Shelby fiberglass super snake hood worth it?

[builttodrive]

I have the opportunity to get a package deal at a decent price on genuine shelby fiberglass super snake hoods for mine and a friends 07 gt500. I will be doing the body and paint work on these and would like to know if others have them and how the fit and finish was or how much work they needed to be right. He has a whipple 3.4 blower so he needs the extra hood clearance and he has a trufiber hood on it now that doesn't fit real well. Anyone have any expericne with these? I had done another trufiber hood in the past that didn't require much work before paint but this one is rough. Trying to figure out my best option.

 

[2011 gtcs]

The supersnake hoods look killer, and I love mine, but they need a ton of prep before paint, and they fit like shit IMO

 

[builttodrive]

Well I bought them. I hope I didn't make a mistake but it seemed like too good of a deal to pass up.

 

[2011 gtcs]

Well I bought them. I hope I didn't make a mistake but it seemed like too good of a deal to pass up.

Don't get me worng, the hood looks awesome. But they need a lot of prep work before paint

 

[Robert M]

I have the opportunity to get a package deal at a decent price on genuine shelby fiberglass super snake hoods for mine and a friends 07 gt500. I will be doing the body and paint work on these and would like to know if others have them and how the fit and finish was or how much work they needed to be right. He has a whipple 3.4 blower so he needs the extra hood clearance and he has a trufiber hood on it now that doesn't fit real well. Anyone have any expericne with these? I had done another trufiber hood in the past that didn't require much work before paint but this one is rough. Trying to figure out my best option.

Is it the earlier version that was CAI and heat extractor functional? or the later version that is not CAI functional?


Shelby installed the hood on my '08, it fits well, the lines are tight and even the under side is body color , clear coated and mirror smooth finish.




R

 

[brian98svtsnake]

I've heard prep is a deal breaker. I recently got a genuine KR hood and no fitment issues at all. You can get the KR hood reasonably priced now but the vents are impossible to find.

 

[builttodrive]

Is it the earlier version that was CAI and heat extractor functional? or the later version that is not CAI functional?


Shelby installed the hood on my '08, it fits well, the lines are tight and even the under side is body color , clear coated and mirror smooth finish.




R

I only had a quick peak of them out of the box at the dealership. How do you tell exactly? If I remember right the dealership has had them for quite a while...2011 or something like that. I know the front air scoop is open but I can't remember exactly how the underside looked.

 

[Robert M]

I only had a quick peak of them out of the box at the dealership. How do you tell exactly? If I remember right the dealership has had them for quite a while...2011 or something like that. I know the front air scoop is open but I can't remember exactly how the underside looked.

On the CAI functional, the area behind the scoop ducts air to the left front intake area and there is a opening over the air filter as shown below..........

Non-CAI functional shown below.............

R

 

[builttodrive]

I think from memory they looked like the second hood. Did they fit different or is the main difference the ram air ducting?

 

[Robert M]

I think from memory they looked like the second hood. Did they fit different or is the main difference the ram air ducting?

Just the ducting behind the front scoop being functional or not. Other than that, the fit and look is the same. The non-CAI functional hood is probably a little lighter than the functional.





R

 

[speedrx]

I added one to mine, they are definitely worth it but they do take a lot of prep. One of the corners on mine was off and body shop had to reshape it. Takes lots of blocking to make it super straight. You will also need to decide hood pins or not, I love to hood pins and added them to mine. The critical thing is the paint job and matching the colors, if you have a base color it is probably not too bad but it you have a metallic (I have Vapor), it is very difficult to get it to match. I had the PPG district rep come to the shop and custom mix after several tries with the factory mixes not matching exactly. The metallics have 'flop' which changes color depending on the light and angles so difficult to match factory.

 

[builttodrive]

I added one to mine, they are definitely worth it but they do take a lot of prep. One of the corners on mine was off and body shop had to reshape it. Takes lots of blocking to make it super straight. You will also need to decide hood pins or not, I love to hood pins and added them to mine. The critical thing is the paint job and matching the colors, if you have a base color it is probably not too bad but it you have a metallic (I have Vapor), it is very difficult to get it to match. I had the PPG district rep come to the shop and custom mix after several tries with the factory mixes not matching exactly. The metallics have 'flop' which changes color depending on the light and angles so difficult to match factory.

Fortunately I have been painting for more than 15 years and I have two really easy colors to work with. I have shot a few parts on my Vista Blue and the ppg color match is spot on for that. The other one is a black car so another easy one. I always prime and block all my restoration stuff twice so I'm sure that will be the procedure here. The one looks pretty solid and the one I took for my own with a little discount needs a little fiberglass work. Both cars currently have hood pins on them. Also have gas struts but it looks like these will require a different set?

 

[builttodrive]

I finally have the hoods in my possession and they appear to be the ram air style hood and they have a build sticker on them from 6/30/09. The hood looks identical to the red one posted above but there aren't any holes in the underside above the air filter like that one shows. Were these holes added later? And what gas struts would someone recommend for these?

