start on my cowl hood

[pughman]

big hood envy

 

[IZwack]

yes , tell me how to make a cowl look gooood man...

well first off i dunno where u got the idea that im a "pimp". but hey, as much as i hate the concept of a "pimp" and prostitution, sure ill be a "pimp" tonight just for you.

secondly, i asked "how thick is that metal??" and your reply was "it is for me , and to make it look good" . So i have no idea how to respond because you didn't even come close to answering the question - i didn't see any numbers to indicate thickness in your reply. (thats why i asked if you were referring to me).

so anyways, lets get down to the cowl hood thing. i'd probably start off with a high density polyurethane foam just because that stuff is so much fun and easy to shape. if high density poly foam isnt available, i'd probably go with just normal insulating foam from home depot (aka "Pink" or "Blue" foam) - cowls arent usually very tall anyway so two layers of 1.5" thick home depot insulation foam should do it. if home depot foam isnt available, id probably go with sheets of plywood - tack em up, build a moderate subframe under it all to support the shape and then round off the edges. whatever you make this part out of, we'll call this product the "Positive".

if this was a "multi-run" mold, i would then coat the Positive with layers of fairly heavy fiberglass and let that cure overnight. then sand it up smooth and check for any pits. if any pits are found on the fiberglass, i would fill it up with something (maybe bondo but probably fiberglass over it). then sand it and paint it black. after the black paint dries, look for any imperfections on the surface and if any are found, then fix and resand and repaint and recheck. so anyways, after the Positive is all done, i'd apply (brush on works but spray is better) some poly-vynil alcohol (PVA) on the Positive and lay it on some "non stick" sheets of plastic (or wax paper taped together to form a larger sheet). after the PVA dries, its then time to carefully (as to not scratch the PVA film on the Positive's surface) lay a few layers of fiberglass (kevlar is prefered) over the Positive and then some epoxy. Then set up your vacuum system so that the top layer of fiberglass/kevlar is "pulled" onto the Positive as tightly as possible using another layer of plastic on top to sandwhich the Positive - let that cure overnight. the next day, pull the Positive from the top layer of the now cured fiberglass/kevlar and epoxy combo sitting on top - use water to saturate the PVA. That layer that was pulled from the top is now called the "Negative". then its time to check the Negative to see if there are any pits and other anomalies on the under side. If the Negative is good, then its time to start mass producing cowls.

if this is a "single run" mold, then i would probably just wrap the entire thing in "cling wrap" (the kitchen wrap). then lay it on some "non stick" sheets of plastic (or wax paper taped together to form a larger sheet) and then apply a few layers of fiberglass on top. then gently press the fiberglass onto the cling-wrapped Positive while applying epoxy - trying to make the top surface as smooth as possible (use of a "squigy" helps to remove excess epoxy and to smooth out the surface). then let that cure overnight and the next day, pop out the top layer from the Positive. then its time to sand/paint this top layer you removed to your liking.

of course this is more time consuming than sheet metal work but this is usually how its done. oh and of course carbon fiber can be substituted for anywhere fiberglass or kevlar is mentioned.

polyurethane foam (sometimes referred to as "yellow" foam):

insulation foam (this one is the pink version, the blue version is similar):

so now i guess its time to ask again:
how thick is that metal??

.

 

[BeauJ]

It's a little tall, but you still get a 10 on creativity

 

[pughman]

22GA, and i like the all steel , but hay, fiberglass is cool to ! thats whats on my stang...

i just dont like the up22.com one , it looks retarted with the cowl starting way back on the hood like that..

 

[slravene]

what you got under the hood of that stang? Hopefully a supercharged V8 ! Gotta have something to back up the lookie lookie...

 

[TYBR6]

she's lookin good

 

[Creager]

i knew it would look 10x better painted. You did a good job man.

wanna build me one, thats bout.. half the size? ahah, kidding.

 

[ryf]

I like it too, 10 points for doing it, and YOU like it too. if we all liked the same thing there wouldn't be 10+ car manufacturers. keep up the good work.

 

[pughman]

thanks..

i may not like it myself after its all done .. but i can see it in my head ,and it looks good ! lol...

 

[pughman]

Pug
You have been thru the same comments on other sites, get a clue
The Cowl just do's not work, period,JMO

just thought i would bring up this old post and see what the thought is on my hood now that its close to being done, no paint yet, but you get the idea...

 

[Gatorblazer]

You could put a flat screen in that thing and play xbox while driving

I need to see it painted to really decide on it. At first glance it looks big, but like you said, it may be smaller looking when painted. Another thing is, how much does it effect your visibility on the trail?

 

[pughman]

dont do the trail thing, so cant help you there.

 

[bikeboarder]

looks sweet. you have one nice looking rig. good job

 

[Jarubell]

Looks great, but what do you gain from it other than looks?

 

[pughman]

lets heat out ? lol...

 

[pope_face]

Not my thing, but looking at the pictures of it at the beginning of the thread and now, I can see where it's going... and it seems to be working. Again, not my thing, but I can appreciate it.

I don't want a cowl hood myself, but I'm considering a hood scoop... an actual functional one though, and one that isn't overly large... Partially for the cold air, mostly just cause it looks cool... ^_^ Maybe I'll pick up a hood at the scrap yard... the reinforcements underneath would make placing scoop a little difficult, but with a spare hood I can just hack into it. However... that has to wait until my other project finishes... damn rain...

 

[Burns]

man i like it....its you truck do what you want....who cares what anyone else thinks.....

 

[gluvsave35]

i like it so much that i want u to build the same 1 but for a gen 2...

and ill ditch the 1 from up22 that i have on my truck now!!!!
hows that sound!

 

[pughman]

like a lot of work ! lol....

 

[gluvsave35]

like a lot of work ! lol....

but worth it
ill pay wut up22 scamed out of me....!!!!!