How To: Make your Cianci Victory Hood Fit - Strut Tower Hitting

[3000GTCSULB]

I have a 1st gen VR4 and I love the way the Victory Hood looks, but I had a problem with the strut tower hitting and it would not close. The problem was 1/4" on the passenger side, and 1/8" on the driver side. Please note that apparently not all hoods hit the towers, I don't know if the difference is in the years of the car or the hoods. So if your's doesn't require it, then don't do it.

1) Remove the hood.

2) Use a mallet, and hammer the strut tower down in these areas.

Passenger Side:



Driver Side:





3) Use some bondo to make it look nice again, spray paint it back the color you want.

I haven't done that yet, but it gives you an idea of how to clean it up.

Here is my hood getting prepped for paint, it sits flush and fits perfect:



That's all.

[Mikes2nd]

I did a combo of that, took a slight bit off with a grinder, very small amount.

find out where it is hitting with clay.

[ictponder]

I like the raised cowl on that hood, I wish the 575 was similar. So banging in the metal on the tower doesn't adversely affect the plate underneath?

[i3igpete]

So how do we get in contact with this fella Jim from Oregon that did all of the cianci production for 7 years until they moved to mexico and parts started to not fit anymore?

[Maximal]

So how do we get in contact with this fella Jim from Oregon that did all of the cianci production for 7 years until they moved to mexico and parts started to not fit anymore?

If we can get a hold of him I have a business proposition for him.

[OhioSpyderman]

I'm sorry, but if I had to beat the shit out of my car to make one of his hoods fit, the hood would be somewhere that the sun doesn't shine (south of the border, twice!!!).

BTW, has he made provisions in his hoods for hood struts (low tension) yet?

Bob.

[3000GTCSULB]

I know this option isn't for everyone, but since I really liked the hood it didn't bother me. Some people modify their engine bay to make performance parts fit, I saw it no different.

Paint on my car got delayed, so I won't have an updated picture until next weekend.

[OhioSpyderman]

I hope you didn't take it as a personal offense. My point was that Ryan doesn't give two shits about quality anymore (nor did he when he made my hood years ago). There should be ZERO reasons for that hood hitting ANYTHING stock AND should have provisions for low tension hood strut installation. I learned the hard way that mine did NOT.

Can't wait to see the painted pics!!

Bob.

[1992redvr-4]

Yea my Victory hood hits on the strut towers also. I just haven't messed with it much as its been sitting in the shop for over a year now. I'll probably do some grinding on the tower and smooth them over. For what I gave for the stuff , I figure it would have fit good ( prices dropped big time after I bought it all )

Anyways, here was the front, ECS caps removed, all bump stops out. Just resting there.

[Emilie@GZP]

I had one of the older Viper hoods from Cianci YEARS ago, that I bought from Terry. He sold it to me because he said it hit his strut towers. We bolted it to Hans' 91 satin black 3000gt, and it cleared just fine, no issues with the strut towers hitting at all.

It seems to be a car-to-car issue, some fit, some don't. Whether it's a hinge issue, or a strut tower issue, or a hood issue... who knows. But the same hood, fit on one car, and didn't fit on another.... seems to me like it's more of a car issue, then a hood issue (at least in this case).