51 Ford

[kb426]

Am I correct in that you cut loose the large brace from the rear of the hood and you will center it and weld it back to the hood skin?

[idrivejunk]

Am I correct in that you cut loose the large brace from the rear of the hood and you will center it and weld it back to the hood skin?

I just removed the spot welded stands on top of the brace. They were welded to the skin also. Doing that allowed the skin to center itself better than it was. I tacked two nuts to the front edge of the cross brace and put quicky L brackets there with slotted holes for temporary height adjustment without tacking back to skin yet.

Right now there are shims on top of them because not enough slot in L brkts. But yes; with top center rear of skin disconnected it can move laterally quite a bit. I would like to make a piece that attaches to the brace which spreads support across the skin at the brace and doesn't have to connect to the skin (and can be made to cover brace crookedness) but that may be a pipe dream.

FYI the side plates I put in the hood back corners where it used to mount have some bendability. Made of 16 ga. So with skin top loose at center, they are what holds the side to side position there. Fortunately, overall width of the hood is good at the back.

[idrivejunk]

Look out      its Saturday night and I feel like theres a post in me that meets the old more frequent and less scattered update standard. But I chose 15 pics to tell a half day's story.

I shall make effort avoid being overly meticulous / irrelevant / contradictary / nonsensical / middle aged in reporting and be / have fun. Hope I remember how. Takes time to fix all mistakes. I intend this to be post 1 of 3 this sitting, and just break at five pics wherever that falls.  

Truck. "Ignoring" fender to hood gaps for the most part at this time. Approximation adequate at this stage. Tweaks needed on each side to bring panels closer together-



Truck, hood open-



Note: Since moving the hinge mounts forward half an inch in the new hood, some supernatursl unknown and counterintuitive geometrical anomaly's loophole in reality causes the hood's up stop point to leave the hood a good bit farther from the A posts. Aha says me because IF... that proves out to a sufficient degree... I may be able to finagle things to where the hood support lower mount pin can go in it's intended hole on the hinges. That would be fantastic and looks to be within hope range but I have it down on the pecking totem. Bonus!

That means hood might open a smidgen farther than shown. Boy its nice having the hood working and no big gap panic zones.





See? Not too shab. I'll take it. But now remember I gots no cowl rubber, modded away bumper spots in hinge corners gotta put something there, etc. Do have the hood bumper rubber set. Not on it yet.

Make no mistake, to get this far what had to be done was quite delicate but very simple. I needed to disconnect skin from crooked mounts then eyeball and gently hand bend back edge of hood. Repeatedly. Not unlke fitting a smooth street rod hood. Put a stick under it here and mash on it there and there careful-like then fetch stick out, quick stare, and repeat until show car. No point in studying too hard there just yet.

Now. Do you see here the crooked man out?



Crafstmanship ain't the word that comes to mind looking at that brace. But things that don't matter don't matter but that does look wackadoodle to me and I refer you to previous ramblings a post or two ago. I don't really want to take the whole brace out. After having welded in the plates shown at back corners, I cannot call brace R&I necessary. Because of how easily bends at back of hood and center rib are skewed. Theres a giant mess teeter tottering in the breeze precariously, so I gotta watch my step. Stakes are high this hand. But out n in of the brace, no biggie really. I suspect and could quantify with template just how wrong what is about that big brace but right now its kinda like ash in eye.

Stand by

[idrivejunk]

By the way, that stick of 1x1" laying in front of the truck in the last post has latch holes one side. Goes inside the hood and a flat 18 ga piece and brace go... well I'll show you in a minute.

Continuing with pics, now see ain't that big goofy brace sorta funhouse looking? Come on now, across the Pacific neighbors. Harshing the shebang Joe over here.



So the welding blanket stays but that brace is a situation where I feel options are present that ought to be presented and I know what I need to about overall fit.

Don't know if I mentioned it or anyone picked up on it but I stopped too short on the tail transitions of the hood top vent areas. Mashed gas and went fast there, working from inside the hood and knowing the current drama laid ahead yet. So I ain't sweating that but it needs about a foot of patient TLC there next to the center rib once the general hood hubub level subsides to a dull roar with completed latch areas.

