Hood closing-latching mechanism replacement

[MikeC]

I have a 39 Chevy that I am building.  The hood latches with a handle that hooks into a bracket on the side of the hood when turned.  I would like to remove this latch and "clean up" this method with something less obtrusive.  Does anyone have some ideas or latching mechanism that they use or have seen?  Pictures would be a great help.
Thanks
MikeC

[GaryR]

Mike,

I have a photo of a 40 Ford hood with a new latch adapted to it.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to post it to the forum or even upload it to a server I have access to.  PM me or send me an e-mail at grobins@vt.edu and I'll send it to you.

Gary

[Pep]

Well as a matter of fact, that's what I've been up to on my build of the 37 roadster. Here is what I came up with. This is the link to the page. Just go to the end and you will see
http://home.iprimus.com.au/apepper/February_2005.htm

[Charlie Chops 1940]

Mike,

Are you thinking of making the two clamshell pieces into one piece and hinging from one side or do you want to retain the two piece nature of the hood? I would assume the latter. Look at the Dan Fink style latch system...it uses a rod arrangement thar pushes or pulls from under the dash edge to engage a sliding bolt. They are made for early fords primarily but the concept could be adapted to your configuration.

Charlie