hood inserts

[etlsport]

just noticed another vehicle with a hood insert today
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/8/web/2900000-2900999/2900475_194_full.jpg

so i guess its not a real insert, just painted to look like one but it is the first time ive seen anything else like that on a car other than the vx

[Mark B]

Back in the late 60's and early 70's I had a few Dodge cars. Dodge Charger, Dart and Challanger. Wish I had those cars today. They were ease to work on and repair.
Have you seen the new Challanger? I really like the retro look Dodge is going back to on the new Challanger. Price tag is around $ 38,000 to $ 40,000.
HEMI enging with 426 HP. Just what we need with the price of gas today.

[etlsport]

mmmmmmmmmmm challenger:) i spent like 20 minutes looking at it at the auto show... its soo sexy! i also love those cars that are nearly twice my age ;Db; sorry.. wass out with some guys the other day looking at a 71 GTO and they were getting on me because the car was 14 years older than me

[snowtrooper1966]

Owned quite a few Mopars (Dodge & Plymouth 70's muscle cars) over the years...
Favorite was a 1969.5 Dodge SuperBee. Hemi Orange w/black fiberglass lift off scooped hood. 440 SixpPak (3 two barrel carbourators) motor. Hurst manual 4 speed. Basicly, a factory drag car. That beast was sick! Bought it from the original owner who used to build and drag race Mopar max wedge cars. I remeber seeing that baby every morning on my way to school, just sitting in the driveway. Finally scraped enough dough to make him an offer one day ($1,500) and drove it away!
Other memorable Mopars owned:
1968 Dodge Charger, 440 motor
1970 Dodge Coronet 318 small block V8 motor (not really a "true" muscle car, but a great body design!)
1970 Dodge Charger 440 motor
1970 Plymouth Satalite (another 318 car)
1970 Dodge Challenger T/A 360 V8 SixPak w/black fiberglass lift off scooped hood. This limited production car was built for the Trans American racing circuit.
As has been said, those cars were easy to work on, no computers, no smog. Good neck snappin fun!
I really dig that Dodge is harkening back to those days with some current production vehicles.
Do I need two cars?
Maybe I can figure out a way to stuff a 426 into the VX. Then it really would be a fire breathing Dragon!
Best,
James

[Cobrajet]

Hmmm... I think I remember seeing a few cars back in the day with blacked out hoods.

:)

http://home.comcast.net/~gregg.north/Cobra09.jpg

[mdwyer]

Owned quite a few Mopars over the years...

I had a couple Mopars... *snicker* I had a 1981 Dodge Ares K-car, then moved up to an 85 Dodge 600 turbo -- the AK-car!

I know the 80s Mopars aren't really well thought-of, but I've got to say that I've got a special place in my heart for that Ares. It was my first car, and I treated it really, really bad, and yet it was really, really reliable. That car ran for months without coolant and never siezed. It went all the way to school with the parking brake on. Its throttle stuck wide open, but didn't destroy itself from overspeeding.

In its final hours, it carried me uphill in 2nd gear at well over 60mph, where it finally lost compression on TWO cylinders, and STILL got me 100 miles back to home.

No car deserves the treatment I gave that poor thing, and yet it cranked out hundreds of thousands of miles in the worst Colorado can dish up, and still died with honor.

I'd have the hood ornament brozned, if someone hadn't stolen it in the high school parking lot...

[johnnyapollo]

H2 has a black hood insert similar to the VX.

[snowtrooper1966]

I hear ya, mdwyer!
I beat the hell out of my '70 318 coronet. That thing just keept on going...
James

[snowtrooper1966]

Hmmm... I think I remember seeing a few cars back in the day with blacked out hoods.

:)



Right back 'atcha!

704

:bwgy:
James

[don moore]

in school I had a green 68 farlane500.. and I painted the hood flat black...lol

wow it has a 289 in it .with a colum 3 speed..lol

[Ldub]

Back in the day, lots of cars had blacked out hoods. My first car (Well used 70 Mustang, plain Jane, purchaced in 1974 for $1000.00) had one.
Even Ford Mavericks with the "Grabber" package had em'.
This thread has turned into a great trip down late sixties/ early seventies muscle car memory lane.:thumbup:

[snowtrooper1966]

Memory lane, yes.
Had I half a brain when I was younger, I would be posting pix of MOPARS in the garage next to the Dragon, not remenissing(sp?)
Oh well, better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.....
James

[LittleBeast]

How hard is it to remove the insert on the VX? I want to high polish that thing myself and if I don't like it I am going to paint it black to match the rest of the ebony

[Y33TREKker]

How hard is it to remove the insert on the VX? I want to high polish that thing myself and if I don't like it I am going to paint it black to match the rest of the ebony

I think the hardest part is removing all the plastic fasteners that hold the sound deadening pad to the underside of the hood in a way that allows them to be reused. There are tools made especially for the job, although a couple of well placed screwdrivers will do the trick too.

Trim removal tool (http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=820&i=18187650&tp=990)

You can usually buy both the trim removal tool, and replacement fasteners (if necessary) for not much $$$, at most places like Autozone..

Once that pad is removed, a simple socket and ratchet is all you need to take off the insert.

[etlsport]

try doing it after the engine has been running awhile, the fastners will be less likely to break if they are warm..

when putting the insert back on be careful not to overtighten the bolts or you will run the risk of the insert cracking

[tom4bren]

& don't forget that your washer nipples need to be removed since they go through the hood & insert.

While you have it off, you may want to fill any recessed areas on the back side with body putty or epoxy. Those are weak spots that can eventually crack.

Be sure to post pix when you're done.:)

[LittleBeast]

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I have been thinking about doing this for a while. Removing that insert would make polishing or painting 10x easier.

I also intend to paint the side view mirrors and the roof rack rails black to match the ebony, should I try and remove those pieces too? Man this would be easy if I could remove all those pieces. I already have the air compressor, just need to buy the gravity feed sprayer and lots of tarp.

I am assuming I should sand those plastic parts before I hit them with the paint. The grey side view mirrors have always bugged me that they don't match the paint especially when I hit the cladding with the back to black, and they stick out terribly!

[snowtrooper1966]

Bevis & Butthead voice ON/

He said "washer nipples".....

Beavis & Butthead voice OFF/

James

[tom4bren]

Use back to black on the side mirrors whenever you do the cladding. If your heart is set on paint tho - don't. It'll be a pain to clean off when you do paint.

[snowtrooper1966]

Speaking of old muscle cars, one of the things I dug about my Charger was the shape. It preportadley was designed with a fighter aircraft in mind. Also refrenced as a "coke bottle" shape. I always said it had "hips". Just noticed today while picking up Snowtrooper Jr from daycare, as I was looking in the driver's side mirror, that the VX had a shimilar profile from that reverse angle...
No wonder I love the Dragon so much....
James