How to Make Homemade Hood Scoops
by Cassandra Tribe
Hood scoops can make your car look like a muscle machine, whether or not you you are making a hood scoop that is functional, or simply an added visual element. Hood scoops are designed to "scoop" outside air into the engine to provide additional cool air inflow to increase power. Even if you are making one just for looks, it will add the suggestion of road racing power to any car. Making a hood scoop is relatively easy and will only take you a weekend.
Step 1
Lay your cardboard on the hood of your car and trace the size and shape of the hood scoop you want to make. You will only be drawing the top of the hood scoop, as if you were looking down on the entire hood.
Step 2
Draw the sides and back of the hood scoop on your cardboard so each piece is drawn attached to the top view that you drew and forms a flat pattern. Make sure you angle the sides so the scoop will be higher at the front then at the back.
Step 3
Cut out your pattern with a box knife. Then, score the cardboard along the lines where your side and back pieces connect to the top piece of your hood scoop.
Step 4
Bend the sides and back down and tape them into position by placing a strip of duct tape along the seam. You should have a three-dimensional version of your hood scoop now. Place it back on the hood of your car where you want it and make any adjustment you need to the cardboard model until it sits perfectly flush on the hood.
Step 5
Wrap your cardboard model completely in plastic wrap and tape it in place.
Step 6
Mix the fiber glass resin in your kit and saturate the fiber glass cloth that came with it as well. Lay the fiberglass on the top of your cardboard model and smooth it in place, be careful to work any air bubbles out from beneath the cloth before it dries. Make sure that you include a doubled strip of cloth along the bottom edge of your hood scoop that will lay flat on your hood, inside the hood scoop. Let the fiberglass set.
Step 7
Remove the cardboard model from your fiberglass hood scoop. On the strip you placed on the bottom edge, mark and drill holes for bolts. This will be how you bolt the scoop to your hood.
Step 8
Mark and drill holes through the hood of your car that match the holes in your scoop. Insert bolts through the scoop and attach to the car. Then glue your metal grill into place on the front of the hood.
Tips
- To make it real, cut a circular hole in the hood of your car beneath where the hood scoop will be placed.
Things You'll Need
- Cardboard
- Box knife
- Duct tape
- Plastic wrap
- Fiber glass kit
- Drill
- Bolts
- Glue
- Metal grill
- Saw with metal blade (if needed)
Warnings
- While there are many adhesives on the market advertised as being strong enough to affix the entire scoop to the hood of your car, the risk you take in the glue failing and the scoop coming free and causing an accident is too great to consider this short cut.
Writer Bio
Cassandra Tribe has worked in the construction field for over 17 years and has experience in a variety of mechanical, scientific, automotive and mathematical forms. She has been writing and editing for over 10 years. Her areas of interest include culture and society, automotive, computers, business, the Internet, science and structural engineering and implementation.