 

[Robert M]

I finally have the hoods in my possession and they appear to be the ram air style hood and they have a build sticker on them from 6/30/09. The hood looks identical to the red one posted above but there aren't any holes in the underside above the air filter like that one shows. Were these holes added later? And what gas struts would someone recommend for these?

The way you see my Red hood is the way it arrived to me after Shelby did my Super Snake upgrade, no changes after the fact.

I am using the CPC 90lb. bolt-on struts. Red Line also makes a nice set, in fact I have a new set from Shelby/Red Line Elites for a Super Snake hood application along with the matching Red Line Elite trunk struts. The Red Lines require the brackets at the hood end to be pop riveted in place, the other end at the fender have a bracket that bolts in place.



R

 

[builttodrive]

The way you see my Red hood is the way it arrived to me after Shelby did my Super Snake upgrade, no changes after the fact.

I am using the CPC 90lb. bolt-on struts. Red Line also makes a nice set, in fact I have a new set from Shelby/Red Line Elites for a Super Snake hood application along with the matching Red Line Elite trunk struts. The Red Lines require the brackets at the hood end to be pop riveted in place, the other end at the fender have a bracket that bolts in place.



R

Thanks Robert!

What Struts would you choose to run? The CPC ones or the redline?

 

[Robert M]

Thanks Robert!

What Struts would you choose to run? The CPC ones or the redline?

It depends up how much "bling" you want and if you are willing to mount those Red Line pieces with pop rivets.

The Red Lines are beautiful top of the line aluminum body struts and look Great when the hood is open. My CPC's are not as flashy and look more oem.

Some people want to draw attention to their struts and the fact that their car has them since these cars originally came with a prop rod. Me, I am happy to have the functionality of struts without them be a focal point, but that is just me. I didn't even put the CPC (I think they said NXT Next Generation) labels on my struts so they would blend in as being oem even more.

As I mentioned previously, I even bought the matching Red Line Elites with Shelby labels for the trunk, but then ended up going with the CPC's.



R

 

[builttodrive]

It depends up how much "bling" you want and if you are willing to mount those Red Line pieces with pop rivets.

The Red Lines are beautiful top of the line aluminum body struts and look Great when the hood is open. My CPC's are not as flashy and look more oem.

Some people want to draw attention to their struts and the fact that their car has them since these cars originally came with a prop rod. Me, I am happy to have the functionality of struts without them be a focal point, but that is just me. I didn't even put the CPC (I think they said NXT Next Generation) labels on my struts so they would blend in as being oem even more.

As I mentioned previously, I even bought the matching Red Line Elites with Shelby labels for the trunk, but then ended up going with the CPC's.



R

Well I like the OEM theme and it looks like the CPC ones would blend better but my concern is the strut is much smaller and I'm guessing stronger so that it will hold the hood up. I just don't want to worry about it bowing my hood because the short strut has more pressure will less leverage.not being mounted out as far as the redlines. If you know what I mean?

I have struts from american muscle on my stock hood now. Would these work with the fiberglass? What weight difference is there from the super snake hood and the stock hood?

 

[Robert M]

Well I like the OEM theme and it looks like the CPC ones would blend better but my concern is the strut is much smaller and I'm guessing stronger so that it will hold the hood up. I just don't want to worry about it bowing my hood because the short strut has more pressure will less leverage.not being mounted out as far as the redlines. If you know what I mean?

I have struts from american muscle on my stock hood now. Would these work with the fiberglass? What weight difference is there from the super snake hood and the stock hood?

I am going out with my wife and kids to a fall festival, but I have some additional strut info. I will add later today.



R

 

[Robert M]

Ok, so when I first got interested in adding struts I shopped around and compared the different styles and looks. I bought the Red Lines but then was not sure if I wanted to drill and pop-rivet on my original Super Snake hood. So then I went the CPC direction, I ordered a pair, got them and installed them, all seemed well, they bolted on easy, blended in like oem and I was happy. Next thing I know, I am looking at something under the hood and the hood starts to ease down, I lift it back to the open position and then with just a small pull downward it would quickly fall. I was thinking, this would not be good for me let alone a person at a car show who is looking under the hood of my car. So, I called the vendor who sold them to me, they had no idea, and they contacted the maker of the CPC struts. They identified my struts as 70lbs and they had no idea why they did not work. They sent me a second set...........same thing, very dangerous in a breezy condition and/or at a car show. By now I had a direct contact at CPC, they said that they could increase the PSI in the struts to 90lbs and send me a set for testing purposes. I got the 90lb struts, installed them, and they have been on the car since that time. They work Great and CPC now sells a set specific for the Super Snake hood, so you will want the 90lb struts.



R

 

[builttodrive]

I suppose I will give my current struts a try before rushing out to order different ones. Since my hood is the ram air version but doesn't have the holes drilled should I drill them? I have read that there can be some buffering/turbulence issues causing maf sensors to act up with inconsistent readings.