Hey Frank I have questions for you!

[home-boy]

Got my '86 125 mounted and running! It has an ugly a$$ed hood that is cracked and has glue residue all over it after I peeled what is left of the decals off.

I have this nice 1972 120 hood but of course the latch assy is different.

It looks like I would need to swap the base too in order to use the 120 hood on the 125. Will the bases come off without pulling carbs etc?

Should I keep looking for a deal on a later hood?

 

[Steverino74]

Custom paint job on the old hood? Take it to a body shop?

 

[Frank Acampora]

Ah--NO! I believe you must take off at least the carbs, fuel pump, and the Distributor/ electronic ignition board in order to slide the bottom cowl up and off the engine. It's been a long time since I did one though so experiment.

It is really not difficult to sand, fill and prime the current cover. Rattle cans from Pep Boy's or NAPA do it quite nicely and if you want some decals, car wrap printers will make them up at a reasonable price. If you look up some of my early posts you will see a couple of my mermaid decals--75 bucks for a mirror image pair that cover the whole hood.

 

[home-boy]

OK what is the best method for removing all that glue from the old decals?

 

[Frank Acampora]

If it is the decal glue, xylene (available at Lowes or Home depot paint dept.) will take it off without harming your skin and not too much objectionable odor. If it is other hard glue, sand it off. Fill cracks and dings with epoxy backed by fiberglass cloth on the inside

You can remove the side tins with the horsepower and Chrysler logo by grabbing the spring washers with an electrician's pliers and squeezing until they assume the shape of a taco. Then they slide right off the posts. They can most times be flattened and re-used but you can buy a box of 100 for a couple of bucks.If the center line tins are held by bent aluminum tabs, straighten the tabs carefully so as not to break them. If held by screws, simply unscrew them.

I tend to be a little anal or possibly demented about Chrysler covers. Last one I did, I repaired all cracks and filled all holes with epoxy. Then I removed the screws holding the halves together and split the cover. I sanded the flange and epoxy glued the halves together, added a few more bolts to the top and back, and started to prepare it for painting with lots of block sanding. I had hoped that the extra bolts and glue would reduce noise by reducing vibration. I also used a yoga mat that I bought really cheap at a yard sale and contact cemented it to the inside. It took a while but at the time I had a lot of free time

Then, after about 10 coats of primer and white gloss, it was ready for the decals. One rattle can will cover a good coat on the whole hood but not much more.

 

[home-boy]

This is the 86 Force hood that had the giant blue decals that cover almost the entire surface. There is no metal at all on it, I preferred the look of the 1972 hood which looks pretty good but the latch assy is totally different hence my previous question about swapping bases too.

I'll try some xylene and see how it goes.