a very expensive paint job and is on a 25 year old car that is in damn near mint condition.
Besides covering the entire front end in plastic. What would be the best method for pulling a good mold? My initial thought was to go buy some clay, put a ½"-1" layer on it, then put on some shredded fiberglass and then more clay. Is this the best way to get a mold from it or is there a better method??
Keep in mind safety of his car is of the up most importance... any tips, help, suggestions, opinions... are welcome and appreciated.
(However don’t tell me I shouldn't be messing with his car, because I already realize that.) =)

For those that may be interested I might make a build-up thread.

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Are you going to mass produce these??
If not, why not just buy a cowl scoop and mold it in?? I will guess that is what he did?! Do you HAVE to be like daddy's??

I say just be different and make it so your dad want YOURS!!!!!

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98 3800SC GTP motor, 5sp.
custom hood,trunk,side scoops,IRM front spoiler

From experience. DON'T DO IT. There is more chance than not that you will mess up his paint. Buy a scoop the same and start from there. By the time you make a proper mould and make a scoop it will cost more anyway.

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White 86 GT 4 Speed Manual - Black 86 GT Auto
The Fiero Shop International - Jade Web Design
If you appreciate my contribution please give me a rating

problem lies in the fact that the scoops are not produced seperate from the cars... I have looked on damn near every site I have found and nothing looks like it... *crosses fingers* here goes nothin I guess

No no... Don't do it! Does your dad even know about your plan? Just think about hou you would feel if you messed up his hood. How about posting a pic first and seeing if anyone on the forum can point you in the direction of a similar aftermarket scoop. It'll probably cost you less in the long run. Especially if you mess up a $2,000 paint job.

I think it depends on the detail that the scoop has. You might cover it with a plastic drop and use plaster or ??? what you want to make the mold. I wouldn't think you could do any damage with plaster. Make your scoop and fix the imperfections and then make a good mold of that. I like to see all the ideas that people do with the cars.
Dream it, think it through, and dig in.

When i first had this idea i didnt bother with measurements because with them sitting side by side it looked like it would fit.... went out to take measurements... 4' length by 2' width.... WAAAAAAAAAYYYYY too big for my car... so it looks like i will be going custom after all lol thanks for the help guys sorry i made a big deal out of this... anyways... thanks

I still want to see a picture of what this scoop looks like and why it is so unusual.

Since you like the way his scoop looks and you want one like it. Then fab one up your self! It's easy. Just like making a R/C fiberglass airplane Fuse. Go find some pik foam blocks. Don't get any of the shipping foam though (this beaded kind) it isn't nearly as easy to work with. If you can't find anything thick enough then goto Home Depot and buy some pink insulation foam boards and some Spray adhesive. Super 77 works best but isn't very cheap. Then cut the boards to the width of the scoop needed maybe a little larger. Peal the protective plastic from the foam and stack them until you get the right height. Now use the spray to glue the boards together to make one single block. Now the fun begins. If you want to get a perfect replica of the hood but need to scale it down then get some Poster board that has the grid on it. Cut a piece that you can fit behind the tallest portion of the scoop. Use a dry erase marker to trace the shape on the posterboard. The grid will let you get an idea on how to redraw it to scale. Transfer your image to the back of the block and do the same for the front. Now you can use a wood saw to help get the rough shape of the scoop. Then use a rotory sander with high grit sand paper. Keep his car or hood close by and you'll be able to eyeball the other features as you go. The pink foam will make a big mess but that's all in the fun of it. Use exacto nives sanding blocks and even fillers to get the perfect shape. Now it's time to say you can either make a mold from this or you can use this to skin over. When skinning you may need to make the plug barely smaller so your fiberglassing comes out perfect in shape. If there's lines in the hood scoop then you may want to add them to the raw fiberglass scoop and not the plug. There's even a way to make a thin epoxy skin over the foam plug so you can fiberglass the inside of it and have a perfect outside surface. If you choose the epoxy skin with fiber insides then you just make the Perfect mold and slightly elarge any indentions so the skin won't fill them. Then you take a vacuum pump set up like the one I described in a prior thread. Add a bleeder to the line to help regulate vacuum and vacuum bag yor plug with a release agent petween the foam and the thin coat of epoxy. Once you have your skin you'll just carefully remove the foam plug and fiberglass the insides as thick as you like. If this is a one time deal you can easily leave the foam plug inside the scoop and carve out what you need opened. then epoxy the whole thing. This is an easy process and is quite fun and doesn't cost as much as repainting a new hood or the butt woopin that would follow. Hopefully you can understand all of this and will enjoy the process. You can make anything you want with this technique!

Here's couple links that can help you understand the process.
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Home made equipment with limit switch!
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If this doesn't help or you need to look for more just use the terms vacuum bagging and you'll come up with more than you can read.

Stu #2