Hawk Fiberglass Hood

[Yogi]

Hey Y'All, Everyone including me is complaining about those heavy Hawk hoods. I'm 84 closer to 85 and its a major effort to lift it. I recently talked with the folks at "Class Glass & Performance, Inc. in Cumberland, Maryland. They will sell me a fiberglass hood for about $450.00 plus about $200.00 shipping. One problem is, they don't make a fiberglass grill which we all know is about as heavy as the hood. Now, my question is: Has anyone out there bought one of these hoods? If so, How did it work out? Just looking for advice from someone who has already experienced this situation.
Thanks for your input.
Yogi, slightly smarter than the average bear

[tcabman]

Hey Y'All, Everyone including me is complaining about those heavy Hawk hoods. I'm 84 closer to 85 and its a major effort to lift it. I recently talked with the folks at "Class Glass & Performance, Inc. in Cumberland, Maryland. They will sell me a fiberglass hood for about $450.00 plus about $200.00 shipping. One problem is, they don't make a fiberglass grill which we all know is about as heavy as the hood. Now, my question is: Has anyone out there bought one of these hoods? If so, How did it work out? Just looking for advice from someone who has already experienced this situation.
Thanks for your input.
Yogi, slightly smarter than the average bear

Have You thought about using gas shocks, I did that to a 64 Lark type years ago just for the sake of it. " worked well "

[6hk71400]

One other option is to get a rear opening hood set up, hinged at the front like the 57-59 Fords and Avantis . It has been a few years since I saw the setup but it was hinged at the bottom of the hood and tilted forward. The thing I liked is there was excellent access to work on the motor.

[bensherb]

If you change the grill to the GT grill assembly it's about half the weight of the earlier Hawk grill.

[Rafe Hollister]

Really?! The GT grill looks bigger and heavier.
Rafe

[bensherb]

Looks! The screen part of it is very thin and weighs almost nothing. The "horse collar" is also surprisingly thin; they are very easily bent when bolting it to the hood if you tighten the bolts up very much. The bolts actually pull in their bosses trying to rip them out of the thin cast sheet metal of the collar. Unlike the 3/4"? thick cast metal BBQ grill of the earlier Hawks. Bummer is once you bend the "horse collar" by tightening, it is more likely to crack than straighten if you try. Mine was already bent when I got my car. Take a look at a few, it's very common.

[stude1964]

Rear opening hood sounds good as it's less likely to catch air and open up while driving! I have a hitch pin in mine. As for the load on the hood a fiberglass grille may be the way to go. More weight in your grille than the hood!
Rob in PA.

[Mike Van Veghten]

This may or may not be helpful...mostly because I don't recall the company name !!
But years ago I bought a glass hood for my 60 Lark (wagon). They did a very nice job. Has the proper contours, and fit to the car (cowl to fenders and front panel).
They also did about 1/3 of the hood, the center so I can make a rear opening/bubble hopefully to keep the various engine bits...under the hood.

I left the 1/3 piece out in the summer sun one day, let it heat soak for a while, than use some duct tape to pull the edges together to make it more of a "hump". That worked well. Unfortunately, they've both been sitting in my bedroom, because I haven't finished the car yet !

But yea, whom...ever they were/are, they did a very nice job of both the main hood and my custom piece.

I don't recall ever seeing a fiberglass, grill cowl piece. But if you have a place to a hood for you, if you provide the front cowl, and the required dollars (!!) for making the mold, then the cowl, I don't see why they wouldn't built it for you.

Good luck.

Mike

[Noxnabaker]

There's been some posts about pivoting the Hawk hood at the front, some even just using ordinary hinges at the bottom of the grille, ought to be possible to find a post about it if interested...

[Yogi]

I already have a pair of ordinary hinges cut to size and proper holes drilled to do front hinges, and will probably go that route. For now I am exploring my options. I was hoping someone had already bought and installed a fiberglass hood.
Yogi

[Topper2011]

Wondering out loud if someone could 3D print a grille and chrome it to reduce weight?

[DEEPNHOCK]

I had a fiberglass Hawk hood a few years ago.
It weighed almost as much as the sheet metal hood.

[Studebakercenteroforegon]

Yes, about 1/2 the material density of the steel. But requires about 2 times the wall thickness.

[shifter4]

Here is a link to one of the previous threads regarding front hinging the Hawk hood .

https://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/forum/your-studebaker-forum/general-studebaker-specific-discussion/2876-my-buddy-garys-56-sky-hawk-reverse-open-hood?2781-My-buddy-Garys-56-Sky-Hawk-reverse-open-hood=

[Rafe Hollister]

I've been toying with the idea of removing my grill and then finding or making something inset, a screen or something. I've attached a picture of a Camaro to give you an idea of what it might look like. What do you think?
Rafe Hollister

[64V-K7]

There are 3-4 articleson the reverse hood at https://studebaker-info.org/rjtechjan2023p2.html#ckrhat