The Hood Scoop

I wanted to do some customizing and a hood scoop was one of those modifications I wanted to build. I also needed to be functional so I plan on cutting holes in the hood for the airflow.

First I built a template out of thick cardboard to get a feel for how it looks on the hood. I didn’t want it too small or large.

The two smaller triangles to the left and right of the center support braces are the areas I’ll be cutting out.

I traced the template onto the hood for placement and to determine where the cutouts will be.

I used a 24” x 24” piece of 18 gauge steel.

I then laid the template on the sheet metal.

Then I cut it out using a Harbor Freight (I can hear the groans…) electric sheet metal shear. Worked great!

My neighbor across the street has a sheet metal brake and we bent the sides down 45 degrees.

On the aft end of the scoop, I tack welded a ¾ “ diameter solid rod onto the bottom and took my hammer and dolly and rolled the metal around the rod.

This gave me a gentle slope on the back.

I then tack welded a ¼” diameter solid rod around the scoop openings. I wanted to give the front of the scoop some strength and bulk rather than just seeing the blunt edge of the 18-gauge sheet metal.

I then took my hammer and dolly and again rolled the metal around the rod. I did this to all the front edges.

Here’s what the front edges and corner looked like after rolling the metal.

Front left view.

Side view.

Side rear view

Front view.

From directly in front, the scoop has a low profile, which is the look I was looking for.

I’ve got some welding and more metal work to do before I weld it on….I’ve also got to come up with some kind of screen for the scoop openings.

Up to this point, I could have changed my mind and not install the scoop, but now I’ve gone past the point of no return…

The next step is to build a couple brackets to hold some screen material to prevent debris from coming into the scoop and into the engine bay.

However, if I put a couple screens on the front of the scoop, I won’t need the screens on the bottom so I made a couple templates for the front.

I found a piece of scrap metal to use for the screen and from the templates, I cut a couple pieces to tack weld into the scoop…

I created a lip on the bottom of the screens so I can drill up from below and I plan on either riveting them in place or using a screw.

I created a lip by placing the metal between a couple pieces of wood and hammering it flat…

I next primered under the area the scoop would be placed with a weld through primer and also the bottom side of the scoop and tack welded the scoop in place.

I then spot welded the scoop in by jumping all around to keep the heat on any given area to a minimum to prevent warpage. This took a while and then I took the edge of my cutting wheel to smooth out the welds.

I’ve got some areas I missed while welding and will now go back and close up those areas.

Once I welded the entire scoop into place, I noticed I warped my hood! DAMN! The scoop didn’t fit perfectly flat so as I was welding, I gently pushed to scoop down here and there and it distorted my hood! In any case, I can’t undo everything now.

I primered the hood with epoxy primer and high build primer and worked the metal the best I could to get it all flat again. I’m ready to primer again and sand…sand…sand…..

Here’s the hood sanded flat and primered…

Here’s the first attempt at painting the hood. I used a flattening agent in my clear and didn’t shake it up enough and it left small white particles throughout the painted surface. It also looks too glossy for me…

I decided to sand it all down and start again with Hot Rod Flatz Black paint. It came out much flatter…