Thanks Hardwater and way to go Kirk!
Both hoods on the restoration candidates were junk and the one donor hood I had wasn’t all that good either. Fortunately for me, I’m only a couple of hours away from Recreational Engineering , in Eden Valley MN, a company that I consider to be the best reproduction TX hood source in the country. The hoods come with the correct paint scheme for the year, all holes pre-drilled (in the right place), and all openings cut/routered.
I do glass in the hood latches because that’s the way they came from the factory and it avoids putting rivets in the hood, which gives the hood a much cleaner look.
As for the graphics, I think Intech Graphics up in British Columbia is the only way to go. They use high quality 3M material for their decals and the reproductions are dead-on. Their decals are also very forgiving to apply: Spray a little soapy water on the surface on which the decal is to be applied, remove the decal backing, spray the adhesive side of the decal, apply, position, and squeegee out the excess water/air bubbles - done.
Where it gets a little tricky is when the decal must cover a compound curve, which is the case with the 77 side decals. It can be done but it takes patience and concentration (I’m a little lacking on both). The trick is to heat that area of the decal slightly with a hair dryer, stretch, apply a little more soapy spray, heat again, stretch, and so on. This continues until all of the wrinkles are worked out and the decal fits the curve. In this photo you can see how much I’ve stretched the decal to get a correct fit (it was even with the hood edge when I started). Once it’s dry, the excess is just trimmed off.
And yes, that is the dining room table.
