Cutting out the hood

[topher5150]

I got the Corvette C5-R model for Christmas and I'll be damned the hood is molded into the body. I got a small start on some of the cuts but what worries me is there isn't much of a line to follow around the hood meets up with the windshield, and where I have to cut up around the head lights. Any tips on how to do this, any special tools that will help this?

[Bartster]

The back edge of a #11 exacto blade is what l've always heard. I recently cut out my first hood ; a '61 Ford Galaxie, but it was all simple, straight line cuts. I don't know of any specialized tool for cutting curves ?

[southpier]

some have had luck sawing through with either thread or dental floss. or a jeweler's saw and thin spiral tooth blade.

[topher5150]

some have had luck sawing through with either thread or dental floss. or a jeweler's saw and thin spiral tooth blade.

Ok I've used guitar string the other day, but I'll give that a try tonight. Any particular dental floss or doesn't it matter?

[Ace-Garageguy]

As someone who actually cuts and modifies everything, I can tell you there's only one real way to do it and get a clean result: CAREFULLY, REPEATEDLY, and GENTLY scribing the lines you want to cut with either the TIP of a razor saw, or the "back" of an x-acto blade. The back of the blade is recommended by everyone because a sharp tip will tend to cut outside the lines if you don't have extremely good control of it, which takes practice, practice, practice. Repeatedly and gently re-scribing the cut lines will eventually thin the plastic enough so you can gently 'snap' it out, without making a mess of the edges. Then clean up the opening and panel edges with files, being careful to NOT take material off where you don't want gaps.

You might want to look at pix of the C5-R, in case you haven't, and note that the front upper body panel does not open on the side, factory hood-cut-lines, but rather adjacent to the front and rear of the wheel openings.

This also means that if you open it correctly, the front bumper / nose / fascia will no longer be attached to the body, and you will have to devise some method of mounting it in the correct position.

I opened the door on this body shell using the method described.

As you can see, it fits the opening rather well with no bodged edges and only minor cleanup required. You can also see where I slipped with the tip of the blade when I got in a hurry. Don't rush it.

Edited December 31, 2012 by Ace-Garageguy

[Guest]

I use the tip of my razor saw mostly. I use photo etch saw blades for the small areas and short lines. As a last resort, I'll use the back side of a number eleven blade for tight rounded corners.