Just for HemiDog - YO AAR hood rant

[ntstlgl1970]

After I saw HemiDog's post yesterday I wanted to send a "hang in there, it's not just you" post in reply.

This is my year one AAR hood I bought a while ago ($700+200 for shipping), waited a few months (3-4) to get it and well, to be short-it doesn't fit real well. And it has a crack (from shipping) that I didn't catch before the driver left. It's going to take a bunch of time to fix. Now before everyone jumps on the "restoration parts aren't as good as the OE, you expect too much" bandwagon, let me just say that I didn't expect it to be perfect. I did expect to spend some time making it smooth and such. I was hoping that the shape would be somewhat the same. And lastly, I took my stock steel hood off that fit just about perfect - panel fit and all - and put this hood on and the gaps were exactly (as bad) as they are now. See if you can count how many issues this thing has.....and I'll list all the issues later...

[bb71challenger]

Just from the way it is turned up on the ends I would reject it but you probably could not tell until you installed it. I personally dont know why the restoration parts cant be nicer, they are getting big money for mopar stuff compared to chevy and ford stuff so they need to get it right. I would be like you, very pissed at that expensive piece of junk! Sorry if I butted into a one on one thread but I just had to reply 

[72hemi]

The good news is that your AAR hood is way better than my T/A hood that I got from Unlimited Products. Mine was basically crap and I will never order from them again.

[ntstlgl1970]

Just from the way it is turned up on the ends I would reject it but you probably could not tell until you installed it. I personally dont know why the restoration parts cant be nicer, they are getting big money for mopar stuff compared to chevy and ford stuff so they need to get it right. I would be like you, very pissed at that expensive piece of junk! Sorry if I butted into a one on one thread but I just had to reply 

Yeah, YO would replace the hood, but I would have to pay another $200 to ship it back to them, I decided to eat it and move on.....the turned up ends look like the hood was stood on end before the fiberglass was fully cured, the windshield opening area is messed up too....

[67Vette427]

Having Vettes I see a lot of fiberglass parts and that one is rough.... I don't know how people can do that to somebody. Its not quite as bad as the 6 million dollar man but you should be able to rebuild it. I've done a lot of glass work and it can be done.

[ntstlgl1970]

After talking to a friend of mine, it doesn't sound like a huge deal to fix, just the fact that I -HAVE- to fix it is what upsets me.

[gkring]

For what it's worth at least once a month Year One sells a damaged AAR hood on Ebay. All of them look like shipping damages and go for about $400-$500. Don't know if they are coming to them that way or these are the rejects they get back, but it tells me the damage is pretty common. Good thing is that repaired fiberglass isn't as bad as a repaired steel hood. Did Year One offer to give you a repair allowance? I am parts manager at a dealership and I'll sell something at cost (sometimes below) to make a customer satisfied and not have to deal with a damage claim.

[ntstlgl1970]

At the time, they did not mention anything about a repair allowance. Once I get it sorted out it will look ok.

[HemiDog]

This sucks.   I completely understand your frustration with this.   Can't say have had this exact issue, but been in a similar boat, as have most all of us.   It kind of amazes me at how many bad products are available to us and then to think of the money we have to pay for the bad stuff.  I can understand if this was a cheap part for, lets say a Chebby, and receive something like this.  But come on...

[BacardiCBR]

Same deal on mine I got from Year One.  The contouring along the passenger side did not match the contouring of the fender (too flat).  Also, the scoop had a deflated look to it.  By that I mean the center of the scoop was actually lower then the sides resulting in a very "tired" appearance.  Luckily, I had planned to redo the look of the scoop anyways (a little taller).  Not much can be done about the contour issue though.

I did call Year One and complain.  I was able to arrange for them to refund my money and even for them to cover shipping on the way back.  I ultimately ended up keeping the hood though.

Good luck!