Tips to avoid a $3,000 hood repair

[David from Ontario]

Hi folks: This a something of a PSA to hopefully help others avoid a costly repair. I own a 2004 35-foot-long dog nose, Thomas Built Freightliner FS-65 bus that I’m converting to a skoolie. It has a fiberglass hood. I just paid about $4,000 Canadian ($3,000 USD) to have the fiberglass around the hood hinges repaired where it failed. The repair was not optional: without it I could not open the hood to e.g. check and top up fluid levels. And I can’t imagine a cheap DIY fix that would have worked. It had to go to a body shop. I’ve created this video showing the damage and the repair:

https://youtu.be/O6w5TusVmDU

The video is under nine minutes. It includes tips on what to look for when shopping for a bus to avoid this expensive repair, and maintenance tips once you own a bus to keep the fiberglass healthy.

I’m not an expert. I’m just sharing my experience with this breakdown. Feel free to chime in with your own suggestions.

 

[fo4imtippin]

Dang, did you search any junkyards for some FS-65 hoods first? With it being fiberglass, even the rustbelt states close to Ontario should have some.


With that good looking hood paint job, your going to want to HPLV the whole bus. I would look for some rural land to spray outside verses rolling.

 

[David from Ontario]

Dang, did you search any junkyards for some FS-65 hoods first? With it being fiberglass, even the rustbelt states close to Ontario should have some.


With that good looking hood paint job, your going to want to HPLV the whole bus. I would look for some rural land to spray outside verses rolling.

Thanks for those constructive suggestions. My research showed that this was a common problem with these hoods. So I was concerned that another hood of a similar age might be about to fail. I didn't want to pay the labour costs of installing a used hood. Also, they are huge. As the video shows, it took 3 guys to remove my hood. I don't know how I would have obtained one from a junk yard and got it mounted on my bus. (Others with skills and strength I lack might have pulled it off.)

I agree that it would be desirable if the paint job on rest of the bus matched the quality of the paint job on the hood, or close to it. I'll see what I can do with the resources I have.

 

[didapper]

I had the same issue and used an aftermarket repair kit to reinforce/replace the hinges.

This set was recommended in another thread here somewhere, but didn't fit quite right. I had to shave down the edges and drill new holes, but preferable to a new hood for me. There's other similar models online that might work better. https://www.tacbusparts.com/FR-HRK-Hood-Repair-Kit-for-Freightliner