I've been thinking about replacing my hood with one of the fiberglass hoods from USBody.
See
http://www.usbody.com/__Photo-Gallery/T-Hd-Fo-Full/80-gt5-001.htm

These hoods use the stock hinges and lock mechanism. I'm just wondering if they are tough enough. My stock hood is rusting along the front edge and the paint is shot. It also has a split in the sheet metal where the safety latch hits the hood as it closes. That's why I'm concerned about how well a fiberglass hood holds up.

I could buy a replacement stock hood but I liker the look of the hood scoop (GT500 style) - and fiberglass will never rust out.

 

Could you maybe explain some more (or post a picture) of your splitting in the sheet metal?

Here are pictures of mine....

 

A well built FG hood will hold up just fine. It should have metal encased inside the areas where the hinges and latch are. The original 67/68 Shelby hoods/decklids were FG, and short of accident damage, most are still in decent condition today.
I'm not familiar with this company 1st hand, but they seem to have a good reputation in the industry.

 

I thought about one of those cowl induction hoods for my truck too. I can't justify it enough to want it though. If you ask me, cruising at 55 mph would seem like it would get a lot of air flowing through the engine bay. But then again, I've never sat next to the motor of a vehicle while said vehicle was moving at 55 mph either.

That and the inline-6 has a carburetor that sits offset. They'd have to move my cowl induction over about a foot or so. LOL.

Really, the best induction would be the stock snorkel system that runs over next to the radiator at the front of the truck.

When I do my 4bbl swap, I'm going to get an air-cleaner from a V8 truck to go on my inline, then get the snorkel tubing and run the snorkel and make it look like a stock air-cleaner. The upside is that it won't be an open-element filter and I won't have to worry about water or anything like that. I'll also be able to use the stock oil-filler cap and it'll be a cold air induction without having to have one of them cowl hoods.

 

The hood in the website is a guy down the street from me. I have never met him, but did see him at the gas station the other day. His truck is fine. It is kept under a carport. I would think you can not go wrong with those hoods. I am considering one myself.

 

Here is picture of metal tearing due to rpeated contact with hood latch.
I figure if the metal is splitting here - what will happen to fiberglass?

 

If you run into this guy at the gas station again, ask to see the bottom side of the hood - and see how it is holding up around the latch mechanism and hinges.
Thanks!

 

That seems to be pretty common. Basically all the hoods I've had, have done that.
What I do now is push the release for that latch and close the hood beyond that point. Then slam shut. There's only about 1.5-2 inches to slam, but it works and won't tear things up.

I don't think you'll tear up a glass hood if you close it that way.

 

I wouldn't go fiberglass if you use your truck off-road often. My Ranger came stock with a fiberglass hood, and the hood chips waaayyyy too easily, and since fiberglass is still relatively easy to break, whatever chips the paint cracks the fiberglass. I now have a good 8-9 small cracks in my hood, and I've only had the truck for two and a half years, with minimal off-roading, none of which is on rocky trails.

As for the latch contact area, my Ranger differs in design. but it has what I think is a metal insert riveted in that section. I would imagine this company would have already addressed the issue you speak of, and since Ford was smart enough to use a metal insert on my Ranger, I would hope the manufacturer of your hood would be as well.

 

A buddy of mine used make and sell FG hoods. Anytime someone asked about FG breaking, he would run out and jump on the hood of his 73 Mach 1, and treat it like a trampoline. He had made a FG hood for it, complete with Mach 1 scoops......
Later, we built a Cobra replica from scratch, with a 1 piece FG body. I was hauling the body/frame on a trailer behind my then new 94 F150 when the rear tie down came loose. The unfinished car slammed into the back of my truck, destroying the tailgate. The only "damage" to the FG body, was a red mark across the upper portion of the famous Cobra "mouth".......
We used the same truck, smashed tailgate and all, to haul this same body/frame to many shows. You'd be surprised at the comments we heard when someone happened to notice the red mark on the nose, and the huge frown in the tailgate happened to look the same........ We didn't tell folks what happened, but the observant ones figured it out. We would never even attempt to deny it, or stop anyone from looking inside the Cobra nose. I think that alone sold a dozen or more cars......

 

Nobody"?...I just ordered a gt500 hood...5 week wait ugh....

 

Great concept, and looks great on "our" trucks...and fresh air available even....

 

I got the hood you just ordered.

 

The hood did not come with a cutout for the secondary latch. I had to cut an opening and install a plate there. The only opening provided was for the primary latch. The hood is plenty strong.

 

How was it other than that...I plan on doing a reverse hindge kit also..hood looks mighty nice...how long did it take for you to get your hood?