I need to know ASAP,if any of you have ordered hoods,etc. from them and if they told you they had to be made 1st?? If so,how long did that take? I'd like to know before Monday afternoon(1/7/04) if possible.Thanks....Jon P.S.- I like their prices,which are approx. $150 less than Ecklers,but is there any waviness,or fitment problems??

|UPDATED|1/3/2004 4:36:26 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

They did good work, but I have heard that they are restructuring their business due to the fact that the owner was killed, and the son is in prison for the murder. The owner was the one who oversaw all of the work, so I don't know about the quality of work lately. I was planning to buy my hood from them, but am waiting until I hear about their quality of work after all the changes.

I hope it all works out for them, because I thought they did some of the best work in the industry!


Bill

|UPDATED|1/10/2004 12:07:05 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

I hope everything works out for them. I've never heard anything bad about their products. I was thinking about a front spoiler for my '80 this spring from them. I'll keep a close eye on it.

All I can share is what I experienced,
A few years back they made a hood they called "corvette summer hood"
I kept sending emails to see pictures and never received a reply,
So at that point I blew them off as not caring,
It really didn't look that much like the one from the movie Korky made when I finally got to see it.

When I got my c4 daily driver I wanted a certain wing only sold by a couple vette parts houses them being one,
This time I called to get the shipping costs as high shipping fees keeps me from buying items, I spoke on the phone to a most pleasant woman, she told me she was the owners wife and there was not only the shipping fee but the packaging fee neither she could tell me, I left my number so when she could let me know the fees I would then decide to order or not I never received a reply again I blew it off as they don't care,
Still hunting my wing.
I am very sorry to hear of the tragedies concerning the company,

I have been into custom vettes/cars for 30 + years and although I have never found a courteous person working at Ecklers I have always felt their 'glass to be about number one, I can't comment on their "flexi-glass"
I also know ACI builds pretty nice stuff,

Any parts house you think you want to order from call and ask if they hand lay ALL the 'glass and no chopper gun is used, chopper gun is a cheap fast way to make 'glass parts that are not bad for racers but tend to warp, distort and have waves,
Also ask how thick the gel coat is, it should be greater than 1/8 inch IMHO,

Lastly c3's ran for such a long time and no matter whose hood you use unless you just get lucky it will take some time and work to get the fit just right,
Many times people would be happier to just put a scoop on their nice fitting stock hood,
Modifying is modifying afterall.

I forgot to mention at one time Harwood built the c3 hoods sold by JC Whitney they were a good item for the price.

Cheers, P.

|UPDATED|1/11/2004 8:53:46 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

I PURCHASED A LT-1 BIG BLOCK HOOD FROM VANACOR'S THIS PAST YEAR FOR MY 80 VETTE, AND WAS MORE THAN PLEASED.THE GIRL I DEALT WITH ON THE PHONE WAS PROBABLY THE BEST SALES PERSON I HAVE TALKED WITH SHE HELPED ME WITH THE TRUCKING COMPANIES TO GET MY HOOD DELIEVERED RIGHT TO MY DOOR.THE HOOD ITSELF TURNED OUT TO BE PERFECT;IT FIT JUST RIGHT;AND IT PAINTED JUST AS GOOD.I KNOW OTHER PEOPLR MAY HAVE HAD TROUBLES,BUT WITH ME, I'LL GIVE THEM A+ FOR PRODUCT AND SERVICE.AGAIN THATS MY EXPERIANCE,AND I HOPE IT HELPS IN YOUR DECISION.

I ordered a wing for my 86 about 7 years ago and talked to them about some other parts they had to offer and was very pleased with them. Sorry to hear about the trouble they are having