New fiberglass hood: Has anyone ever had success with flat black rattle cans?

-
MRGTX

MRGTX

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2007
Messages
2,198
Reaction score
728
Location
CT, USA
I don't doubt that it's possible...I'm just wondering if it's realistic for a person of average skills to accomplish this. :D

My AAR Fiberglass "six pack" hood is slated to arrive this week. I've heard that they generally don't require a huge amount of prep (and I'm hoping this is true!). Like everything with my car, I'm stumbling into this project blind...Having this hood finished professionally would really put a hurt on the mod budget...and the budget in general, honestly.

My basic shopping list for the job will be as follows:

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee hood springs
Sanding sponges with various grits
Glazing and Spot Putty (Bondo brand?)
Plastic filler spreaders
Rustoleum Filler Primer/sandable
Some kind of all weather/automotive satin black

They didn't have this hood in stock so it was evidentially just laid for this order. I presume that this means that it could still need some time to fully cure/off-gas... So the plan will be to let it breathe for a while. Unfortunately the CT sunshine isn't so reliable in January so sitting in the heated garage will have to do. I'm thinking a week or two?

Meanwhile, I will figure out how to pull the fenders without damaging anything (maybe easy for many of you guys in this section of the forum but I've never done it) and figure out if these springs are actually going to work...
11765346_adr_gm1236108_pri_larg.jpg


Then, wipe the thing down, rough up the gelcoat with medium grit, fill in any pinholes, attempt to level any low spots, primer, sand, primer, sand, then do a ton of thin coats with the black. Plausible?

This will be my first attempt at working with a fiberglass panel so any suggestions regarding other things that I might need, preferred brands, etc. would be extremely welcome.
 
Last edited:
Painting any body panel correctly is 95% preparation and 5% quality materials.

"Rattle Cans" lack any level of durability used on a A Class surface application. There is almost no weatherability or chip resistance. You can end up with a chalked out and chip riddled hood in a very short time.

Think about before you proceed.
 
Transtar brand Matte Black (spray can) is the best you can get IMO. Not cheap but worth it as well as their sandable primer.
Just make sure your final sand grit is 320 or finer. LIGHT coats (8 - 10 inches away) 2 directions rotating front to back/side to side to cover completely.


Done several hoods. Holds up well.

Dave
 
You do not need to remove fenders to remove hood hinge assembly. Jack up front end of car, remove wheels, remove splash shields behind wheels. Using a long screwdriver or pry bar remove the fasteners holding hinges on, then remove the hinge assembly. I used my 69 hinges but swapped out the springs for ones off of a K car or Fwd Daytona.
 
Do it yourself no problem. F the naysayers. You can always have it repainted when you get the money. You pop the hood take the four bolts off the hinges and give it to the paint shop no big deal when you get the time and money.
 
Final finish of louvers after block sanding with 100 grit up to 400 grit (600 grit on the edges) and then several coats of SEM Trim Black paint. Looks OK for now, but we don't know yet how the SEM rattle can will weather.

trim black 1.jpg


trim black 2.jpg
 
A guy in S C that works on A bodies, said to just open the hood, and with the door open, heat up the springs until they unwind 2 turns. Then they will have the right amount of tension for a hinged F/G hood. I Haven't tried it, but it's worth looking into.
 
Spend hundreds of dollars on a hood. Paint it with rattle cans.

Makes sense to me.
 
cpearce said:
You do not need to remove fenders to remove hood hinge assembly. Jack up front end of car, remove wheels, remove splash shields behind wheels. Using a long screwdriver or pry bar remove the fasteners holding hinges on, then remove the hinge assembly. I used my 69 hinges but swapped out the springs for ones off of a K car or Fwd Daytona.
Click to expand...

Thanks...this is a huge help.

Garys72Duster said:
A guy in S C that works on A bodies, said to just open the hood, and with the door open, heat up the springs until they unwind 2 turns. Then they will have the right amount of tension for a hinged F/G hood. I Haven't tried it, but it's worth looking into.
Click to expand...

This is also extremely tempting...but do people really apply that much heat near painted surfaces? Wow. I'd need to see this done before I tried it.
 
Yea I was wondering about that, too. Looks like there is plenty of room in there. Maybe exsperiment/try it on an old spring assembly. He said don't heat it too much, or it won't even hold up the F/G hood on a 70 Dart. What year/model car do you have?
 
Last edited:
Tractor Supply has a few choices of black alkyd enamels and also has reducer and hardener.
It's tough stuff and made to be UV tolerant.
Their paint with hardener and a smooth foam roller would be my choice if I didn't have access to spray equipment.
Rattle cans are a bit too hard to get even on big surfaces.
 
