So I finally got my motor squared away nice and shiny. Now, I want to show it off and I've seen some guys remove the hood sides and run it that way. But what the heck holds the top of the hood securely between the cowl and the radiator housing? And what about the latches. I guess removing them won't be a problem. Open to ideas. Any help will be appreciated.
Limey Steve here on the HAMB has them, http://limeworksspeedshop.myshopify.com/collections/hood-strap-kits
On my 32 I used the same general idea, but I used the original "loops" that the hood-side hinge rods ran through. There are threads on the different latch ideas on hamb someplace. I don't care for those very busy looking "human sex bondage straps" posted above, as it is a bizarre looking, almost ratrod distraction when viewing a car IMO
On my '32 I'm using two rubber bungee straps in the stock hinge loops. I hook a long one across the backside and a shorter one closer to the radiator. Watch so they don't interfere with any engine parts (linkage or fan). The hood hasn't blown up once.
Personally, I'm going home tonight to finish installing those rat rod looking leather bondage straps on my hood that I bought from LimeWorks , but I did take this picture at a local cruise-in this summer that had an original take on the subject. Not as cool as springs, bungies and gate latches but it would work in a pinch.
As promised I went home and started work on these human bondage straps, everything but a tennis ball and spikes. I don't recommend building these if you have arthritis, Hard on the digits. Gonna look cool if I can get the measurements right on the center section. Enough for tonite.
I ALWAYS see pics of hot rods with no hood sides in old magazines, I NEVER see these Of course, for most, what you see in old magazines means NOTHING, to me, it means EVERYTHING. But hey, that's just me... Whats REALLY funny (ha, ha funny) Is I DO see Dzus fasteners, which I am sure the bondage strap guys would be all over telling you are "not traditional". But then again I don't have any interest in "traditional", I'll stick with boring old stupid "period-correct", thanks....
Not only have they not heard of "1/4 turn Ted" but also don't have a clue where his grandaddy made the Dzus fortune originally.
I also used the original hood pivot pin loops in the top of the hood. I just bent an L shaped rod to go in there and drilled a hole in the cowl for it to slide into. The other slides behind the radiator lip.
Those leather & spring hold-down straps go back to Model T Speedster days. I'm sure they were passe when guys were building 'cool" cars in the 40's. The Dzus fasteners were invented in the early 30's, and they were big on race cars and dry lakes cars, so Hot Rodders would have picked up on that pretty readily.
A Brief History of the Company 1932 – 1935 William Dzus sees a need for a new type of fastener to meet the requirements of the Aircraft Industry – a quick-acting, self-locking device. From this idea he invents and develops the well-known Dzus Fastener, with capability to withstand vibration and a tolerance for high stress and strain. Manufacturing begins as a one-man business in a small garage in West Islip, New York. The sheer merit of the product creates a wide-spread market and the company grows. William Dzus (fourth from left) and employees at his Babylon, New York, plant in 1933. More here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzus_fastener
they were used on british sports cars in the twenties and thirties as well, where they were not used was on hot rods in the forties and fifties, like you say, they were passe by then. The new "traditional" seems to take all kinds of stuff from then that no self respecting hot rodder used, guides with integral turn signals, bondage straps, big headlights, turd brown colours, artillery wheels, ect and because it dates from the time frame, it now becomes "traditional" hot rod stuff. Its like Alice through the looking glass, really has nothing to do with what was used on hot rods at the time.
Maybe this is a little high tech for most but this is what I am going to use to hold the hood on my A. No reason why it wouldn't work on a Model 40.
And lots of hot rod builders worked on aircraft during the war. Of course, they wouldn't have wanted those small, light spring-loaded fasteners on their cars when they came back, not "traditional".
Morgan was still holding the hood shut with leather straps in the '60s,of course they were still building the body frames from hardwood too.
Lots of companies sell quarter turn fasteners these days. Dzus fasteners are we actually not as easy to come by as the copies.
The Jalopy Journal
