Why are  ASC&P's T/A Challenger and the AAR 'Cuda Hoods Superior to the others on the market?

THE HOODS

​

​ASC&P uses ONLY polyester TOOLING RESIN with the fiberglass mat constructing these hoods. NOBODY in the industry other than ASC&P will spend the extra money for tooling resin to make parts.

​

Why is Tooling Resin used instead of General Purpose Resin for making our hoods? Because Tooling Resin resists higher temperatures, which is important for hoods. Did you ever see a fiberglass hood gets wavy after a couple weeks from being on a car? That's because General Purpose Resin gets soft every time it gets hot causing the hood to ripple. Ours won't do that. The original T/A Challenger and AAR Cuda Hoods became wavy because they were made with General Purpose Resin. Tooling resin can cost up to twice what General Purpose Resin costs.



All polyester resins shrink, making the part smaller than the original part used as a model to make the reproduction. Making sure the mold is the same size (or incredibly close) to the original helps the final part stay close to the original size. General Purpose resins can shrink up to 8% but the hood will not be 8% smaller from side to side.  The polyester resin is filled with fiberglass mat and the mold will hold the hood in place, you can count on a hood that could potentially overall be 1/2” narrower. With Tooling resin, the shrink will be limited to around 1/8”.



ASC&P incorporates the same techniques as Creative Industries used when making the T/A Challenger and AAR Cuda hoods for Chrysler. The same frame design and the hood top design is used. The fiberglass is laid in the same “old school” fashion. While this may seem primitive, in fact, it is. These hoods were built in 1970, 45 years ago. The modern type of fiberglass manufacturing did not exist then. The hood frames a bonded to the hood tops the same way. The outside edges of the hoods have been lengthened downward because the originals were ground down to an extreme. If the customer doesn't like what we've done, they can modify it with a grinder for originality. We discovered in the early days  that when we built the hoods exactly like the original hood, the customers didn't like them. The T/A Challenger hoods have the proper screens (actually stamped steel screens) glued in the sloppy same way.



Both hoods have steel reinforcements (1/8” thick, 1”x1”x35”  90 degree angled steel) with 1/2" depth welded inserts are located inside the left and right framerails. The length of the supports insures that the hood will not bend from the pressure of the hood springs. The original hoods had 20 gauge sheet steel bent on a 90 degree angle with little 1/4" depth square nuts tack welded on them. The length was the same as the hood hinge which is why the original hoods highest point of the bend was at the end of the hood hinge. We now offer an option to install the original rivets in the hood frame that held those braces.



The T/A Challenger hood scoop has a “poured floor” just like the original. This means that the inside bottom of the scoop is leveled up towards the opening. The bottom of the scoop is about ¼” thick! We even reinforced the scoop center support of the scoop. It is so strong that you can move the hood by putting your hands in the scoop. The  original one would break. The hood scoop top has 5 layers of fiberglass in it, two more than the rest of the hood because the scoop has no way to be supported.  In fact, the hood top and hood frame both have one more layer of fiberglass than the original!



ASC&P's T/A Challenger and AAR Cuda hoods have reliefs at the locations for the windshield washer locations. No measurements required. We do the same for the hood pin area so just cut at the markers and your job is done. The T/A Challenger Hood has the factory half moon fender bumpers built into the hood and the AAR Cuda hood has the factory half moon frame fender bumpers built into it's frame, both just like the originals! No other manufacturer has these proper features.

 

Our hoods are the most accurate hoods on the market since we started building them in 1990.

Quality of Fit

​Did you ever wonder why the factory painted the inside of the fender edge black on the T/A Challenger and the AAR Cuda ? It was so you would not see the poor fit. The hood dipped below the fenderline exposing a wide "smile" of the car color from the edge of the fender. Then, two weeks in the sun and the hoods were bent up so bad by the hood springs that Car and Driver said "You can check the oil without lifting the hood". These were race cars. Fit and finish meant little. Winning races is all that counted. If you believe that in 1970 the build quality of your car was good, there is a reason Chrysler needed a bailout by the late seventies. Daimler did not acquire Chrysler until 1998.

​

ASC&P's T/A Challenger and AAR Cuda hoods fit better, in fact, than the factory ones. That does not mean that they fit perfectly. Due to the techniques incorporated in the original manufacturing of the hoods (gluing the frames to the hood tops), some distortions may happen. We offer advice for straightening any flaws. For references on bad fitting factory hoods, refer to the pictures in the book "The Mighty Mopars". If you have no experience with the factory hoods or you are replacing your steel hood with our hood, do NOT expect the fit to be the same but we do offer a "tweak sheet" to help adjust the hood. The hoods can bend and move, depending upon how they are stored or if anything leans against the hood when shipped. The "tweak sheet" will give guidance to straighten these issues also. It can also be used to fix OEM hoods.  Remember, the factory slapped these cars together to meet the homologation requirements in order to compete in the Trans Am series of racing. There was NO inclination towards fit and finish. We have taken the time to improve the product without taking away from how these hoods were made. Our materials and supports help eliminate many of the problems the original units had.