zetec7 wrote:
Louvers are something that would be very easy to build into a mold, but can be very difficult to do in aluminum (unless you're lucky enough to have someone within a few hundred miles with a louver press).
Gulp. I've put a whole lot of hours into putting louver-size details on mold patterns, and if I wanted louvers on my own hood...I'd make a louver press and an aluminum hood.
zetec7 wrote:
I’d happily cut out the openings myself - a few minutes’ careful work with a die grinder would do an excellent job of it.
It would, but I think those "few minutes" would give you an appreciation of the 'ease' in which they were built into the mold. And since I typed that about making a louver press, I went on Amazon and searched <aluminum louvers> and there are plenty of bolt-on options, so I'd probably do it that way instead, now that I think about it.
zetec7 wrote:
Another observation - for those (like me) who intend to hinge their hoods down the center, a center-split hood wouldn't even have to be bonded together! Man, would THAT save a lot of time!
I like that idea.
zetec7 wrote:
I know the Center hinge isn’t original (although I’ve seen a couple that were so-modified) but, i’ve also seen guys at gas stations, trying to find a safe place to park their fragile, hand-made aluminum hoods where some 8-year-old isn’t going to stumble over it. Being able to open one side or the other while the hood stays in place is worth the deviation from originality, IMHO.
The removable hood is light and simple, but it's a bit of a nuisance sometimes...and a split hood with a hinge could still be removable when one wanted it removed.