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Technical Rear hood hold down clip - what's wrong with this picture

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by SDS, Nov 13, 2021.

  1. I’ve used vintiques hardware on both a Ford and b-ville body. One with a b-ville body and a Ford firewall.
    Took a little wrestling but it worked.
    The firewalls want to fit wide there when the feet are bolted first.
    I took the bolts out of the feet and fit that area first. Then tightened the feet.
     
  2. SDS
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 815

    SDS
    Member

    Wow! BIG difference

    Thanks!
     
  3. Sometimes, you have to modify things.
     
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  4. SDS
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 815

    SDS
    Member

    Does the grille shell sandwich between the front hood hold down bracket and the radiator's threaded mounting tab (with no spacer between shell & radiator) ?

    Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!
     
  5. deathrowdave
    Joined: May 27, 2014
    Posts: 3,519

    deathrowdave
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from NKy

    I have not paid any attention to my hinges in years . I’m wondering is it possible to reverse the hinges as in front and rear ? Could this be the issue ? Mine are Henry’s stuff , I do not remember one issue with a new cowl gasket
     
  6. Anderson
    Joined: Jan 27, 2003
    Posts: 7,155

    Anderson
    Member

    Yes, that is the order of assembly. I have had to make spacers for between the shell and radiator bracket before. Usually not more than 1/8”-3/16”.
     
    Tman likes this.
  7. Do like the exotic girl dancers - "Bump and Grind" way too much technical here on the HAMB and not enough 50's throw it together and drive like a teenager!
    When we were kids in the 50's we'd remove these hood hinge ends and then you could throw the hood on or off in a few seconds. Throw those ends away.
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2021
  8. SDS
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 815

    SDS
    Member

    I hacked and slapped together plenty of things in my younger years...Waited til I was 50 to build this car, no reason to rush it now. I have learned over the years that haste often makes waste. Want to do it "right" the first time to save time and effort - so I can be driving it sooner.
     
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  9. 19Eddy30
    Joined: Mar 27, 2011
    Posts: 2,314

    19Eddy30
    Member
    from VA

  10. SDS
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 815

    SDS
    Member

    ... I will say though, that this project is going at light speed compared to my other ongoing projects, especially my 1955 F100 - that is a lot more involved. Sometimes I have to check myself on this 32 - I do feel like I'm slapping it together sometimes because it's going so fast.
     
  11. deucendude
    Joined: Oct 31, 2008
    Posts: 669

    deucendude
    Member
    from norcal

    gasket is in properly. Repop hinge bracket. Pull cowl down more. Possibly clearance bottom of hinge bracket. Repop parts,everything doesn't fit.
     
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  12. SDS
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 815

    SDS
    Member

    You're not kidding! All re-pop on these cars = nothing fits without without a lot of struggle.
    Today, I assembled the radiator cap onto the shell, the grill insert into the shell, the shell onto the radiator - this became very complicated when installing the front hood hinge bracket...
    It appears as if the entire grill shell is pulled out of square - with the front hood hinge bracket mounted in the center of the grill shell w/insert in, the holes on the shell don't come close to matching up with the holes on the brackets on the radiator I had to tweak everything to the point where I was worried I was going to damage the radiator. That she'll has a lot of tension on it right now... I think it's time to remove it and hand tweak it, so it goes on without being in tension.

    To make matters worse, the Bob Drake enamel Ford emblem doesn't come close to fitting into it's recess on the Bob Drake radiator cap trim. The enamel cracked when I tighyened it down.

    What a pain in the ass!



    PXL_20211127_185345486.jpg PXL_20211127_185352087.jpg PXL_20211128_144232820.jpg
     
  13. alchemy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2002
    Posts: 20,407

    alchemy
    Member

    I'd say you should be sending Bob Drake a copy of those pictures along with asking for a refund.
     
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  14. SDS
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 815

    SDS
    Member

    100%
     
  15. Anderson
    Joined: Jan 27, 2003
    Posts: 7,155

    Anderson
    Member

    Ok…it’s cool that you’re getting back into the building end of things after such a hiatus. Seems like you are making pretty good progress on the project. But man….this isn’t a kit car. And even kit cars have problems. Maybe it’s what you learn by doing but it seems like every time you post about this car it’s because an off the shelf part didn’t exactly work like it was supposed to. I don’t want to discourage you, but you will be better off from here on out expecting to have to massage every single piece you buy for the car. None of it is going to fit right out of the box, and everything needs to be inspected and fit before you put it together.