Considering options before cutting is what kept me from flingin sparks and gave me week's end stall cleanup time. That stick of tube mentioned above goes right here but up inside the hood and inline with latch-





Keeping the original pin position. Dropping off the back of the new panel at the rear edge of that fat round down bead and may lop off that much back of valance, to create our new cooling package space. Hard structure design for under all this has not yet formed the shape of a fully developed adult idea. But theres the sparkle in my eye.

Don't get me started lying about that cute li'l latch in the next pic. Seems awful small for the job. But thats what she said. Snicker, tease.

Now I know you can see I been scribe-ling awl over that like a kid writing their name down the side of a van with gravel. Heres what came of it-



Thats one of them dual pattern jobs. That paper serves as template for hood side as well as patch for the header panel or whatever that piece is called. The twisted and bolted bar thing there is what vertically connects rear edge of the hood striker plate to hood skin at welded center bracket and I'll retain that or have similar.

Contours at adjacent panel intersections began dancing in my head so I didn't cut. Day over. Must study and or scribble plus maybe show first, to avoid building things that get hacked out later while remaining fashionable. Heres where I'm looking as I say that-



Thats five, hang loose

[idrivejunk]

The junction there. Must not jump into, I figure. A pause for brain work / sketch flag popped up and a touch of fancy may need to go on the corners of a plain new panel. No turning back once I make the Sharpie line, right? What I do here has to look good make sense and if possible seem clever. Now theres a tall order! But you know, foreground critical visual contact zone needing to be slick as a whistle. The gumbylike rear brace issue would be a lesser faux pas than passing up the chance to be cool around the eensy weensy hood latch, in my humble opinion. Be that as it may...

Boy they don't give you nothing inside the new hood. By the way tightening that stock divider brace pulled a good little mess topside. Tnis wil be a tough hood on which to avoid damage during the process. I like Painter's "finish the inside first" theory especially for this jewel of a panel.



But see just yeah, nothing. Its a welded panel originally and still will be.-



We just skipped buying the panel because we knew fab was OK. Picture that pattern in 18ga, with an inch tall up-flange at rear back past where the striker mount tube goes across, then the bolted link from tube center to top bracket inside skin at divider. Should turn out right solid.

Heres the wrap-up pic for this night. I was rotating tires during a rare access opportunity. I believe thats it. Wasn't much useful tech there and posting it felt chore-ish but theres you old boys some fodder to nibble at.

[kb426]

I believe that hood latch is the same unit I used. There is one off a Volkswagen that is real popular to use. I bought one of those also but on the 48 lower panel, the small unit fit with way less construction. Mine has been tested to 115 mph with no failure.

[idrivejunk]

That ought to cover the first couple gears.  

Noticed while handling the latch halves off the vehicle that the striker came right out when tilted. Haven't compared that to other latches side by side but a 50 mph deer hit would be much worse if the hood flies up. Thats my foundation in collision repair talking but if it holds, it holds. The hood is remarkably lightweight however, so that is much different from double walled muscle era-up designs and the need for bulk is less.

I gotta get crackin and trace one or two of them pix so I can plan that intersection at Panel Junction. So I won't be lost when I hit the door.

By the way I saw one of them later Vipers with the removable rooftop with a dip down the middle, going alongside on the interstate. Man that looked downright um... clunky? The graceful handsome body lines those started with turned into choppy, robot that unfolds looking things and like everything else new on the road now... is converting to what visually appeals to Asians.

[idrivejunk]

Here we are, a range of styles. I am drawn to B. A is for the show. D beats stock. C is tidy. Some combo or variant could emerge, but I am ready to cut so maybe I should do just the hood side or wait on both, and move on to a core support structure. Asking for much decision or input on a Monday is not good timing.

[enjenjo]

I like B also.

[idrivejunk]

Thank you.

Grand total: one unit of input. Standing by the pond with horses that won't drink at the shack. One day I'll get past asking myself if I should ask.

That one makes sense. Here, let me get the corresponding photo to that sketch onto this page. Late night oversight. I meant to post it with the sketch and still am open to input for a little bit.





