Hood trade

After a short discussion on the Pantera International Forum, I was contacted by a fellow Pantera owner about the possibility of a trade.  The fellow said that he would be willing to trade straight across if we could work out shipping.  We let it simmer for several weeks while I talked to the body guy who would be painting my car and I found that the steel stock hood would be a better fit for the car.  I arranged to have the hood shipped for free through my brother's company, and the steel hood picked up at a specific location.  I don't know who got the better deal, but the hood I picked up is in decent shape.  There is a depression near the driver's side upper corner, but it isn't bad and should be easy to remove.

The good thing is that I sent all of the pictures I took to the fellow, and he decided to still go through with the arrangement, knowing that the finish and fit of the carbon fiber/fiberglass hood wasn't the best.  I sometimes wonder if he realizes that he only lightened his car by 5 or 10 lbs since the fiberglass hood doesn't save that much weight.

Front hood

After a month of craziness at work, I got a break.  I should be able to post more frequently now.

I bought the car with a carbon fiber overlaid fiberglass hood. When I went to see the car, the one thing I hated with the car it was the ill-fitting hood.  Who in the world made these so crappy?

You can see the obvious finish issues.  Notice the wavy appearance, but pardon the dust.

The hood doesn't conform to the fender very well either.  

The main reason I hated it is for the front fit.  Actually, it turns out that the body was the issue and not the hood, but at first, I was convinced that it was the hood.

You can see the bow in the hood.  I think this is intentional to compensate for eventual stress relaxation, creep, and sag.