You don't know why you went to all the trouble? Well, I think it's about the best one piece hood top I've ever seen. The hinges are over engineering at its best. And I don't think I've ever seen anybody add an inner panel. Ever. Very nice work. Reasons for adding a hood top: Protection Continuity of line. Ties the grill shell and the body together. More tin for shiny paint. But you didn't hide the engine too much. Just right. Sent from my VS835 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Those are all very kind and encouraging words from you guys. Dyce put me onto the idea of the inner panel so many thanks to him. I have a plan to do another video of the engine running in the frame and a greater exposure of the body etc. Showing off the hood at that time will easily fit into this video. I've been doing some small refinements, gradual rust removal and metal finishing of the inner panel. I will need to clean some surfaces but keep them paint free ready for spot welding the two panels together. It is going to require some bondo, but I'd like to minimise using bondo where possible.
Fifty that is the inner section and there's an outer skin correct? Cable release or reach under and hand trip? I might have missed that which is not abnormal for my swiss cheese golf ball brain...
Yes, there is an outer skin which is in the very early part of this thread. The release is just a reach under hand lever and same with the safety catch. I modified the VW release slightly to make it more user friendly. Originally in a VW it had a cable but I could not see the point since it is only a half hood and I needed the release latch body to be as slender as possible to fit in its position. I hear you on the swiss cheese stuff, that is why I need to take small slow steps just to make sure I don't make a error and create more work in fixing my mistakes. I keep telling myself it is not a race, but I sure would like it finished so I can move on to total completion of this project since I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now... Eventually, I will need to punch a hole thru the outer skin for the air cleaners to show thru. I previously made a pressing die for this purpose and have now found a press wide enough to take my hood ready for this job. I think I have spent way more time on making the hinges and die than the actual hood...
"... a hole in the outer skin for the air cleaners to show through." Oops... scratch "protection". LOL I did think of another reason you built the hood... Homespun engineers... artists... hot rodders... have a need to create... to invent. Mad scientists, they are. We'll take over the WORRRLD!!! Cue maniacal laugh... Sent from my VS835 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I think that I have become a little lazy in my old age during this current lock down. Compared to other threads I guess this ain't that exciting to follow, but I am happy to say it is almost done now. I have spent quite a bit of time fooling around with the sheet metal portion of my hood project with little to show for it. I have removed all the surface rust from both sides of the inner skin and spent much time test fitting the inner and outer skins to a point where I am happy with the fit. I have tried to ensure that one skin is not stressing the other and the fit is more naturally compatible. I have gone over the inner and tried to remove or should I say reduce the number of highs and lows in the sheet metal. Since the outer face of the inner sheet is not seen, I have basically ensured it is flat or with only lows that I can fill with body filler. Body filler is a necessary evil IMHO and I always aim to use the minimal amount. The outer surface of the inner skin has been primed and painted roughly with some old spray can paint I had no further use for and decided to use it up as a rust preventative. The inner face of the inner skin is coming along nicely, considering my skill level and next week I hope to be ready to purchase some spray on high fill primer that will hopefully remove most of the minor scores and marks in preparation for further work later. Next steps will be to cut the air cleaner opening in the outer skin and press the lip into it and the do some more body filler work in readiness for the mating of the two skins to make the hood. My intention is to spot weld the edges of the two skins together.
If you were even more adventurous maybe you could use panel bond rather than spot welds To join them together. Just thinking.
Not a bad idea actually. Never thought of it and it will seal the seams I assume which is all the more useful to me. Thanks for your input.
Bonded panels are Historically Correct using all kinds of nasty agents...Aviation and Hotrod, Traditional as Apple Pie... You could install a select group of Period correct Fastenerage to add something should the other fail for whatever reason...
Progress has been slow, I have focused on other stuff as I am in the process of losing a finger nail due to mis-adventure in my shop. I also had to do some slight re-work to the outer on one side to improve things. Recently I have cut out the twin carb opening in the outer panel and prepared it and installed this panel into my die ready for pressing. I am already to press it now, but remain at the mercy of the guy who owns the press that has the throat capacity to accept my job. Turns out he is really busy right now being one of the rare business's that has seemingly benefitted form the Covid19 out break.
