Now you guys are cooking. More examples of the forward lift hood hinges, this is like Christmas for me...
@fifty why not Aluminum?...I mean it's lighter therefore Hotrod approved almost since the beginning of the Big Picture... It's looks awesome Polished, Faded, Punched, Engine turned, painted...AND it's easy......er to work...
Stogy, it is not off the radar, but right now is probably my 2nd preference, mainly because it is not a material I can weld if the need should require and not as easily obtained in cut sheets for me. My buddies shop does not use usually work with it and another buddy who does use it is mostly out of town with his work. He can weld it for me but access to him is like pot luck...
While considering my latching and hinging options, I have started making my wood and steel buck for pressing the center air cleaner opening. I'll post a couple of pic's later, but needless to say as I have expressed previously, I HATE woodwork and I always find myself needing to do woodwork somewhere along the line in my projects...
Well, I have a little bit of progress to show. I am trying to make a pattern to be able to press the opening in the hood material for the air cleaners to protrude. Who knows how successful it will be, but I guess we wont know until I try it. I found an off cut of glued laminated beam which I figured might be made from hard wood timber. After my first attempt at using the router and hole saw on it, I can confirm it is really hard wood. This is a plus for the project as it will become the base for my pressing form. I used hole saw to remove some of the material and also to give me access to the under side of the pressing should the die and material get wedged. First I made a cardboard pattern of the cut out I was wanting and then scribed it onto the wood. I then determined how much smaller I would require the center pressing die and marked it out on a piece of 10mm thick steel plate and cut it out to shape as well as making sure it would fit inside the wooden opening with a consistent clearance of about 1mm all the way around, since my material I am told is just over 0.9mm. I have spent a lot of time refining the accuracy of the shape and edge clearance to get it consistent. Next I will put a quarter radius around the top edge of the wooded base. I am thinking 5mm radius. I am also going to need to find/make a holding down plate and possibly use some dowels to prevent slippage during pressing. I still HATE woodwork...
You might be better of cutting a hole in the hood and the using a hammer form to roll your flange. I would think if you press it into your form it would create a lot of distortion in the metal surrounding the cavity as it is stretched into shape.
RICHB, I hear you and you are probably right. I am being guided by a buddy of mine who has done numerous pressing, most of which have been successful. We did discuss your method and wondered since the opening was relatively small how pounding the lip would work. We also thought that we would do a test panel first up and not go straight for the whole hood. We also considered that my wooden base would still serve as a suitable buck for hammering should we discover the pressing was not successful. If I do go with your idea, I have a plan to put a slight curve in the top of my buck to replicate that of the hood if possible, just as an extra refinement. Today, I improved the clearance gap between the die and the base and also added a pair of alignment dowels. I still need to make a piece of plate the opposite shape to the die for holding down my material during pressing or hammering and add a small radius to the folding edge of my base/buck.
A little more progress on the pattern press. I am getting real close to doing my first test piece pressing.
I am not a religious man, but it would appear the Gods have been with me on this pressing exercise. I did a trial pressing to day and the pic's below tell the story. Needless to say I am pretty happy with the result.
Thanks, yes it was nice to enjoy success on the first attempt. I have noted a couple of clearance issues during the process which I have cleaned up. However, like most things there is a down side. I take away a couple of observations that I am going to need to address; firstly, my own press is too narrow to do the final pressing using the full piece of sheet metal that makes up the hood. secondly, while it was quite easy to clamp down the test sheet to the wooden base, in reality clamping looks not to be as easy with a full sheet. for the clamping issue, I am considering working out a way that I can flip upside down the whole box and dice and press from the opposite side, but even that is seeming tricky at best. I know my pressing plate/die requires reinforcement as it is bending under load. Plan B is to thread the tops of my two guide dowels and use them to bridge the die and hold down my clamping piece to secure the sheet metal during pressing. During the initial pressing process, as the die is pushed down, the edge of the sheet around the wooden base causes the sheet metal to want to lift and move, so I need to ensure that I can clamp the sheet securely, to help keep it flat and prevent slipping. On the test piece it did require 4 clamps to secure the material and I am wondering if the two dowels alone will be upto the task. I get the feeling I maybe doing a 2nd test pressing before heading off into the wilderness for the final full hood pressing. Might be time to contemplate the situation over a beer or two...
