I started squaring up the fiberglass hood and fenders and would like a tilt for access to the plugs, carbs, and valves. Car is a Barracuda being built to SEG rules and is race only. Looking at it, I think I could bolt the hood to the fenders from underneath using some small sections of aluminum angle. Then take it off the car and glass it all together from the bottom. I'm trying to figure out what the hood to fender gaps would look like after. Should (could) they be filled with body filler or something else? I imaging this will be very prone to cracking. -OR- I could keep the hood separate (pin to tilt frame, or chassis) and make just the fenders and grille tilt. Would this setup be to unstable though without the hood tying it together? Anyone ever done this and have any advice?
My 69 nova I had in my teens and 20s front end was bolted together like that. Gaps were not filled, but it looked good and worked good. I was the only guy in high school with a tilt front end.... and a blower.
You glass it top and bottom then finish is appropriately. A glass tilt front end looks one piece not like a separate hood and fenders. A tilt is cool but I still prefer a lift off for a race car.
Remember that with a tilt front end you are going to need a crew guy to help tilt it. It takes one guy per side to hold the lower edges of the fenders out so that they don't drag across the doors--the same with closing it. Depending on the thickness of the fiberglass you may also have to add some sort of tube structure to support it in addition to what will be needed for the tilt pivot. You will also need some sort of restraint to stop it from tilting too far. I presume that it is a 64 model so it will need some sort of bracing in the front to hold it square as the vertical fender face adjacent to the headlights on those cars is a little narrow. You can weld Dzus tabs to the cowl to attach the rear edge of the hood but you will probably need some sort of tube framing for the trailing edge of the fender, especially at the rocker area. You probably need to look up some old magazine articles to see how that did it back in the day. Roo
It's a '66 ,so technically not Hamb friendly or I'd post pics, but I figured this would be the best place to ask. I considered glassing top and bottom but think it would leave the top difficult to blend and finish. Regarding the bottoms dragging the doors, I would most likely cut the bottoms at a 45 and permanently mount them. I've scoured the internet, my old books , & magazine but had no luck finding a similar situation.
Some flip up hoods/bonnets with cut fenders look better than others. http://www.simoncars.co.uk/jaguar/slides/s_Jaguar C-type 1952 sidesm.jpg http://www.sportscardigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/042108-1341-sirstirling1.jpg
With the fender bottoms cut of you can operate the tilt front end by your self. If you keep the seam tight it should look fine.
Agreed..if done right it's hardly noticeable until it's up in the air. Plus on old race cars I like the the look of things modified for functionality
When I built the glass front for my Stude gasser. I did each piece seperately with plans to use the opening hood. But after figuring out all the bracing, inner fender sheeting, radiator support etc. It would be almost as heavy as the steel front end. Then I thought maybe a functional hood plus tilt front.. Too heavy and complicated hood hinge/fender mount.. Sooo, I trimmed the inner flanges off the fenders. Used 1/4" spacers (plywood) between the edges of the hood and fenders/front facia. Deck screwed it all together on the car. Fabbed a front slide hinge and inner hood brace (oak) and glassed it all together. Ran two 3/8 aluminum braces from the firewall to radiator ala 29-32 Ford. When It gets finished, I will fill the outer seams with thick resin and scribe the hood/body seam lines. Before the paint. It tilts with one person and the bottom rear of the front fenders just touches the outer front of the door. Used a piece of Delrin plastic inside lower fender to slide against the door to save the paint. Four Dzus and two hood pins secure front unit to firewall
Here is a link to an article with me making the one piece front and air intake for the Studebaker Landspeed car. http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/hooley/hooley-construction-2005-1.html I had originally built the car with the panels separated. I have made several tilt front ends that slide forward and then tilt. I made Hooley's "Okie Twister" Henry J gasser that way. This eliminates cutting the bottom of the fenders and one person can open and close the assembly. My truck, in the avatar, has a one piece fiberglass tilt that slides and tilts. I have driven it over 25 years this way. It is also easy to remove as an assembly but it takes two people to remove it. The removable front makes maintenance a lot easier but it is difficult to get a good fit to the body of the vehicle. John
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