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Last Updated: 4/17/2010
Resources
VIS Hood
Octane Motorsports
Phone: (916) 366-0230
Click here to visit their website.
VIS Racing
Address: 18856 E. San Jose Ave. City of Industry, CA 91748
Phone: 626-839-9833
(Mon-Fri 9:00am - 6:00pm PST).
Click here to send an email |
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Disclaimer
| The fabrication, modifications and designs you see on this web site are completed by myself. If you duplicate these modifications you do so at your own risk. I do not endorse or make any claims to their safety, performance, On-road or off-road worthiness. Any "Product Reviews" are my sole and personal opinion. These reviews are on items purchased from or provided by reputable aftermarket suppliers. All registered trademarks belong to their respective owners. |
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The fact is, I running out of room under my original OEM hood especially with my 12.75" dia. Mopar Airfilter mounted on top of my throttle body.
The intake of cold air high up there was almost impossible to achieve, actually it was likely the hottest area under the hood. Especially in the summer month the hood felt hot to the touch everytime I have returned from a trip, even short ones, and that isn't good at all.
I also carry alot of extra weight in the Durango and it doesn't hurt looking into a way to make my truck a bit lighter. I have seen claims of fiberglass components for cars and trucks which weigh 50% less than steel.
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I have been thinking and researching about a fiberglass or other replacement hood for my Durango for over a year now but couldn't decide on what to get. There are many hoods available from Keystone, Composite-Tech Hoods, VIS Racing, Reflexxion, and others. I finally found a hood which offered good looks, cooling vents for forcing air into my intake, and it had a price tag fitting nicely into my limited budget.
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The VIS Racing Outlaw II Hood
A fiberglass hood for the Durango
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The hood comes with a smooth black gel coat finish. Made with hand laid fiberglass and feels ultra-light weight with about 15 lbs and is definitely quite a bit lighter than the original hood.
The hood reuses factory hinges and latches and thus installs just like a factory hood would. Fitment is excellent and guaranteed. Octane Motorsports recommends the usage of hood pins for all of the hoods in their product catalog.
The hood retails for about $370.00 - $500.00 (depending were you shop) + approx. $175.00 for truck freight to a residential address and usually ships directly from the manufacturer's warehouse.
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The hood has the fully functional split vents which are pre-cut and the mesh grille is also included with the hood! Manufactured by ViS Racing.
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Octane Motorsports
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Octane Motorsports specializes in retail & wholesale in body kits, hoods & accessories and more....
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I ordered my VIS hood (VIS-98DGDUR2DOL2-010) from Octane Motorsports online which offers a very good tracking system on their website. Octane Motorsports has also a well established feedback history on ebay. This was quite important to me as it was my first order from them and this is a lot of money for me.
It all worked out though, and I have been very happy with the speed of email replies and shipping updates from them. Octane Motorsport has provided me with a fantastic product, excellent service, and speedy shipment. I can recommend them to you.
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VIS has the hood usually in stock and may ship within a couple of business days. If the item is not in stock, it will take 1-2 weeks to ship out via Truck Freight from the manufacturer's warehouse. This hood will fit all models of the 1998-2003 Dodge Durango SUV models, including V6, V8, models.
The new hood has arrived!
The truck just left delivering my new VIS hood which arrived beyond well packed. Two layers of cardboard, bubble wrap, wood sheeting on all fragile corners, and styrofoam on the edges.
What a nice surprise that there are still people who do think before handing a product to the shipper. My compliments for a job well done to the people in the warehouse at VIS! I couldn't done it any better even if I tried to
The first step was to completely remove all the packaging. The tape which was used to hold the padding on the edges in places left a very sticky residue behind. I used 3M's adhesive remover to take care of that.
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The new hood get's unpacked with the help of my son!
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Inspection of the undersid of the hood revealed a clever vent cover system. The super lightweight cover is held in place only by a few stainless steel phillips screws which when removed allowed the cover to be taken off and allows the air to enter the engine room somewhat like the ramjet hoods I have seen at the races.
I was impressed with all the reinforced bolts and tabs for the use of the hardware from the original hood. And yes, the bolts were metric just as the OEM hood.
The only work will be to drill out the holes for the Grill, pre-mounting it to the truck for proper fit, and to give the hood a paintjob.
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Looking at the underside of the hood reveals a vent cover.
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My son inspects carefully both of the vents to assure some proper air intake for the good 'ol 5.9l in the Durango!
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Prefitting and Mounting the Hood
My friend Gary arrived as usual on our weekly wrenching day which is Friday's and we got started on prefitting and mounting the hood. Of course it had to rain like crazy on that afternoon and it was getting cold outside as well. Gary is a trooper, he doesn't mind and is always a great help.
The first step was to remove the OEM hood from the Durango.
Removing the grill from the hood was a simple but time consuming job.
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In the rain it's twice the fun, not! We didn't have any other option because my garage isn't high enough to remove the hood.
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The OEM hood on the garage wall with the Grill held by only 2 screws for temporary storage.
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The next step was to mount the VIS hood to the Durango and drill the holes for the grill and install the hood latch.
The hood mounted right up and the fit was excellent. Even the gap to the fender was perfect!
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Here is the VIS hood on the Durango, I love the bold look and the space gained under the hood will help in every aspect.
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The grill has been now sucessfully installed. The holes were easily drilled out by using the grill itself as a template.
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Painting the Hood
I took a drive down to the Auto Parts store on the following Wednesday to have the paint guy proof test the paint on my Durango and mix me a pint up for purchase. I brought it straight over to my friend Neil from across the street which has offered to paint the hood for me during the upcoming weekend. Of course I was very exited when my friend Gary showed up as usual on Friday to help me to remove the hood from the Durango and to carry it over to Neil for painting.
Here you can see Neil wetsanding the hood
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Neil is inspecting the hood surface for sanding inperfections etc.
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The hood was then hung in the paint booth for shooting the first coat of black colored sanding surfacer primer.
This is some thick stuff!
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The backside of the hood was also primed and the grill mesh from the vents have been removed as well
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Mixing the primer and paint is a science by itself. Lot's of cans, primers, hardeners, activators, and what not.
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Shooting the second coat of primer was successful.
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Next step is again more sanding and then finally the actual paint goes on and several coats of clear coat.
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The hood has now received a Graphite Metallic paint coat and several top coats in clear.
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After two days of allowing it to dry, the hood top is covered to prevent over shooting while painting the backside.
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Normally the back is done first but we didn't know if the paint was enough, I only purchased a pint!
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After taping up the intake vents, the backside of the hood is now finally ready for a coat of Graphite Metallic paint as well.
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The hood's underside is now being painted.
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Well, the remaining paint was just enough to shoot the underside.
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The painting of the hood is now completed and we have to give it a couple of days worth of time for the paint to harden out before it can be handled safely.
All what's left for me to do is sanding down and painting the two grill mesh inserts from the hood intakes in black. There is no problem with any of the vent grill meshes to be re-installed even after the now painted VIS hood is mounted to the Durango.
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Completing Paint & Install
The paint job is done and the final mounting of the VIS hood onto the Durango went well and without any problems.
The hood has been mounted to the truck and a few inperfections are sanded out from the top coat.
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Buffing the hood to a shine.
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It's all done and the hood looks great!
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Mopar paint job on a budget!
I would like to thank Neil for painting my hood, for his time and effort, and for all the extra material he used of his own. I wouldn't have been able to afford an expensive paint job at this time, having a friend like him is sure awesome!
This project was completed on 10-29-2009
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