Hood is too long

[Royal]

This has been bothering me for some time:  My hood is about 1/4″ too long and it contacts the radiator shroud.  The welting on the front is almost invisible because it is mostly under the hood.   I have been reluctant to trim it because, I am afraid that I would chip or otherwise damage the gel coat.  

What is the trick to cutting or sawing and not taking a step backwards?  

[billnparts]

Tape the area to be cut. Use a very fine saw blade. Cut up to your line then file or sand to the desired edge. File “down” on your work. Filing “up” will chip the gel coat.
Patience.

Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"

[newkitman]

X2 Roy. My assembly manual says to trim the hood. File in a downward motion from the outside then smooth and paint.

Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The Shack

[Gabor Kesseru]

I would use a rotary sander with about a 110 grit, following up with hand block sanding with 220 and finer. Making sure that the spin of the sander is always in a downward motion. Make sure that the back half of the sander is nowhere near the hood. Be sure to wear a respirator or a good dust mask. Remove the hood and place on something firm so there is no chance of it falling off and chipping. Be slow and take your time. Using a saw is dangerous.

[Paul Mossberg]

I used a hand held orbital sander to fine tune my hood, with lots of masking  tape on the gelcoat side. Worked slow. No problems.

Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica Roadster

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