    I don’t think I’ve put a single ‘32 grill and hood together that I didn’t have to re-drill the holes in the radiator bracket to fit right. Same with the shell mounting brackets on the sides, they always need a little work. It isn’t that big of a deal. The cracking off enamel on the Drake emblem sucks, but it is not at all uncommon and has been covered on the HAMB more than once. Should parts fit better? Yes. But they don’t and they won’t…you have to work with what is available these days and parts are not getting any better.
     
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  16. alchemy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2002
    Posts: 20,407

    alchemy
    Member

    I would have guessed the Drake oval would fit the Drake bezel though.
     
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  17. el Scotto
    Joined: Mar 3, 2004
    Posts: 4,698

    el Scotto
    Member
    from Tracy, CA

    I started building a '32 roadster out of random body panels and scraps. All original stuff, but cast offs nonetheless.

    I got lucky, I found a used original firewall locally and it had the original gasket on it. It fit the original cowl top perfectly and the gasket tucked neatly under it. An original hood hinge bracket literally dropped right into place correctly.

    [​IMG]

    I hope this helps somehow.

    I got lucky and found original lower stanchions to replace the Speedway lowers at a local swap meet but still looking for original uppers and windshield frame.
     
    Last edited: Nov 29, 2021
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  18. 19Eddy30
    Joined: Mar 27, 2011
    Posts: 2,314

    19Eddy30
    Member
    from VA

    ^^^^ like he said ,^^^^
     
  19. deucendude
    Joined: Oct 31, 2008
    Posts: 669

    deucendude
    Member
    from norcal

    If you can afford gennie parts. Use them whenever you can. I can say pretty much all the gennie stuff I have used always fits great. Sometimes as was mentioned you have to adjust adjust adjust. Also that is why high end shops are expensive. It takes a long time to make things fit. Good luck.
     
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  20. EARLY in this thread were a number of posts describing the faults of repro firewall gaskets.
    Seems that needs to be corrected before anything else in the firewall area will fit correctly.
     
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  21. Fordors
    Joined: Sep 22, 2016
    Posts: 5,373

    Fordors
    Member

    05925664-D12C-497E-9213-9BD60052AA97.png
    As @pprather referred to here’s a post I made a while ago showing the taper on some reproduction gaskets.
     
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  22. 19Eddy30
    Joined: Mar 27, 2011
    Posts: 2,314

    19Eddy30
    Member
    from VA

    The Gasket is only the issue when its all
    Original parts are used,,
    In this case its all the reproduction parts,
    In my situation, Original 32 Firewall was changed, & Original gasket was used on reproduction Firewall & 3 sets of Hood hinges , Like a Dum A$$ I did not keep the hinges together for each car , Now miss matched hinges, 1 set was original , 1 set reproduction early 90s, 1 set from the last few years, Now I do not have possession of all 6 pieces to find out witch set gos with witch car .
    The reproduction Firewall is a issue as well, ( fitment)
     
  23. SDS
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 815

    SDS
    Member

    It IS essentially a kit car - not an original part on this whole car except for the spindles, brake backing plates and '40 wheels - but it's a kit that I've assembled from various manufacturers parts. Parts that should fit an original Henry Ford car (but most certainly don't). If you could build an entire car from on manufacturer, such as Vintique, it would be miserable.

