Gauge Interest: Clear acrylic hood.

2002_lincolnLS

2002_lincolnLS

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gauge interest: Clear Acrylic Hood
Okay so I had an idea about a clear acrylic hood. I want to know if anyone would be interested in one.

I am making the form for my self either way with a 2 inch cowl on it.

But once I have the form its as easy as buying a sheet of 1/4 // 1/8th inch acrylic and taking it to the powder coater to use the oven, when it softens it will make the shape of the form. I am not sure what the cost of the oven use is yet calling the powder coater today.

If anyone would be interested please let me know I may be able to get batch pricing I have no idea though. The acrylic is either ~$160 for 1/4 of ~$90 for 1/8 I am thinking the 1/8th will for a little better.

so over all cost for the hood is based on the powder coater, I will only charge like 50-100 on the hood for my part, just to cover the form, the time, and the gas to take and pick up parts from the powder coater, also I may be able to find sheets big enough to get two hoods out of so it will cut the hood price in half.

let me know.
 
Is 1/8" strong enough? That's a pretty big span and it'll be quite hot. Are there good spots to put pin mounts in the back? I'm assuming you'd ditch the hinges and just do four pins.
 
oddball said:
Is 1/8" strong enough? That's a pretty big span and it'll be quite hot. Are there good spots to put pin mounts in the back? I'm assuming you'd ditch the hinges and just do four pins.
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I am not really sure, I may make an acrylic block with studs that is epoxied to the hood to mount, but not 100% sure yet, same with the thickness. I am looking for an acrylic company I can contact about these types of questions..
 
I am going to email you those pics as well, i almost forgot, got busy with drywall this weekend, yay for sheet rocking ceilings...
 
No worries.
I think standard issue pin mounts for fiberglass hoods would be easy to source, cheap, and look the part.
 
Bleah. You'd have to keep it clean underneath or it would look like crap all the time. Engines emit oil and fuel vapors, even with modern emissions controls, so you'd need a material that would not absorb this stuff, or yellow, or fade, or get frosty looking after exposure to these heated vapors.

I also don't think that a material that can be formed in the oven would be suitable as when you park on a hot day after a drive the heat buildup combined with repeated cycles would likely cause it to warp over time.

There are some OEMs that make clear hoods, I'd look into what materials they are using. Perhaps even go look at one to see how they made it. I think the Audi R8 has a clear engine cover, and all the Audi dealers I've seen have had at least one on the showroom floor.
 
Telco said:
Bleah. You'd have to keep it clean underneath or it would look like crap all the time. Engines emit oil and fuel vapors, even with modern emissions controls, so you'd need a material that would not absorb this stuff, or yellow, or fade, or get frosty looking after exposure to these heated vapors.

I also don't think that a material that can be formed in the oven would be suitable as when you park on a hot day after a drive the heat buildup combined with repeated cycles would likely cause it to warp over time.

There are some OEMs that make clear hoods, I'd look into what materials they are using. Perhaps even go look at one to see how they made it. I think the Audi R8 has a clear engine cover, and all the Audi dealers I've seen have had at least one on the showroom floor.
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1) that is why I am using acrylic, most likely tinted. It does not yellow over time.

2) it takes 360 degrees to form the acrylic
 
You can try it if you like, but I think you'll find that acrylic will droop over time after repeated heat cycles. It can get up to 200 degrees at the hood on a 75 degree day and those temps can get even higher on a hot day after a hard run. GM uses polycarbonate for their hoods, which has a higher melting and a higher deflection temp than acrylic. If you can get polycarbonate I think you'll have better results.
 
a window in the hood would be neat for showing off the engine cover on the 2nd gen LS. Wonder what kind of cost this will have to it?
 
So your hood will now be completely clear and see through?

Thats a cool idea, but I hope it doesn't look out of place and take away from the body lines of the ls. Everything just goes so well together.

Good luck on this project!
 
alax, I am going to either find tinted or try to tint it so its not 100% clear, that would look odd.
 
Acrylic with the sun will develope hairline fractures over time. You might want to look into lexan it's more durable than acrylic. Most places that specialize in plastic sheeting only sells in quantities of 15 to 20 sheets and it's going to be super expensive.
 
I don't know, even pin on hoods have perimeter glass work on the inside. I see this turning out to be a very expensive proposition that probably won't work out well. Good luck with it.

Have you put any thought into a clear or tinted front bumper molding replacement? I think that would be a cool first step to some angel eyes style DRL's.
 
2002_lincolnLS said:
Telco,

I did end up looking at polycarbonate. It is what I will be using.
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Cool. This is going to be a high cost, high effort endeavor on your part, just wanted to make sure that you didn't do all this just to watch it slowly droop over a hot engine in August. :)
 
all i can thimk of is that pick BULL did a while back... I'm assuming it gave you a little inspiration too....

6020380098_daf9407c94_b.jpg
 
that picture looks awesome; i would imagine this will only look good on black or the 'dark cherry' (or whatever the dark red is called) tho.
 
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