The Hood - should be the shiniest part on the car.

Well in June of 2003 they looked like this after everything was stripped off...

Since painting, the hood has been on and off the car resting in place every so often, so I know it's going look like an '02 some day.

I recently pulled out the hood hinges and mounted them on the core support.

I looked at the hood on a donor car to get measurements on where the hood stop buffers are mounted as a starting point.

So it's approximately 1 and 5/8" inches from the hood support. Note some sand fell out of the hood as I was mounting the bracket temporarily. With all the glass beads Stella's seen, I'm sure she will be shedding sand for a long time. Meanwhile I pump some compressed air in there to scatter it for now!

Next, I measured on the old car where the plastic stop buffers began - 5/8" were shown on the old car so I set the new ones the same way.

Ok, once secured they were tightened up on both sides. Hopefully they're not far off as I get the hood mounted after the engine is installed.

The center support rod is a pain to get in. You have to really spread the inside of the hood apart to make it fit down into the spot where the bolts go through. Make sure and tape up the ends of the L brackets for now so the paint won't get scratched.

Bolted in and waiting now and set aside until polishing begins.

And a few weeks later, we started color sanding the clear coat to smooth it out. This is done by hand with 1200 grit sandpaper, soapy water and lots of patience.

We eventually got it this far... then...

The cotton polishing pad and quick cut glaze went to work on the beauty beneath the dullness.

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Sometimes you have to sand and repeat the process.

The cotton pad is used here to produce the high shine that is possible with this clear coat.

A few times over and you see what is truly amazing - that mirror shine!

We worked over a few more areas when polishing revealed things like dust or "fish eye" defects.

Then it's really done.

I'm ready to bolt it down, but it has to wait now for the engine - in a safe place where it won't get scratched !!!

MORE TO COME...