[DeTomaso] hood fitment between years?

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/5/15 9 24 5, rlbpantera at earthlink.net writes:


> I bought the hood new in the box from Wilkinson. Seems doubtful he would 
> sell me a GT5 hood. 
> 
>>>New in WHAT box?   Ford box?   Or De Tomaso box?   If it wasn't in a 
Ford box, likely it was a GT5 hood.   That's what the factory had on offer back 
then.   (Last year, Wilkinson was roaming around with Santiago and found an 
unopened crate that had 25 brand new Ford-era hoods in it that nobody knew 
they had in the warehouse!)

> >Also I'd previously tried one of his "carbon fiber" hoods and it didn't 
> fit. 
> 
>>>Depending on the source, they often don't.

> >The problem with both of them was the same: the curvature was different 
> than the fenders and peaked 1/4" above them about a foot from the nose. 
> Seems very unlikely a carbon hood mold would have been made for the GT5. Also 
> I thought I'd heard that stampings didn't come along until after Ford had 
> bought De Tomaso. 
> 
>>>The parts of the cars were stamped; the method of construction changed 
slightly as the assembly line ramped up, but they were all built of the same 
bits.

I've seen atrocious fit/fitment issues with several different 
vendor-sourced lightweight hoods and decklids.

I've also seen used front hoods that didn't fit properly because they were 
bent while in storage.   In fact, I've seen people bend their own hoods by 
overpacking their front trunks and creating the type of bowed effect you are 
speaking of.   It's easy to bend them out of shape, and not that much harder 
to bend them back INTO shape.   I watched Johnny Woods fix one with his 
bare hands and a pair of 2x4 blocks in about 15 minutes once.   

When trying to sort out this kind of thing, the best thing to do is consult 
the Ford parts book.   Ford was very meticulous about documenting running 
changes where parts were different between early and late cars (bumpers, 
windshield trim etc.).   The Ford parts book lists ONE part number for a Pantera 
front hood, from start to finish.   

(They list three different styles for the rear decklid, before #1285, #1285 
to #2638, and after #2638.   The first style used the latching mechanism 
with the handle in the driver's doorjamb, second style used a 'normal' 
pushbutton trunk lock and flat decklid, and third style is the common one with a 
raised rib in the center).

Cullen--as long as the hood in question hasn't been unduly abused, it 
should fit reasonably well.   (Other's comments about hand-finishing with lead 
etc. are valid, I think, and there may be some minor tweaking necessary along 
those lines).

Mike
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   In a message dated 6/5/15 9 24 5, rlbpantera at earthlink.net writes:

     I bought the hood new in the box from Wilkinson. Seems doubtful he
     would sell me a GT5 hood.

   >>>New in WHAT box?  Ford box?  Or De Tomaso box?  If it wasn't in a
   Ford box, likely it was a GT5 hood.  That's what the factory had on
   offer back then.  (Last year, Wilkinson was roaming around with
   Santiago and found an unopened crate that had 25 brand new Ford-era
   hoods in it that nobody knew they had in the warehouse!)

     >Also I'd previously tried one of his "carbon fiber" hoods and it
     didn't fit.

   >>>Depending on the source, they often don't.

     >The problem with both of them was the same: the curvature was
     different than the fenders and peaked 1/4" above them about a foot
     from the nose. Seems very unlikely a carbon hood mold would have
     been made for the GT5. Also I thought I'd heard that stampings
     didn't come along until after Ford had bought De Tomaso.

   >>>The parts of the cars were stamped; the method of construction
   changed slightly as the assembly line ramped up, but they were all
   built of the same bits.
   I've seen atrocious fit/fitment issues with several different
   vendor-sourced lightweight hoods and decklids.
   I've also seen used front hoods that didn't fit properly because they
   were bent while in storage.  In fact, I've seen people bend their own
   hoods by overpacking their front trunks and creating the type of bowed
   effect you are speaking of.  It's easy to bend them out of shape, and
   not that much harder to bend them back INTO shape.  I watched Johnny
   Woods fix one with his bare hands and a pair of 2x4 blocks in about 15
   minutes once.
   When trying to sort out this kind of thing, the best thing to do is
   consult the Ford parts book.  Ford was very meticulous about
   documenting running changes where parts were different between early
   and late cars (bumpers, windshield trim etc.).  The Ford parts book
   lists ONE part number for a Pantera front hood, from start to finish.
   (They list three different styles for the rear decklid, before #1285,
   #1285 to #2638, and after #2638.  The first style used the latching
   mechanism with the handle in the driver's doorjamb, second style used a
   'normal' pushbutton trunk lock and flat decklid, and third style is the
   common one with a raised rib in the center).
   Cullen--as long as the hood in question hasn't been unduly abused, it
   should fit reasonably well.  (Other's comments about hand-finishing
   with lead etc. are valid, I think, and there may be some minor tweaking
   necessary along those lines).
   Mike