transporting a hood

so, were going to williamsburg va over thanksgiving. taking the family subaru wagon. found a fiberglass hood for the 64 el camino up there CHEAP. can i safely bring it back on the roof of the subaru? its about a 6 hour ride south back home, all interstate.

want to see if, and how, i can do this prior to calling the guy and getting my hopes up. after i know i can, ill discuss with the wife, who honestly believes that the only reason i travel with the family is for far off craigslist postings, and call the guy.

my thoughts are that i can, as long as strapped securely to the factory roofracks. may need a chunk of plywood on the top to keep the wind from flexing and cracking it is my only thought.

any ideas/tips?

How many people inside the Subaru? Forester or Legacy? Year?

Rescue the elky from paint shop jail, drive concurrently with family, install in situ, drive home.

I think you're on the right track, support it with a sheet of wood so it doesn't flex, use some rubber sheets or something to keep the hood and roof from scratching each other, and make sure the hood is in the "downforce" position

If he can get away with stupid E36 M3, you should be able to get away with bringing the hood home.

I've transported hoods on a roof rack multiple times.

Get your ratchet straps tight but DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN. You can bend the hood. If you have friction lock straps, that is better. I did an aluminum hood with these and it remained straight and true.

User four of them. Take two and wrap them front to back around the roof racks. Take the other two and go diagonal from back right corner to front left corner, under the racks and over the top of the hood, and repeat from back left to right front. That will limit side to side motion.

put a sheet of that blue foam insulation under it and another on top.

3 (two adults, one 4 year old) legacy, 2002.

was planning blanket/towel to keep roof racks from getting scratched up.

4 straps are a good call. will do.

and brian, i would, but its sooo far apart that it would be insane to do that. also, i dont think id trust it for that far a hike considering the issues me and it have been having lately.

I attached an old latch to front bar and used shop rags at all the contact points with tape and then did the from to back criss cross pattern. Drove from Pa to IN at highway speeds just fine.

get sign vinly and tape front where it will catch air

Find some coroplast and construct a wind deflector like you see on a semi. If it's direct to the roof on the leading edge and taller than the hood, it should create a low pressure area and subject the hood to less wind force.

Clearly OP hasn't watched any episodes of Roadkill.
(all of y'all should watch Roadkill, immediately relevant to our interests)

Frame it up with some furring strips, if it catches air it won't fold in half.

i use 2x4's across the rack rails. one front and one back, and strap the hood down. i've transported so many 'glass hoods on roof racks i can't remember the count.

My CF Mustang hood made it to me on the roof of a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Brought an e21 hood home 3 hours from W.Va. a few months ago atop the 4Runner. And an e21 hood is a really big and heavy hood, trust me....

I used a couple light-duty straps, plus a bunch of heavy-duty zipties to keep it from moving at all. Looking back, the zipties alone would have done the job.

Zip ties are a great idea.

Is there any way that you could build a custom holder after you get there and buy this hood? I was thinking of running to Home Depot and using a piece of 7/16" plywood & 2X4's to make a holder of some sort (for the long trip home).
As a side note, I too am doing some CL shoping on my 450 mile trek to the white wilderness of northern Michigan.

duct tape ftw

fornetti14 wrote: Zip ties are a great idea. Is there any way that you could build a custom holder after you get there and buy this hood? I was thinking of running to Home Depot and using a piece of 7/16" plywood & 2X4's to make a holder of some sort (for the long trip home). As a side note, I too am doing some CL shoping on my 450 mile trek to the white wilderness of northern Michigan.

pretty much my thought. seller says hes holding the hood. wife agreed. home depot 3 miles from sellers house, and hes willing to let me use his saws.

im wondering if i can find antlers and a red nose for the hood on the ride home.

my thought is a chunk of plywood on the bottom, 1x4 around the edges, and an airdam on the front to roof to keep the air from underneath.

so, game on!!!

Ride the hood between 2 mattresses on top of the car. Everyone does that.