The heat extractor hood and...
The heat extractor hood and chin spoiler from Cervini's add an aggressive look to the front of the '08 GT.
The heat extractor hood from Cervini's has fiberglass drip pans that attach under the billet inserts on the underside of the hood. If you regularly take your car to the road course or dragstrip, you can leave the drip pans off to allow the release of air pressure that builds under the hood. That will help plant the front of the car, giving you more traction and control.
Let's just call it a bad day. I hit my neighbor's car with the front of my less-than-1-year-old Mustang. I did luck out though, and just bent the hood and cracked the front fascia. A higher power must have been watching out for the car.
With only my pride bruised, the silver lining of this little bump was the opportunity to upgrade my car's stock visage with some aftermarket attitude. Since the hood was bent, I could replace it with the hood I really wanted-Cervini's Auto Designs Heat Extractor hood (PN 1179; $575).
You can see the dent on the...
You can see the dent on the hood and the crack in the fascia. Express Paint & Body were able to repair and fill the fascia. Many thanks to the guys at the shop for their excellent work!
Because we replaced the factory prop rod with an aftermarket hood-strut kit, we also needed Cervini's Hood Strut Kit (PN 7103; $149.95). Cervini's offers two different kits-one for OEM hoods, and a kit for Cervini's hoods, which has stronger gas struts. Of course, while we were at it, I thought we might at as well continue the upgrades. As such, I also dialed up a Cervini's Type III chin spoiler (PN 4339FTB; $295.95).
Long known for its quality fiberglass work and stunning body kits, Cervini's now offers to paint the pieces in factory colors before they are shipped. You provide the paint code found on the driver-side doorjamb sticker-in our case, ZY for Vapor Silver-and the hood arrives with perfectly matching paint. There are two options for painting. You can have just the top of the hood painted or both sides as we did for that extra bit of shine. The painted hood option starts at $349.95 (PN PTD1179).
Cervini's Type III chin spoiler is designed to fit underneath the factory fascia. The spoiler comes finished in either textured black that you leave unpainted, or in a natural urethane finish that can be painted to match your car. We chose to leave ours black to better withstand the pitfalls of daily driving.
With parts in hand, we headed over to Express Paint & Body in Lakeland, Florida, to watch them effect the necessary repairs, and install the hood and chin spoiler.
Cervini's takes extra care...
Cervini's takes extra care in packaging the painted parts. Note the soft cloth inside the Styrofoam braces. For hoods, a metal bracket is added to the hood hinge holes to keep the hood from reaching the bottom of the box. Although one of the metal brackets broke through the cardboard of our box, the hood remained a safe distance from the outside and any danger.
Before installing the hood,...
Before installing the hood, you must relocate the coolant reservoir tank with the brackets that come with the hood.
The brackets move the tank...
The brackets move the tank back and down about an inch to allow for hood clearance.
Here you see the billet inserts...
Here you see the billet inserts for the hood openings and the washer relocation tubes.
The drip pans were also delivered...
The drip pans were also delivered in body color thanks to Cervini's paint option.
Cervini's hoods require the...
Cervini's hoods require the company's own hood-strut kit due to the difference in weight between a stock hood and the fiberglass hood. Of course, the Cervini's hood has the necessary hole for the factory prop rod if you prefer.
The billet inserts for the...
The billet inserts for the hood opening attach to the underside with self-tapping screws. Unless you're Popeye with superhuman strength, this will require a power tool of your choosing.
The billet inserts for the...
The billet inserts for the hood opening attach to the underside with self-tapping screws. Unless you're Popeye with superhuman strength, this will require a power tool of your choosing.
With the striker bar removed...
With the striker bar removed from the factory hood and installed on the Cervini's unit, Allen Colding and Mike Rosier from Express Paint & Body lift the hood into place before attaching the bolts.
The Cervini's hood bracket...
The Cervini's hood bracket goes between the hood hinge and the washers. They are labeled, and are specific to one side or the other. It should orient so you read Cervini's from the inside of the hood.
Mike then snaps the gas strut...
Mike then snaps the gas strut onto the fender bracket and the hood bracket on the hood. He then aligns the hood for clearance on the sides and rear. In our case, aligning the hood latch had to wait until the front fascia was repaired, painted, and reinstalled.
The next step is to remove...
The next step is to remove the weatherstripping from the rear of the factory hood and attach it to the new hood, where it holds the washer relocation hose in place. Be careful with this step as the plastic friction clips are fragile. You'll need to reuse the clips when installing the weatherstripping on the new hood, so use a door-panel removal tool and take your time.
Because of the design of its...
Because of the design of its hoods, Cervini's provides new washer squirters. These simply screw into place at the rear of the hood, as seen here. They come pre-bent and can be adjusted slightly if necessary to allow proper alignment.
Once the weatherstripping...
Once the weatherstripping is in place on the new hood, cut a small slit in the weatherstripping to allow the washer hose to feed through the inside and come out near the washer diverters. You then can use the provided T-connector to attach the separate hoses for the squirters.
Moving to the chin spoiler,...
Moving to the chin spoiler, you must first remove four screws on the bottom of the front fascia, and then remove two screws in both right and left fender wells.
Here Allen holds the chin...
Here Allen holds the chin spoiler in place as Mike begins reinstalling the screws. In addition, there are three new self-tapping screws included with the chin spoiler that go through predrilled holes in the spoiler into the front bumper. As you can see, having the car on jackstands or a lift would make this much easier.
Allen starts the screws that...
Allen starts the screws that go through the chin spoiler into the front bumper inside the fender well. Once all eleven screws are tightened, the chin spoiler is attached and ready for action.