CallMeJoe
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- William
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2020
- Threads
- 8
- Messages
- 78
- Reaction score
- 133
- Location
- Boyceville, Wi.
- Vehicle(s)
- JTR
- Occupation
- Retired
- Thread starter
- #1
Here's a quick one, not a full install:
I got my kit from the local dealer (good folks) and set to work sticking it on. The instructions are very well done and thorough. Always a plus.
I WILL say that cutting the hood with a Dremel tool was like cutting a block of cheese with a saw all. My best advice for that is to take your time, have plenty of light and a chair. It took me about 2 hours to carefully cut out the opening. Don't be in a rush.
The template that came in the kit didn't fit properly. There are two indexing marks on the template and I could line up one or the other, but not both. I decided after much measuring to use the small hole for indexing and it seemed to be the right one. Everything fit afterward.
Biggest tip: when removing the hood, don't remove the hood to hinge bolts. They're painted on and hard to remove. I removed the windshield wiper arms, then removed the plastic cowl to access the body to hinge bolts. Super easy off and back on. No scratched paint or broken tools. Duh....
Other tips:
DO take the hood off! It's a 100 times easier than trying to cut the opening in place.
Do remove the hood heat shield. It'll make cleaning up the mess from cutting a lot easier. It only takes two minutes to remove with a trim tool.
Run your Jeep to temperature before you start. All of the plastic bits will be warm and easy to take apart. I popped out ALL of the push-rivets out of the hood blanket without breaking one. Easy.
Lay out everything necessary for doing the epoxy step like a surgeon. Once you start putting on the epoxy, you'll have about a minute to pop-rivet everything down and clamp it. I got it done, but not without gluing myself to the hood. It would be MUCH better to have more hands for this step.
After cutting and trimming the hole but before assembling the trim, remove the letter "N" from the Rubicon hood decal. Once the trim is on, there is a sliver of the decal left that looks dumb and is impossible to completely get rid of.
A 1 1/2" Dremel cutoff wheel is recommended for the cutting. I found it problematic to work around the tight radiuses when cutting. Do all of the straight cuts first, then take the now smaller cutoff wheel and do the tight radiuses last.
For finishing the cut (it'll look like you used a meat cleaver on it) I used a fine, half-round file. I tried a grinding stone in the Dremel but it's hard to control. I glued the hood-stiffener in first, then file the hood down to it for finish. It looked perfect.
Overall, it was a pretty straight-up job. Not too difficult. If you take the body-side hinge bolts off instead of the hood-side, there won't be any repaint or repairs necessary. Again....duh....
I'm LOVIN the look and pleased that it added no discernable wind noise.
Good luck and....
Don't be in a hurry! It's putzy...
I did mine start to finish in just under six hours...
I got my kit from the local dealer (good folks) and set to work sticking it on. The instructions are very well done and thorough. Always a plus.
I WILL say that cutting the hood with a Dremel tool was like cutting a block of cheese with a saw all. My best advice for that is to take your time, have plenty of light and a chair. It took me about 2 hours to carefully cut out the opening. Don't be in a rush.
The template that came in the kit didn't fit properly. There are two indexing marks on the template and I could line up one or the other, but not both. I decided after much measuring to use the small hole for indexing and it seemed to be the right one. Everything fit afterward.
Biggest tip: when removing the hood, don't remove the hood to hinge bolts. They're painted on and hard to remove. I removed the windshield wiper arms, then removed the plastic cowl to access the body to hinge bolts. Super easy off and back on. No scratched paint or broken tools. Duh....
Other tips:
DO take the hood off! It's a 100 times easier than trying to cut the opening in place.
Do remove the hood heat shield. It'll make cleaning up the mess from cutting a lot easier. It only takes two minutes to remove with a trim tool.
Run your Jeep to temperature before you start. All of the plastic bits will be warm and easy to take apart. I popped out ALL of the push-rivets out of the hood blanket without breaking one. Easy.
Lay out everything necessary for doing the epoxy step like a surgeon. Once you start putting on the epoxy, you'll have about a minute to pop-rivet everything down and clamp it. I got it done, but not without gluing myself to the hood. It would be MUCH better to have more hands for this step.
After cutting and trimming the hole but before assembling the trim, remove the letter "N" from the Rubicon hood decal. Once the trim is on, there is a sliver of the decal left that looks dumb and is impossible to completely get rid of.
A 1 1/2" Dremel cutoff wheel is recommended for the cutting. I found it problematic to work around the tight radiuses when cutting. Do all of the straight cuts first, then take the now smaller cutoff wheel and do the tight radiuses last.
For finishing the cut (it'll look like you used a meat cleaver on it) I used a fine, half-round file. I tried a grinding stone in the Dremel but it's hard to control. I glued the hood-stiffener in first, then file the hood down to it for finish. It looked perfect.
Overall, it was a pretty straight-up job. Not too difficult. If you take the body-side hinge bolts off instead of the hood-side, there won't be any repaint or repairs necessary. Again....duh....
I'm LOVIN the look and pleased that it added no discernable wind noise.
Good luck and....
Don't be in a hurry! It's putzy...
I did mine start to finish in just under six hours...
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