Hammered

The numbers look good, the lettering seems a bit rounded. I'd have gone with a more Mopar muscle looking font.

dcp1992

Yeah, that would've been nice, but this was one that was already pre made on the web and I liked it so I snagged it. If I didn't find this though and had to make my own, I would've used a more Mopar type font (if i used letters).... Heck, the dude makes custom decals I could've talked to him about changing the font but I didn't think about it at the time.... Maybe something to look into in the future whenever the Jeep needs a new paintjob.

Hammered

that makes sense, its gonna look mean

dcp1992

Thanks! Yeah I can't wait to get it finished and on. Not only to finally see the finished product, but to see how much it actually effects the temps. Though it's getting colder now so I might have to wait til it starts to get hot again to really test it.

I'll defiantly be posting updates when it's on of temps and whatnot throughout the months after the it's on.

rav

Looking forward to this and don't forget you have a patient potential customer in me

Red82

Cant wait to see this all finished up!

dcp1992

Thanks!! I can't either!

dcp1992

Saturday we went to my friends shop to do some things and while I was there I took more pictures of my Cowl.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/9775343872/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/9775611153/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/9775541226/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/9775516605/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/9775326291/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/9775326571/

I will have to get some hood shocks just for piece of mind. There isn't as much bono as we thought would be on it, but I'd still feel better having supports on both sides so I'm either going to make some or get the $50 kit from 4 wheel parts, depends on how much sourcing the parts myself will be.

rav

It's getting there. How soon is he going to be painting it?

dcp1992

Don't know. He still has to finish the top to where the top lip is rounded off then put a full, thin, layer of putty across the whole top to seal the bondo. Then he still has the inside to do so it's still probably a couple of weeks out.

Remember, he is doing this on the side for free so I'm in no rush to get it done and I'm not going to make him go faster since he's my friend and I really don't care how long it takes for him to do it since he volunteered to do it. I'd have to be there when he paints it anyway because the paint has to be blended it to my fenders so it looks right... Plus I have that spot on the side where the hood dropped and smacked the fender, I might get him to bondo that while he's at it before paint.

rav

You are lucky to have him as a friend!

dcp1992

I truly am, and not just because he works at a body shop... But because he has stuck with me pretty much all my life. I'm 21 and he is 19 and I've known him for at least 15/16 years and has lived on the street with me the whole time I've known him. I know others on the street and met people in school, but over time they stopped coming around and I could never get ahold of them. If it wasn't for him I really don't know where'd I be today.

dcp1992

This isn't necessarily part of the cowl hood, but I might as well put it in here since I'm doing it because of the cowl hood.

Even though there isn't a lot of bondo on the hood (lot less than we thought anyway) I still want to be extra careful not to crack what is on it... and with the stock hood prop it causes the hood to flex and twist when not only propped up but just lifting it. So I'm going to be putting gas shocks on the hood on both sides by using my mom's old and worn out 08 Trailblazer tailgate shocks. Just have to wait for my dad to get the new ones and I'll use the old ones.

I went ahead and got the L bracket studs I need from NAPA. Might try, when I have free time, to take my moms old ones off and fab them up to to make sure they will work and are not too worn out.

Here is the box and P/Ns. They come 2 to a box but you pay for them individually.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/9824170163/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/9824089995/
The brackets.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/9824103156/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/9824065934/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/9824103196/

MikeT2

Great job and great write-up.
This is something that I want to do in the near future. I defiantly am using this thread as a reference.

dcp1992

Thanks, I try my best to document stuff well when doing things like this. Especially since there isn't many Cowl Hood threads out there for the XJ and the ones I have seen are either just talking about the old all steel production discontinued Cowl Hood and don't have any fabrication in them... and if they do, they are just 4-5 pictures that don't go into much detail. (or people just posting their hood or others they have found with no detail on how to build one)

Go right ahead, that's one reason I made it.


To anyone wondering, yes, this is still going on and hasn't been abandoned. I'm still playing the waiting game with my friend and the bondo work. He had been working on it, just not as much as he could if it was an actual job that he had because he still has his paying work. He did have to take it home though, guess his manager didn't like it being there a month... So the rest of the work he does will be in his shop at his house.

I'll try to get some more pictures this week of it. One side is all the way done, all that's left is the other side and the bottom of the Cowl (the bottom won't take long at all, just some metalbond over the welds to seal them and then seam sealer to make the sure water doesn't get into the lip on the underside of the cowl. )