Mecham Firebird Hood.

[T-Punk]

I've had a Mecham hood on my car for about 1 year now so I figured now would be a good time to give it a review. First I have to say that I love the look of the hood. It really looks slick without going to far overkill. I do however have some complaints about it. 1 is the fit. The body gaps are pretty wide but in all honesty it's not much different than my other aftermarket hood I had on the car from fiberglassfabricators. Also my car was in an accident and I had the hood put on to replace my other one and I feel a lot of the problem is the body shop did a poor job. It is a strong well made hood though despite the poor fit. It is also nice having the functional ram air, but I don't feel it improved performance by much. Also to address the functional heat extractors. Though they do allow heat to escape at the track in the staging lanes without you having to open the hood, they were not actually designed to take advantage of aerodynamics to remove heat while the car is moving (it does not bring air into the engine bay like cowl induction either though). I found this out by attaching a piece of string to the extractors and taking a drive up to speeds of 60mph. I watched as the string neither moved up (which would show air being pulled out of the engine compartment) nor being pulled in towards the opening (which would show air moving into the engine compartment). So they aren't really that functional after all, but they do look cool. So overall it's an "OK" hood but nothing great, and for the price of $769 it should be a lot better.

Pros.

1-Looks great from 10ft, and you probably won't ever see another firebird with one.
2-functional ram air to help bring cold fresh air to the intake.
3-Allows heat to escape in the staging lanes with the hood down.

Cons.

1-Poor fit, but not much worse than most other aftermarket hoods.
2-Heat extractors do nothing while car is moving.
3-For the price it should be a better hood.

Here are some pics for reference (not my car)

http://fullthrottlev6.com/upload/files/61/formula34front3L.jpg

http://fullthrottlev6.com/upload/files/61/btaside3L.jpg

[SVD]

I have always liked the Mecham hood despite the reported problems. I was tempted to put one on my Formula, but can't seem to get the courage! :)

[T-Punk]

Only reason I got it was insurance paid for it. I figured I'd try it if someone else was paying for it.

[3.8Fury]

Do they make any for the 93-97 firebirds???

[T-Punk]

No, but they do for 98+ camaros.

[kala]

wait a minute, how do you drive in the rain? doesn't the water falls right into the engine?



:)

[T-Punk]

I assume you mean onto and no it doesn't. I'll try to get a pic of the underside of the hood to show why.

[TFord]

yeah I was thinking of putting one on my camaro, but I just cant justify that pricetag. it does look good on your bird.