Got the tube tacked in the hood-



Speaking of oversights, forgot to remember mount holes at back corners of the latch panel so to leave some room, style B is evolving. Like I said it may. Be a little less plain looking and have some visual flow this way anyhow, with little extensions at the back corners. I chose to move that back edge of latch panel forward from the git-go because we had already established that the cooling unit will sit farther ahead than stock. Where it drops off now is as far as ya get, grille in way. So mechanical components all sit aft of the drop off shown below-



The inner fender tips will make or break the look and can be nothing, simple, or fancy. On the drive to work I got a germ of an idea about core and vertical support construction.

[idrivejunk]

Nope nope nope, no ears on the back corners. Add bolt holes. Back edge is straight across. This is the direction I am headed because I can complete my objective this way without touching the inner fenders until its inner fender day. Whoever does all the inner fender work can worry about clearing inner hood stuff (see second image).





I am thinking position C is a sweet spot that lies between A and B. That, or pass on the inner fender corner extensions. Or have humped ends on the cross piece in the hood.  :?:  

[idrivejunk]

I'll be danged. (probably will be)

I had taken a shot at position C in the final few minutes Monday and turns out I had nailed it.

Bad news is struts hold back of hood up. Took them off. Fits OK but with big side gaps. I'll have to do something about the struts, no other person involved cares that they are too long to work but all worry about the ugly tabs I made which permit function. I can only say get shorter struts so many times.

Did install all the hood bumpers except the one at hood nose, need tiny washers. Hood latches but haven't operated it with them in yet.

Gotta correct myself about latch coming undone when pin is tilted. No, it doesn't turn loose. Must have been holding it by the lever other day.

Started on some structure to back up the sheetmetal. Made what I'd call an upper tie bar yesterday out of 3/16" plate.

Thats the horizontal top support for the latch. Unable to drag a radiator guess out of anyone so I outlined the available space on a diagram and hope to get input back. So I'll know where the bottom goes and can make the piece that ties front body mounts together. A center vertical would then be all thats left on that if it turns out sturdy enough.

Also recieved a set of body mount bushings, twice the height of what I mocked up.

Theres also no cares about the inner fender stuff. Mike said B, so its unanimous (two opinions) on that but I've already abandoned the idea of altering them. Body except bed ready for primer are the only words I can speak that might be heard, it seems. So-

Onward

[enjenjo]

NAPA carries a line of " tool box lid struts" that have calibrated pressures in 5 pound increments. You might look into changing the strut pivot points so the strut is pulling down slightly with the hood closed keeping it tight to the cowl, as well as holding it up when open.

[idrivejunk]

NAPA carries a line of " tool box lid struts" that have calibrated pressures in 5 pound increments. You might look into changing the strut pivot points so the strut is pulling down slightly with the hood closed keeping it tight to the cowl, as well as holding it up when open.

Tool box struts, hey!  

Thats the trouble, lengths are purposefully left out of product info. :?

So they can't be shopped for, only bought and tried and not returnable. And until something about hood struts prevents paint work, its not emergency enough. Story of my life. I try to ask the questions early on.

The billet 56 hinges have both ends of strut on the hinge, fixed location. What I did to make them function was to drop a tab down from the lower stud location (bolted) and put the stud in the tab hole. Half inch difference, lower. I might be able to buy another quarter inch changing the tab. Tab has to be secure and sturdy so is tacked to cowl after hood adjustment. I presented them as temporary but as could also be permanent if a cover panel was made. Or something. That was a very stressful mental event, being stonewalled on strut help for this. Doors and cab back panel were mindblowers too.

I moved the cross brace in the hood forward half an inch to make the new hood fit, too. That made more clearance at posts when open and I have not re-engineered the strut thing yet.  

First I say these won't work, get deaf ears. I make it work, smiles all around except frown and point at tabs. No help. Not much I can do with that except go buy some struts myself. No thanks.

But it was bliss while I had them on. The strength of the struts is perfect, and before moving the brace in the hood, they worked just as you describe. Can't prove it now but no matter.

Let me see if I can spit these pics out right fast... wait naw, outta time. Just as well, nothing finished. Later on  

[idrivejunk]