Technical 32 Ford hood bracket holes too wide for grill and radiator

I'm finally trying to mount the hood on my coupe. I'm installing a classic 1932 4-piece hood that has a center hinge that is afixed to both the cowl and the grill with a little stainless bracket that has 2 holes in it. The holes in the bracket that I bought (I think from Speedway) are too wide! In otherwords, they don't line up with either the holes in the grill, nor in the radiator. The holes in the grill and radiator DO line up. So, I think the problem is the bracket. I do have the option of tig-welding the holes closed and re-drilling them, but I'm not looking forward to it because stainless is so hard to drill-argh!

Has anyone else had this trouble? If so, how did you fix it? Who sells a hood bracket that has the proper screw spacing? See attached picture.

 

Is the shell a aftermarket piece? I've never had a problem with the hood hindge mount's ,new or original. HRP

 

I agree with HRP. An original that measures 1 1/4” C-C and a Speedway repro along with the holes in a Walker radiator are the same.

 

Use a smaller bolt......
Just kidding, can you drill out the shell and radiator to give you 2 elongated holes that will work ?
Otherwise find another bracket if you are sure the other two aspects are correct.

 

Never one issue with mine , one piece or the other is aftermarket . Measured twice and it’s still to big !

 

Drill the rad holes and put in a nut cert.

 

Give it a slight squeeze in the vise?

Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

A friend had the same issue with the bracket for a 33-34 and made in China. Don't remember who he ordered from (probably on ebay). It WAS the bracket not the grille (original) or the radiator (Walker). He threw it away and got another brand... Been a while so I don't know from whom.

 

Get the bracket from Rootleib hood
http://www.rootlieb.com/

 

I've done dozens of 32 hoods, radiators and brackets, always used Rootlieb hoods, Drake brackets and Walker radiators. Never had a problem.

 

Every piece is after-market: radiator, grill and bracket. When two out of three match, I'm prone to blame it on the odd-part-out, which in this case is the bracket. The only part on this car that is original is the body, cowl and seat. When I bought this car, half finished, it had a really inexpensive looking aluminum radiator that had no screw holes in it for the hinge bracket. It looked like an imported part. That radiator was too tall for the mini-channel that the prior owner had done, so I chopped it down to use as a template to take to the custom radiator builder in Gadsden, AL. To my surprise, the custom grill has an aluminum bracket (that I did not request) that allows the hood bracket to not only be tied to the grill shell, but to the radiator itself, too. I like how solid that should make it all, as I hope to drive the crap out of this car. This is a custom Rootlieb hood-I can't remember if I got the brackets from them or not. I plan to order side-panels from them as well, once the radiator is all set and I can send them templates. Oddly, the bracket fits the holes perfectly on the firewall (and you'll know from my profile picture that this is a Henry '31 Ford firewall and cowl). I'm afraid the bracket might be Chinese.... I will follow krylon32's advice and order a Drake bracket-perhaps they can send it during the plague..... I may go ahead and fill the holes in the bracket while I have the tig welder out of it's corner in the shop, and re-drill if I find the energy. Thank you all! The HAMB has been a big help.

 

Don't expect Drake 32 hood brackets to fit a 31 cowl.

 

I just went out to my garage and measured the brackets on my '32. The cowl centerline measurements on the two bolts is, 2 and 1/4". The grill shell measurement is, 1 and 3/8". As others has suggested don't expect mismatched years and reproduction parts to fit.

 

I've got the 1-800-deucerod.
The front bracket is 1 3/8 c-c.
Rear bracket is 2 1/4 c-c. If I had to guess, I'd say they came from SoCal. Hope this helps

Phil

 

Can you lean the top of the grill shell out an 1/8 inch or so to get the holes to line up? Or is the space between them that is too far off?

 

Here’s an original, measures 1 1/4”.

 

Original ones screw into the radiator brackets and just sandwich the grille shell between.

 

Yeah, that is what mine does, sandwich the shell between the radiator bracket and the hinge bracket. I just measured mine. The radiator and grill screw holes measure 1-1/4" center to center. The bracket measures 1-3/8" center to center. Thank you, Fordor, for the photo of the genie Ford bracket! GordonC, it is the center-to-center measurement that is off - the apparent front-to-back problem is just from the photo. Krylon32, I don't have a problem at the cowl end of the hinge; my only issue is at the grill end of the hinge.

Just sent an email to Bob Drake for the measurements on their version.

 

There are brackets (that look the same is in your picture) for fitting a 32 type hinge / hood to a model A. I am not sure if there is a size difference between the 1930 / 31 A part and the 1932 part but possibly they sent you the wrong one?

I can measure the bolt spacing on my A coupe with a 32 style centre hinge and post if that might help

Update: I measured a stock 1930 cowl and a 1932 cowl and the holes where the hood attaches are the same for 1930 and 1932 at 1 and 1/4" center to center .
I have a Rootlib hood on my 1930 A coupe with the 1932 style hinge and the holes for the attachment brackets (that look the same as in your picture) are 1 and 3/8" center to center. Cowl and grill shell bracket for my application are the same.

Sorry I don't have an original 1932 grill shell to measure that end

Cheers

 

I own 3 original '32 grill shells and all measure 1 1/4" center to center for the hinge bracket.

 

Just heard back from Bob Drake. They measured their bracket for me and they said that the spacing between the screws is 1.287". That is closer to 1.25 than it is to 1.375. I will order their bracket and see how it fits. Standby for more info....

 

FWIW the original I have checks at 1.258”.

 

The Bob Drake bracket arrived today and it fits perfectly. So, on my 1931 Ford coupe on a 1932 Ford chassis with 1932 Ford grill and radiator: A 1-3/8" screw spacing is correct for the cowl, and a 1-1/4" screw spacing is correct for the grill. Interestingly, the cowl bracket which either came from Speedway, or came with my Rootlieb hood, is machined from a single piece of stainless billet. However, the grill bracket from Bob Drake is machined from 2 pieces of steel, spot welded together in two spots and then chromed. Moving forward on the build. Thanks HAMB!

 

About this reply. What size and type fastener, sheet metal or machine screw? I ask because the brand new Walker radiator on my project only has a pilot holes.

 

@Johnny Gee , the original holes were tapped 12-24 and that size screw can be a bit hard to find. I wonder if Walker left the thread up to the purchaser. My Walker radiator is about 35 years old and I don’t remember if it came tapped or not.

 

I used 1/4” unf bolts and ground the head down considerably to make them fit under the hood/ bonnet.
Counter sunk , look at post 16.

 

Based on your description the image posted above must be like the first bracket you had. No matter the source I guess you could say it will perform the intended function but it sure differs from the original design.

 

Thanks. Photo from Third Gen

 

This is a really noce, informative thread and re-affirms to me why I am running my '31 A coupe with a Deuce radiator shell without a hood.

 

One of theses specialized bolts should do the trick.