re ur-q/4000 hood mods

[Autobahn01@aol.com]

After a discussion with Smitty at Mt Washington about fitting the curved 
late-style hoods onto a 4000 chassis, I made a note to check some 
measurements on a few cars I had around. Smitty had felt that the photo in 
question of the ur-q wasn't computer fabricated, and it intrigued us that 
nobody had done it before, so....

off my stock 4kq,
 52" wide, 39.25" from top of hinge to leading edge.

off my boss' '94 90,
52.75 wide, 36" 

off Dad's A4 in for the motor swap,
53.5" wide, 32"

Keeping in mind that these are rough measurements made in the rain with a 
tape measure, we can generalize that...

The width of the 90 series hood is comparable, possibly even to make work 
without mods, but the length falls quite short. 

The A4 hood would be tight against the fenders and even shorter still.

The grille sizing is the same between 90 and A4, the difference being in 
where the release lever is located. Between different rings. The hinges are 
also opposite angled on both the later hoods vs the 4000, This could be 
solved with some heat and a judicious 90 deg twist on the existing hinge. The 
rear edge of both later hoods is also quite scalloped to follow the 
windshield/body lines. It's my feeling that neither of these hoods would be a 
bolt in mod for a 4000 chassis.

If you extended the hood hinges on the 4000 so that the leading edge of a 90 
hood lined up, you may well have a substantial gap near the windshield. And 
you still have the secondary release catch to rig up.

How about plasma cutting the curved leading edge w/grille off a donor hood 
and grafting it onto a 4000 hood? That would retain all the OEM 4000 mounting 
points and safety. The next issue would be gaps/spacing between headlamps and 
the new grille/hood package.

Comments?

-Chris Semple
Concord NH