Well, I decided I could not wait for access to my buddies press. I found a brick garage door opening with a high gable over head and a steel lintel supporting it all and it had a good concrete floor. I took a bottle jack and cut a length of 2 inch pipe, capped the ends, placed the jack on my die setup, levelled it up and jacked away. I watched as I raised the wall while jacking. No just joking, the die pressed nice and slowly. There was a fair weight of bricks and roof above. It got a little off square early, but a big hammer sorted that out and the pressing was done in a couple of minutes. I am happy with the result and so now will continue on as planned.
Talk about unlucky, I have some bad news with regards to my hood project progress. My pressing has turned into a disaster. During the setting up in the die, since the cut out is not exactly central, I have some how transposed the measurement to the opposite hand and have pressed in the wrong area as such. Sometimes I was working on the outer side of my hood and other times on the underside... The opening still clears the air cleaners but the hole does not sit evenly clear around the air cleaner heads. Time to take a few deep breathes and think outside the square once more.
Damn...... @fiftyv8...Been there done that...that doesn't make the sting any easier...Cut it out and reposition using the, tack tack tack method...There are options...No issues with me...just what Hotrodders do and it's not an Airplane...I believe your hood is single wall in that area correct? With me I was laying holes out on an Jet Wing and measured a hole position backside went to outerside measured set the crosshair drilled and missed the location by about an inch or so...I had to walk around looking at the Ceiling for a few minutes...And wasn't I saying to my self Check Twice drill Once...They plugged it with paperwork... So perhaps you and I experienced a similar Not so Great moment...But there will be a fix...Love the Jig and Press...Do you have any shots of the Roadster when you first built it?
Thanks Stogy, I expect that cutting out is the solution. I'd like to post some pic's of the body sitting on the frame but shop space is tight and pic's would not do it justice. I got the car on stands right now and I am hoping once the hood is done, I can drop it down, roll it out and get some decent pic's. It is on stands as a means of giving my back a break working on that hood and hinges... Pic's soon, I promise.
You built this Roadster quite some time ago?...Is it a sixties build or did you build it more recently? I was thinking Original Milestone Pics...Cool Hotrod Fifty, what is the Frame, 34, Custom...I do look forward to seeing the latest part of the evolution of it... Oh by the way Inwork Garage Shots are pretty inspirational as well...and around here pics are It...
Stogy, it is a 1926 T coupe that has had the deck area removed and the cab is made into a 5 window closed cab pickup. Body mods were done in Erie CO at Bryce's Street Rod Shop. It sits on a 1932 Ford style boxed chassis which was fabricated and runs a narrowed 1950 Cadillac diff with F150 rear drum brakes and coil over shocks. The frontend is a dropped Super Bell axle with transverse spring with extra leaves to carry the weight of the Cadillac flathead engine, which when mated with the T700 tranny and adapter etc, comes in at about 720kgs, so I used a AA Ford Truck front cross member which looks like a normal Ford A cross member but made from slightly thicker material. I am running front Ford discs with aluminium Chevy callipers. I also have a GM power steering box mounted to cross steering mated to a s/s tilt column. The wheel base is 116 inches and it has a slightly shortened Model A Ford style pickup box. The box was made by Last Refuge Hot Rod builders in southern CO and turned out to be a good deal and nicely made. Sadly he has had a lot of bad press over his work and delivery times, however he is capable of doing a good product if he sets his mind to it. The chassis only can be seen on one of my YouTube videos which I have produced as a means of promoting the use of Cadillac flathead engines more often in hot rod projects. Cadillac flathead engines you either love them or hate them I guess, but either way they sure attract attention. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GQ8Ujaq7MY
I got mixed up...I for some reason thought this was the red roadster I believe is yours which is also Caddilac powered... Not uncommon for me to have information anomalies either...
No problem Stogy, there is a lot to take in and remember when dealing with topics on here. Between the hinges, hood and my health time just seems to be dragging on right now. The good thing right now is that progress is mostly in the forward direction... I've decided to cut out the area of the pressing section, then use my test pressing as a weld in panel. I am confident that it will be the easiest solution as long as I can manage the heat and warping. The outer skin is quite thin. I guess I wont be getting too many likes on my last post since who wants to like a stuff up... hahahahahaha!!!
We should have a "oh shit" buttom to press sometimes. And i guess we all have done this types of mistakes one time or another. After all those that never done any mistakes have not ever done anything.
Well, I cut the offending piece out and intend to weld in its place the test pressing I did earlier. That should work out OK. My main concern is the outer skin is pretty thin material and so I will need to take my time and keep it cool. Never thought that I'd have a use for that test piece and now here I am using it...
The Jalopy Journal
