The hood canopy (or bonnet as the Aussies call it) is made from sheet metal. It only requires a few degrees of bend on each side. The center area is dropped by cutting long slits on either side and the rear area with a narrow 1/8 inch cutting wheel on an angle grinder. Angled filler side strips are welded to the dropped section to complete the cowl. These dropped side sections simply start as two inch strips tapered down to a point at the other end. The rear piece is a uniform two inch filler strip. I extended the sides of the rear filler piece by 1/2 inch on each end and bent them over 90 degrees to make a better attachment seam with the side filler pieces. I also recommend that you make the cowl wide enough to hang over the top frame rails a little and then add a further 1/2 inch on each side. Using a sheet metal bender, completely fold over a 1/2 inch strip all along both sides. This makes for a nice smooth edge , adds strength, and hides the sharp edge so you won't get cuts. If you plan to make one, be careful not to over bend the cowl on each side otherwise the cowl will be raised too high and will not provide a good sight line. This is why I decided not to include the "flipped-up" area on the front of the hood as on the factory fiberglass model because I didn't like the restricted view when I made it that way with my cardboard prototype template. The hood inserts were welded in with my mig welder. The black paint is a flat black and is a high heat barbeque paint spray bomb. This paint dries very quickly and provides a fantastic smooth surface much nicer than a flat black conventional rust paint. |
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