    I hear what you're saying and get your point - buy that sucks that you haven't assembled a grill shell that didn't need tweaking a drilling) maybe passing a drill through a hole is reasonable, but the level of fabrication needed to make this stuff work is a bit ridiculous (especially at these prices)
    I work in product development and I'm mostly disappointed with the "crappy" at best fitment of ALL these aftermarket parts - there's really no excuse for this level of bad.
    As I say in my build thread title "built lots of cars, but never a 32 Ford", I worked for years in pro shops building super gas, cars, street rods and muscle cars. I've hung the world's worst re-pop India made quarter panel on a 69 Firebird and guess what? The bad aftermarket tail light and marker light fit right in with zero modification.
    I guess my questioning of how to use this garbage is partially a commentary on just how bad this stuff is, but mostly trying to discern which brand parts are the lessor of evils and get tups from guys who have been through this.
    From manufacturing standpoint, there really is NO excuse for this level of uselessness - either these companies have never actually tried their parts on a real Henry Ford, their tooling is BADLY worn out, or they just don't care - because it looks like most hot rodders (especially on the HAMB) are used to dealing with this garbage and figure it out (through blood sweat and tears), which pains me to see.
    Wanna know one reason why building muscle cars is more popular? (not because it's cheaper). Availability of good aftermarket reproduction components is a big reason - you can virtually build a brand new 1965 Mustang with random aftermarket parts...and...they mostly fit together with little/no effort.
    The first time I built a car on this chassis, it was with a Deuce Customs coupe glass body & a Wescotts glass grille shell - I had zero problems with 95% of what I'm encountering on this build, the hood brackets were a breeze. Looks like some of the glass companies have figured it out -maybe because there is more competition in that realm? This time, with "the Cadillac" of steel reproduction bodies, which cost 1.5x as much I'm struggling at almost every point.
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2021
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  24. alchemy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2002
    Posts: 20,407

    alchemy
    Member

    I think your ease of building the glass bodies was because they didn't have any holes drilled, you made sure to put them where they were needed. Now, the steel parts might have some holes prepunched, but off a 1/16th is a world of hurt on the grille shell. Can't really just grind some glass away to squeeze the grille over the radiator this time.

    The glass bodies also didn't have a separate firewall, so you didn't have the gasket clearance issue, and the subsequent rear hinge issue because your firewall sits too low. And again, if you needed a 1/16th more room in the trough to fit the hinge into, out came the grinder.

    Steel is Real. Even if it is repro, and even if it doesn't fit the first time.

    I can't speak as to why the Mustang guys can get it right, but I'd guess it's because they fight to make 100 times more than the 32 Ford reproers. They have a bigger market to please and wanted to make sure they don't get left behind. In the 32 world there is Drake and Vintique making the hinge or grille emblem. They have cornered the small market.
     
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  25. BamaMav
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 6,711

    BamaMav
    Member
    from Berry, AL

    They don't always get it right, either. I've heard some horror stories on how their repro parts don't fit and are missing details or bracketry, too. Just because it resembles original parts doesn't mean it fits like original...
     
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  26. SDS
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 815

    SDS
    Member

    Okay, I ended up resolving the issue with front & rear parts from Bob Drake.
    On the hold down that goes on the cowl, I had to sharpen the inside fan that goes up over that flange a little bit. I also had to make a notch in the flange in my cowl.
    Once I did that, drilled the holes and mounted it - everything is all good.

    PXL_20211221_174133331.MP.jpg PXL_20211221_174130038.jpg
     
  27. alchemy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2002
    Posts: 20,407

    alchemy
    Member

    Most original Fords I remember seem to have the outer skin closer to the same height as the cowl band. So you grinding that down a bit made it about like it should be. You could grind the whole way so there's no notch.

    What material is the Drake bracket? Is that chrome or stainless?
     
  28. BamaMav
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 6,711

    BamaMav
    Member
    from Berry, AL

    Bolt slots need clocking.....
     
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  29. Bcap55
    Joined: Oct 5, 2009
    Posts: 301

    Bcap55
    Member
    from PA, USA

    That fits good. Glad to see you got this issue fixed.
    I agree with Alchemy you should grind the edges of the two pieces down even with each other. I did that on my 32 coupe, and went one step further and welded up the edges and filed them down smooth so that there is no more gap. Here are photos showing before and after welding.
    IMG_1872.JPG IMG_1876.JPG
    I don't have photos of the finished edges, but believe me it looks so much better than having two separate pieces of sheet metal with small gaps between them everywhere.
     
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  30. NJ Don
    Joined: Dec 25, 2019
    Posts: 234

    NJ Don
    Member

    Scott,
    I want your dial caliper!
    Regards,
    Don
     

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