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I've receintly been making moulds for a hood and trunk lid for the 1800 series cars for my personal '67 1800S. I've made inner and skin moulds which at a glance would look like the original parts, and use the original mounting points and hardware.
I know of one person who does make racing style replacements for the 1800 coupe in NY, but uses hood pins to mount to parts to the car body and the parts have no inner support panels as per the originals. Would there be a market for stock mounting, replacement hoods and trunk lids?
Fiberglass fenders were available for years, but were not in high demand. Most people who restore the cars use original metal body panels.
A couple of my friends in the Volvo circle think a trunk lid wouldn't have a market because the only reason for the switch to fiberglass would be for weight reduction. That is a factor which only a handful of racers would be interested in. Trunk lids don't rot out as readily as the hoods, nor do they tear out the hinge locations.
As for the hood replacement, they think a hood with a scoop would be of interest but not a stock hood. Used original steel hoods are still readily available.
With the focus on euro compact fiberglass add ons these days, the questions are.
If you own an 1800 and these were available, would you be interested in them?
If these parts were available in two different weights, one for minimum weight as per racing,but including hard points for mounting using original hardware and one built for strength and durability, but still at least 50%lighter than stock, which one would you choose?
If you were interested in a lightweight hood replacement, would you be interested in a stock hood or one with a hood scoop of some type?
Thanks for your time and any input, Doug
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