After much fooling around I have worked out a way to hold down my work piece material in position while still being able to press the die. By modifying my guide dowels and bridging my die I can press down on the work piece quite easily. So that is another box ticket in readiness to do my final pressing. In the meantime I think I will still do another test pressing just to satisfy myself all is AOK. Boy, it is nice to have a stash of scrap iron to fall back on...
All painted now and when I get back from the family holiday in Spain, the body will go back on the chassis and I will be onto the wiring. Sent from my moto g(6) play using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I also wanted to reinforce the edge of the cut out for the aircleaner but being less skilled I had a stainless ring laser cut and bolted it in using M3 button heads Sent from my moto g(6) play using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
blackjack, there sure ain't anything wrong with your hood and that reinforcing rim around the opening looks perfect. You never know if things don't work out for me I will be looking for other options and that method looks as any I know of.
Yes, I noticed that which gives it that original idea look. I got a couple of big problems to deal with and should address them before finally making my hood. I got a radiator overflow cylinder and a remote bypass oil filter both of which foul the edge line of my hood. I need to make a new bracket for the oil filter canister and move it in board about 3 inches and similarly with the overflow. Modifying stuff at this point in my build is annoying and painful, but this is the only way to get it done...
Looking at my test piece, I have noticed that after pressing the flat part of my sheet has become slightly curved in the right direction to suit my hood shape, which pleases me even more. I'm still relocating the oil canister and radiator overflow. New oil canister bracket now made, not so bad, but shortening the discreet oil lines will be a pain in the ass...
As I continue on with this project, it has become apparent that it is made up of a number of sub projects besides the main body of the hood. I see it as being; • Making and forming the hood • The cut out and pressing • The relocation of oil canister and radiator overflow bottle • Hinges and lock down fabrication • Paint finish and any other surprises...
Well, another box ticked with the oil canister relocated as required. It is even raised a little higher which might improve flow back to the crank case.
...I guess the coolant recovery is next...and don't forget to tighten the fanbelt...Lookin' Good @fiftyv8
I like the progress. I had this in my hood idea folder thought you might like it. Not sure if it one of the guys on the HAMB or just something I stole but I sure liked it.
Bandit Billy, boy that hood work is something to behold. I like it a lot. I don't have access to any fancy equipment and constantly making one off tools to do stuff kinder makes me wonder if I will ever get my project over the line. I got to say, after seeing that center pressing, I may need to take a 2nd look at what I have done and see if I could tune it up just a little.
Bad news, while installing the oil bypass canister in its new position I have managed to strip the thread in the block for one of the head bolts I need to use. I struck a similar problem when rebuilding the engine, but that was in the early days and a helicoil was installed to fix it before I had gone too far. Well, I guess now I will be removing that head and installing another helicoil, what a bummer...
...well I mean I liked it but not...Fifty That Royally Sucks...Never a dull moment...hope this hump is short lived...
Folks, before I reach out to the whole Forum, I was wondering if anybody viewing this thread has used and owned a pair of hood hinges that I am considering using. I've looked at side ways and forward tilting, but I am convinced in my case the usual front lifting hood will work the best for me and my particular circumstances. I have search a lot of the internet and come up with the design I like, although the ones offered for sale are too large for my situation. My intention is to try and find somebody who could give me some measurements so I can scale down from there and make my own smaller version to suit my engine bay. Any help would be appreciated. So far the best pic's I have are as follows and one came with a tape laid along side of the hinge, yet after scaling it I still can not quite get the right dimensions to work out mathematically. I will be mounting my bracket vertical to the firewall. Many thanks, Russ.
I see that I have no takers regarding my request, so now I ask if anybody is out there who can share with me the theoretical method of working out such a hinge from knowing the rest location to a set open position. Once I get my head around it I should be OK to take it from there... Any takers, as I note from time to time I read comments from guys who are mechanical engineers and the like, so I have my fingers crossed.
The Jalopy Journal
