79' 900 Fiberglass/Carbon Fiber hoods (east coast)

[Darth Blomqvist]

So, in being a little late to the party with all the composite hood talk I will heed the advice of squaab99t and start a new thread.

I had a day dream after I bought the bruised and battered ex-Hutchens ice racer from Teresco to replace each battered panel with fiberglass or carbon fiber or at least a fully removable nose. Once can dream…

Last year I saved a 79 900 hood (duel vents) and did the body work on it over this winter to make a quality hood mold. Being my first experience working with fiberglass I solicited the help of a custom car shop next to my shop in central CT (Eddie Barrett Seat Company).

The mold came out great and I have popped one prototype hood out and hope to have another one by this weekend. As you can all see the first one was a test, with one layer of ‘race’ glass and then a second layer of core-mat in the center to prevent flex and bagged carbon fiber for strength around all 4 sides. This was due to Ed thinking that the single layer of glass would be to flimsy (he is used to custom cars like kit cobras and pieces that are more about strength than weight), even though I was explaining that this was primarily for racing and would be dezused or pinned. The result is a hood that is probably a little overkill but still, if I had to guess 10 to 15 pounds, but I don't really know? (I will scale it this week and get an exact weight) I think the next hood will be significantly lighter. For those of you not familiar the core-mat material, it looks like the spill pillows used for ice racing, or a very thick paper towel like material. This core-mat soaked up a lot of resin and I think added a bit of unnecessary weight and might only serve a purpose as a good strengthened anchor for a stock hinge on more finished hoods.

That being said, now that I have the mold I am hoping to help out all of the interested East coast Saab brethren in producing these to your liking (not excluding the left coasters or islander, it just looks as if Drew might have you all covered). I am thinking the same price range that Drew posted $300 to $800 depending on material and finish.

Check out the pics and let me know what you think. If any of you are interested in a hood let me know. In a perfect world I hope to have left and right front fenders by the end of the summer…

[Darth Blomqvist]

more pics

[Darth Blomqvist]

More pics

[Darth Blomqvist]

Yet more pics of the mold

[Darth Blomqvist]

and more...

[Darth Blomqvist]

yup more

[Darth Blomqvist]

First hood, after body work and primer

[SwedeSport]

Instead of making the material thicker, you can cut strips of foam, maybe 1/4-1/2 inch thick and laminate over them to create structure to stiffen the hood. It will add a bunch of rigidity without the weight or cost.

how many layers of cloth were you expecting to use in a pin on type race hood?

[DrewP]

Sweet!

[87 n/a]

Sure...they are on the westcoast now and the Northeast. Let me know when they get to the southeast

[Scott]

Did these ever get produced?

[RadioFlyer]

A fiberglass/CF hatch would be pretty sweet too - the stock one weighs a ton!

[DeLorean]

Can you make some more of these? Price?