HD Hood Swap

[MadDogDelpho]

And the fit of the aftermarket HD hoods isn't exactly as close as the factory ones. It looks good! But not exact. I need to take a picture of my seams when I get home.

 

[Rocket Man]

It's a shame they can't seem to make them fit good. My cowl hood is supposedly one of the best brands (Goodmark) but it fits like crap. The fender to hood gaps are terrible. I have a feeling they're all made in China or Taiwan.

 

[PG01]

Chiwan?

 

[Rocket Man]

TaiChi

 

[Fosscore]

This is even true with the GM HD hoods. I picked mine, like many other guys, directly off a parted out 2002 Chevy Silverado HD. It fits directly to the 6 bolts holes on the hinges, however the fender to hood gap is noticeably spread wider. Maybe a millimeter or two (+/-).

But it fits at the cowl, the grille and the lights as well. There is tiny gap between the hood and the black rubber spacers. There is just something about the seams and if you read the many HD threads, you will see this is well discussed. Some fit better than others, however there isn't really much to adjust (without starting to push in on body panels, etc...). as you only have 6 bolts. I have looked at HD Silverados driving down the road and noticed that the seams are a bit wider than non HD trucks or our NBS models.

I took it to a custom hot rod shop and chatted with the owner. We looked at the fender to door gap and fender to bumper and grille gaps. Everything was lined up as good as they lined up for the NBS and we all know that they are not super tight to begin with all around the truck.

He said sure we could ram on the fenders and maybe ream out and epoxy some new holes for the fenders or hinges, if I really wanted to go that absolute with fitment, but then you risk misalignment of the doors, etc...

In his eyes, he said, this isn't that bad. If you can deal with what only those who know about this mod would care about and knowing that the average Joe would never notice then roll with it.

I still would't ditch it for a small imperfection on a unicorn mod. My .02.

 

[BADRIDES]

Oh, got it. But you do realize it's not actually OEM even though that's what the title states. The description states "multiple manufacturers" under brand. GM hasn't manufactured the HD hoods for at least a couple years. Too bad, since the actual brands of most of these aftermarket hoods aren't even listen on most of them, this one included. The fine print at the bottom of their page says it all:

"The aftermarket replacement product offered on this page does not have a UPC (Universal Product Code) associated with it. Without a UPC, the manufacturer of this aftermarket product cannot be verified, and the brand name has been labeled as "unknown". However, the product on this page does have an ABPA (Automotive Body Parts Association) Partslink number that specifies the year, make and model as well as product type and details that confirm the fitment of this product."

Thanks for being the HD hood police and helping all us out.

 

[Rocket Man]

Thanks for being the HD hood police and helping all us out.

Not sure if you're being an ass or actually thanking me. Just trying to help. Believe it or not, not everybody reads the fine print and they buy things they think are the real deal, only to find out after they're delivered. Your posts were misleading but I figured it was an honest mistake by you so like I said, I was trying to help. I guess I could have said nothing after I discovered what they were but I don't think that would have been the right thing to do. I looked for a genuine OEM hood last year all over the US with no results except used so I naturally jumped when you said you had a line on the real deal. But like all things GM that I've tried to buy, if they're discontinued that's usually it unless some dealer finds some NOS and then triples the price for it.

 

[hidpositive]

I have been on the search for an 00-02 HD hood for my 06 denali as its going to the body shop to get the bumpers resprayed in a week or so. Gonna have my body shop do a junk yard search for me with their software and hopefully locate one. If not ill possibly go the LKQ/aftermarket route. I used to be able to get LKQ wholesale and I know there is a huge warehouse 15 mins from me.

 

[KReed450]

Just found one. Its not white but I'm getting it painted and picking it up tomorrow. Got a steal on it for 75 bucks and getting it painted for free!

 

[KReed450]

Here it is! Stoked to get it painted and put on!!