How to Make Your Own Hood Scoop

The hood scoop was developed as a way to increase air flow around the carburetors of engines in early model muscle cars and street rods. With an opening that pointed forward or back, a hood scoop defined the vehicle and its driver. You can add a custom look to an ordinary hood cover by learning how to make your own hood scoop. Just find the right donor car and you can install a new hood scoop on your car or truck in one day.

Things You'll Need

• Donor hood
• Marker
• Small grinder
• Cutting wheel
• Fiberglass fabric
• Fiberglass resin
• Fiberglass resin activator
• Measuring tape
• Electric drill
• 1/16-inch drill bit
• 3/16-inch rivets
• Rivet gun
• Sanding wheel
• Factory-matched paint.
• Spray gun

Instructions

1. Search the donor vehicles located within a salvaged auto business. Look for classic hoods or encased fenders and lights. Make your own hood scoop from a donor vehicle that has a unique style that would fit well with your existing hood assembly.

2. Remove a portion of the hood or body panel that is larger than the finished size of the custom hood scoop. Use a marker and measuring tape to outline an equally measured rectangle or square. If the use of an old headlight assembly will be used, measure equal sides and designate the cutout with a marker. Leave the auto salvage yard with only the piece needed to save money on the price of the custom hood scoop. A battery powered cutting grinder and wheel will make the extraction easy on-site.

3. Cut a small triangle into the back two corners of the donor hood scoop. These cuts will allow for the sides to be bent down at 90 degrees for the side walls of the hood scoop. Measure the distance of the new wall base and transfer those dimensions onto upgrade hood and mark. Center the hood scoop properly for the best look.

4. Grind away a 2-inch space of existing paint from the upgrade hood outside the marked location. Do not grind the front of the hood scoop. Use a sanding wheel on both side and the back. Grind away 1 inch of existing paint on the inside of the two sides and back line that will be the hood scoop walls. Clean away all dust and debris after grinding and clean the surface before affixing the hood scoop to the vehicle.

5. Cut ten 2-inch strips of fiberglass fabric about 12 inches long each. Mix the fiberglass resin and actuator in a low profile dish that can accept the full 12-inch length of fabric evenly. Mix the fiberglass resin for three minutes before soaking the fiberglass fabric.

6. Step the custom hood scoop onto the upgrade hood on the markings that will position the hood scoop correctly. Start applying fiberglass fabric soaked if fiberglass resin along the edges of the base inside the hood scoop. Use two strips to create a bridge of fiberglass from the top of the upgrade hood to the side wall of the hood scoop. Repeat the process on the outside walls of the hood scoop. Use up to four strips of fabric to create a smooth, even transition from the top of the hood to the new hood scoop. Make the thickness of the fabric thick enough to have material to sand away to get to a perfect shape and fit.

7. Allow the new fiberglass compound to set and dry for 24 hours. Return to work using a electric drill and sanding wheel to get the transition correct in shape. Start with course grit sandpaper and end with a fine grit to polish the new fiberglass surface. Use a shaper to match the opposite body transition when sanding. Use a cutout from cardboard to run along the hood scoop transition to match the shape all around the new fiberglass seam. When all the seams match, the sanding is done.

8. Mix primer paint and matching color paint in spray gun canisters connected to an air compressor to spray the new hood scoop with a perfect match of color. Mask the rest of the hood with masking tape and blocking paper to avoid over spray. Cover with primer and allow the paint to dry. Cover with four coats of matching paint and a wet sand of the entire hood after the new paint has dried.

Tips & Warnings

• Cut out an opening under the hood scoop to get extra air into a carbureted engine. Make your own hood scoop functional by adding the opening under the new hood scoop.

• Hood scoops that allow air to pass into the engine compartment can let water and debris into the engine's intake resulting in damaged internal parts. Hood scoops that obstruct the view from the driver's seat can be subject to citation depending on local motor vehicle violations.

References

• Truck Stuff Hood Scoops
• Art Cars

Resources

• Restyling Hood Scoops