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Hood Scoop Dilemma...

3K views 28 replies 9 participants last post by  Siber Express 
#1 ·
So, my daughter bought me an MMD pre-painted hood scoop for Christmas. It’s nice looking online, and I don’t hate it, but not something I would have purchased myself. She paid about $278 which is a big deal for her, and I don’t have the heart to return it.

So, I guess I’ll be sporting an unexpected hood scoop. I wish she had gotten the less expensive/un-painted Roush scoop instead. I wonder if AM would be willing to exchange them before this has to be installed. I’ll have to sneak in the exchange. I’d rather have no scoop, but it’ll make her happy to see it on the car. She loves to get me car gifts... It’ll make her sad if I don’t “Scoop it”, so it’s getting one whether I want it or not.

So what do you guys think? Should I try to sneak in an exchange after it arrives, or just go with it?

I guess the real gift to me, is making her happy and seeing her smile the end result.
 
#2 ·
I would put it on and 'learn' to love it :)
 
#3 ·
Pick your battles, and pick one that you can win. Sport the scoop proudly.:grin:

For instance - I'm at the gym the other day, and my buddy asks how long I've been wearing ladies underwear.

I told him, "ever since my wife found them in my glove compartment."

Merry Christmas.
 
#5 ·
Scoop that stang. There are to many plain Jane mustangs without one. Your daughters feelings are much more important.
 
#6 ·
It’s decided then. Scooped for Christmas.

Thanks for the input. :smile:
 
#7 ·
Wow, I dunno . . . for me that would be a tough one . . . I think I'd probably try to find a way to talk with her about it, maybe a good time to talk about appearance versus functional modifications??? Or why you don't want to drill holes in the hood? and maybe exchange it for something else?

I agree with all of you, I would want my daughter to feel good about it, but the thought of drilling holes in the hood to mount a non-functional scoop really pains me . . .


EDIT: just reread the post and noticed the key words "pre-painted . . . " -- I guess in that case I'd be drilling holes this weekend!
 
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#8 ·
Ford dealer body shop will be installing it next Monday. They estimate 1Hr @ $46+Tax...
 
#9 ·
I had a fake scoop too but I was able to find a functional hood w/scoop for $100 more than what your daughter paid I love it!! anyway I'm glad you decided to keep it
 
#10 · (Edited)
I’m fine with faux... I don’t think functionality would increase the performance. It already comes with CAI, so it’s not like Ram Air or anything. My ‘68 Firebird had Ram Air and it was more of an aesthetic enhancement even then. I would have went for a Roush scoop if making my own purchase, but the MMD looks nice and will make my baby girl smile. I won’t have any regrets...
 
#11 ·
Just to close out the thread...

Ford installed it yesterday morning and did a really good job. It looks like a factory piece and they gave me a written lifetime warranty on the install.

It looks better than I expected and my daughter is thrilled. She even asked me what mod I want to do next? I told her I'd think about it....
 
#17 · (Edited)
Sadly I won’t be posting a pic with the scoop on the car. During all the bad weather, my home got hit with a tornado and a 150’ Oak Tree fell in my yard. This was a GIANT tree... It fell across my entire front yard, and the driveway... You can barely see the scoop in the second pic showing the branch that broke over my hood/fender.

Can you guess what happened to my GT AND my 370Z?

Well, the GT is being repaired (only some branches, but it looks like someone took a ball bat to the car). The insurance won’t pay for fixing the entire hood because there is corrosion under the front lip. The shop Forman called me and said they want him to repaint the hood WITHOUT addressing the corrosion repair. He said he won’t paint the hood without addressing it for additional cost.

Long story short, the whole shop is full of Mustang enthusiasts. One of the techs. donated (free of charge) a 2014 GT500 take-off hood from ONE of his Shelby full race cars. He said he has no use for it, and it’s basically new. The shop is going to repaint it of course (on the insurance company’s dime).

My scoop won’t look good on that hood even if it could be installed.

I am keeping my old hood/scoop as a spare, but I’m pretty sure this will make for a sad daughter.

I could dig deep and just pay for the full repair, but the body shop said the only way to permanently cure the corrosion is replacing the hood.

I hope I don’t regret this...
 

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#18 ·
. . . my home got hit with a tornado and a 150’ Oak Tree fell in my yard. This was a GIANT tree... It fell across my entire front yard, and the driveway.....
wow, no sh-kidding . . . sounds like a "well that sucks, but could have been a lot worse" kind of a situation; glad your house and family apparently are OK

I think your daughter will understand; and maybe you can find another project to work on together?
 
#21 ·
Weather is bad so I’ve only done a brief look over. I found no dents, but did find several scratches. I’ll have to wait until it’s dry outside as I don’t have a garage, but as long as they’re not through to the base coat I’ll buff them out myself. If I run into gouges I’ll take her in to the shop.

My Sentra got beat up pretty bad. It’s going to stay that way. My other Fords and the VW didn’t get hit with anything. They were parked in what turned out to be the sweet spot zone.

I’ll stick with the GT500 hood for a while. Since I got for free and the paint is paid by insurance company, I lucked out.

I just feel guilty about it because the scoop project turned out so well, and my daughter was so happy with it (actually, I liked it much more than I thought I would).

Hopefully I’ll be just as fond of the new hood. I still haven’t told her.
 
#22 ·
So, I’m feeling a bit disappointed in the new GT500 Hood. It looks kind of bland without the GT Hood Vents, and the scoop I just installed.

The biggest thing giving me angst however is the chalked looking heat extractor insert. The car won’t be ready for pickup until Friday because they ordered new hood insulation that hasn’t arrived yet

So let me ask you guys... Would you paint the old insert to match the hood, or paint/install a new one? I pretty much insist on the thing being painted to match the hood (like the vents on the GT hood), I just don’t know if the old one could be cleaned up and painted. I’ve never painted ABS automotive plastics before and I’ll have to figure out how to prep the surface, and find a suitable paint. I assume there is a special procedure for painting these plastic parts.

It’s still very dusty and needs cleanup. I expect it (the car as a whole) will look better cleaned.
 

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#25 ·
The body shop applied something similar (only a commercial product not sold to individuals). You are looking at the result in the picture. It was much worse before, but still unappealing afterwards.

I'll see if I can find information on painting plastics, but I think I'd probably be better off buying a new insert kit, and painting it to match my car before installing.

Anyone know of tired/true products for painting plastics like this?
 
#27 ·
well, the good news is, that is a functional heat extractor; from looking at the bottom of a 2014 hood I could see that the stock vents don't really do much, they are mostly covered with hood liner

something like "back to black" only better was my first thought also ("back to black" is really more like "back to gray" in a couple weeks, LOL)
 
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#28 ·
I did a little reading on the hood vents last night too. From my understanding, the vents on the GT are primarily a passive heat escape for when the car is idling at traffic lights or in heavy slow moving traffic. They produce no low-pressure area that draws out the hot air when moving, and are mostly obscured by the hood insulation. Some people cut the insulation out of the way, but it allows rain water in where it's not wanted.

The GT500 has an actual heat extraction flow, and the lip creates a low pressure area that will draw the heat out when moving, and allows heat to escape when stationary. So that's a big plus I'd say.

Luckily, as stated above, the shop has agreed to clean/paint the insert to match the car, at no additional charge. He said it won't look as good at the ones on the 2014, because it's textured plastic, but that's fine with me. I just don't like oxidized gray in the middle of my hood.
 
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#29 ·
This is before and after on my 03 on the textured plastic rear window surround.
2 coats of primer, first coat with adhesion promoter sand smooth and then seal and paint, just as smooth as the hood or the rest of the paint around it.
 

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