painting fiberglass

[MunsterZ28]

im going to purchase a 3 in cowl hood for my z. its a fiberglass hood the only thing i am concerned about is i have heard some horror stories about painting fiberglass.

anybody have any input or real life experince??

[transampimp]

You will end up paying big money having the thing smoothed out, and fitted to match your body lines. My hood hasn't cracked yet, and the paint is 2 years old, and I drove it one winter. When I had it painted I couldn't afford to have the thing smoothed out perfect. US exotics was known for making the best hoods that fit with minimum work. If you talk to some body shops they will tell you of some cheap crap that they end up having to paint. What ever you spend I would make sure you budget at least $800 for any body work and paint. It could be more or less because you will need the color blended into your current color. If you get a good hood that doesn't need any work then it could be half that.

[phoenix_rising]

I think it depends on the hood. Mine is OEM but has been in storage for 10 years and I just had it painted. It did not cost me any more than usual.

[DETROITMUSCLE]

mine is fiberglass and the fitment sucks. The paint hasn't cracked but the rock chips are a ***** because I'll have to have it block sanded when I repaint it.

[beardy2]

i painted my fiberglass hood and it looks good it is just like painting metal.

[cobalt camaro]

The thing about fiberglass is that it is brittle and does do alot of changes and warps going from cold to warm weather so a common occurence is spider cracking. As far as painting goes just gonna have to feel it out. Sometimes lots of work other times a good coat of primer and paint works. It all depends on the factories molds and how they make the actual product. Goodluck with the hood.