There has been a conversation going around my e-mail about early hoods (bonnets) and the differences between them. A couple of friends are pouring money into their restorations and the rest of the low VIN club guys are watching with delight. The conversation got on to hoods one day and I rushed home to have a look at what I have.

Of course, you all know that Princess 27th of the rust brothels in Dover, Delaware is pretty trashed. I bought a hood from a guy who swore it was a very early '70 style. 27th's hood is trashed, but like most of her, its original.

So I lined the two up and compared. The major question being; "Is there a difference between the hoods of the early model years" and "Can a replacement hood be made to look like an original early (1969 build) because a 69 hood is unobtanium. Read on to see what I came up with.

Please feel free to add photos of your hoods along with model year. How many different hoods are there?

The green rusty nasty hood is from 27th. Pretty obvious why I bought another hood, huh? The blue hood is the used one I bought. The punch-outs for the front inner rail are pretty much the same.

Along the side rail of the hood; a punch-out on the blue hood and none on the green. Same condition both sides.

Maybe I need to get my eyes checked but it looks like the blue hood is not as wide as the green one.

I have heard complaints about some aftermaket hoods being off in length but didn't know that there was a width issue.

Maybe I need to get my eyes checked but it looks like the blue hood is not as wide as the green one.

I think that's just perspective playing ticks on your eyes.

A big difference appears on the rear inner rail. The blue hood has a punch-out and the metal pressing around it is different. See how the pressing is raised?

The huge difference is a gusset plate in the back corners of the hood. The metal folds are different as well.

So the blue hood is very different and not the early style it was purported to be. I'm curious to see what other variations there are. Have a look at your hood and lets collect some pictures!

That's just the perspective playing tricks on your eyes.

There has been a conversation going around my e-mail about early hoods (bonnets) and the differences between them. A couple of friends are pouring money into their restorations and the rest of the low VIN club guys are watching with delight. The conversation got on to hoods one day and I rushed home to have a look at what I have.

.

So I lined the two up and compared. The major question being; "Is there a difference between the hoods of the early model years" and "Can a replacement hood be made to look like an original early (1969 build) because a 69 hood is unobtanium. Read on to see what I came up with.

Chris,

I took a look at Kats web site, and under the heading of "Original Details" there is a subsection, "inside hood", where he gives his explanation of early vs. later hoods.

In his explanation, the earlier hoods had no cutouts on either side of the hood latch hardware and no cutouts in the outside edges of the hood. If this were the case, it appears that your green hood is the earlier of the two shown.

Kats seems to be pretty accurate in these matters and it would be interesting to know the vins which defined these early characteristics.

You may have already seen this Chris, but, if not, hope it helps explain the differences.

Dan

it doesn't look like anything some careful cutting/welding/grinding can't fix!

I can tell you with all certainty that the green hood is circa October 1969. But that's what got me going to photograph the two and show that there are far more differences than the holes on either side of the hood latch. In fact, the entire pressing profile of the inner rail is different. My biggest surprise was to see the reinforcement gusset plate in the back corners of the hood.

I have my original 71 hood, but I suspect that it isn't early enough for this discussion. Am I correct in that assumption?

(Besides being rusted out, it is bent as well. But I will take pictures if you want.)

Chris,

#237 looks like #26 (no corner reinforments or holes on either side of the hood release. However, my 72 does not have these holes either. Also note the difference in the hood release itself. The one on #237 is flat and the one on my 72 is angled at the top.

-Mike