MRGTX said:
I don't doubt that it's possible...I'm just wondering if it's realistic for a person of average skills to accomplish this. :D

My AAR Fiberglass "six pack" hood is slated to arrive this week. I've heard that they generally don't require a huge amount of prep (and I'm hoping this is true!). Like everything with my car, I'm stumbling into this project blind...Having this hood finished professionally would really put a hurt on the mod budget...and the budget in general, honestly.

My basic shopping list for the job will be as follows:

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee hood springs
Sanding sponges with various grits
Glazing and Spot Putty (Bondo brand?)
Plastic filler spreaders
Rustoleum Filler Primer/sandable
Some kind of all weather/automotive satin black

They didn't have this hood in stock so it was evidentially just laid for this order. I presume that this means that it could still need some time to fully cure/off-gas... So the plan will be to let it breathe for a while. Unfortunately the CT sunshine isn't so reliable in January so sitting in the heated garage will have to do. I'm thinking a week or two?

Meanwhile, I will figure out how to pull the fenders without damaging anything (maybe easy for many of you guys in this section of the forum but I've never done it) and figure out if these springs are actually going to work...
11765346_adr_gm1236108_pri_larg.jpg


Then, wipe the thing down, rough up the gelcoat with medium grit, fill in any pinholes, attempt to level any low spots, primer, sand, primer, sand, then do a ton of thin coats with the black. Plausible?

This will be my first attempt at working with a fiberglass panel so any suggestions regarding other things that I might need, preferred brands, etc. would be extremely welcome.
Click to expand...
First few years before I was able to paint the car I rattle canned my hood and it wasn't too bad for the most part. When ever needed I just light sanded and sprayed it again.
When I did finally paint it I used this. Turned out great and very good price.
KemPhlats Hot Rod Black Urethane 1.5 Quart Kit

Run up to Harbor Freight and get there 15 dollar spray gun and go to town on it.
 
Rattle can on blue car matte paint on orange car
Admittedly the blue doesn’t look as good but was better than the picture looks.

5226865D-490B-478D-A384-64C517B17CA4.jpeg


9F668A71-9BC6-4921-96FC-9FA8FA7D7EAB.jpeg
 
Last edited:
dgibby said:
Run up to Harbor Freight and get there 15 dollar spray gun and go to town on it.
Click to expand...

good advice!

I really can't believe we are really talking about using a roller to paint the hood of a car here.
 
IMHO, satin black (or matte or low gloss or similar) looks much better on hoods than flat black.

If you have any kind of decent compressor, this would be the perfect opportunity to get yourself an inexpensive spray gun and learn to paint. Many people, including myself, have gotten pretty decent results with them.

But if you are determined to do it with aerosols, you can purchase 2K paint in rattle cans that is much more durable than conventional spray cans. Example: 2K Aerospray Rat Rod Satin Black
 
I am waiting to paint my new glass hood. The manufacturer said to wait at least 30 days before paint. I am no painter but plan on getting a cheap sprayer from harbor freight 1 for primer and 1 for paint. Was told by a Mopar restoration shop painter to hang the hood up and paint it don’t lay it flat. I plan on using Hot Rod Black. You go 1st
 
I've heard about hanging the hood to paint. I've always put them on body horses.

947400_10201040518644553_1110053745_n.jpg
 
loganscuda said:
I am waiting to paint my new glass hood. The manufacturer said to wait at least 30 days before paint. I am no painter but plan on getting a cheap sprayer from harbor freight 1 for primer and 1 for paint. Was told by a Mopar restoration shop painter to hang the hood up and paint it don’t lay it flat. I plan on using Hot Rod Black. You go 1st
Click to expand...

Haha...well, I believe the 30 day recommendation and you’re ahead of me! :D

Which cheap sprayers are you looking at?
 
MRGTX said:
Haha...well, I believe the 30 day recommendation and you’re ahead of me! :D

Which cheap sprayers are you looking at?
Click to expand...
I saw a review on them on YouTube they are about twenty bucks. They put them them up against a high dollar sprayer. My only problem is the paint is $100 so rattle can is looking better. Depending on how many cans it takes it could come out the same. I did find a paint shop that will paint it for $200. I would rather give it a go myself.
 
Do put the springs on. I have the hood on the car with no springs and now I have a shaker hood. Will try to go to junk yard and get me some springs.
 
loganscuda said:
I saw a review on them on YouTube they are about twenty bucks. They put them them up against a high dollar sprayer. My only problem is the paint is $100 so rattle can is looking better. Depending on how many cans it takes it could come out the same. I did find a paint shop that will paint it for $200. I would rather give it a go myself.
Click to expand...
if I'm not mistaken and I'm about to go there myself. Right now LOL that Harbor Freight has some Mask to wear to paint with that are pre-sealed. I know you're not literally dying to paint your car. Of course I always encourage the give it a go angle myself. You end up with the experience at the very least good or bad and all the tools at half the price.
 
Another possibility is having the hood wrapped. I have no idea of the costs involved with this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top