L88 Hood Z shaped cowl brace

[Michael M.]

I have an aftermarket (Sermersheim) L88 hood for my 68. The hood came with a Z shaped fiberglass brace which, I think, is supposed to be bonded into the cowl area of the hood. See attached pics (not sure if these are original L88 hoods or not). The Z brace that I have is about 8-9 inches long. Should it be that long or should I cut it shorter? I would think that a longer support brace would be better, but I was curious if anyone knows how long (or how deep into the hood) the brace was on original L88 hoods. I intend on using the cowl induction feature of the hood.

Thanks for any replies.

- Mike

[Paul S.]

Re: L88 Hood Z shaped cowl brace

If memory serves me , i think on an original hood this brace was just to support the rear of the dome (cowl). 8 inches sounds pretty long

[Richard F.]

Re: L88 Hood Z shaped cowl brace

My highly accurate Container Store tape measure says that 8 inches is about right. It doesnt go quite to the circular air cleaner opening.

[Michael M.]

Re: L88 Hood Z shaped cowl brace

Perfect. Thank you both. From pictures I had seen (again not sure if they were original hoods), some hoods appeared to have a pretty short brace and in others it was clear that the brace was longer. It made sense to me that a longer brace would provide better support, but even though the car is a driver and not judged, I figured I might as well get it like the original configuration. I'll go with what I have.

- Mike