I'd like some hood latch ideas for a nosed '40 Deluxe hood. What have you guys used that works well? I see Drake sells a deflector with a latch, but he's crazy priced for what it is.
Mine is a Standard, but I used the latch from an 80's Chevy pickup. I made a flat plate that bolts into the hood to hold the striker stud thing, and another flat plate that replaces the original top grille bracket to hold the latch. The handle that activates the latch was modified with a small lever that sticks out between the vertical grille bars. Your Deluxe with horizontal bars would need some other type of latch release.
If you can find one, the older Datsuns had a cable pull unit that works great and is pretty easy to install.
I couldn't find any good pictures of this latch system on a 40 but I have seen several installed. If you go to the web address below and go to post #6 you will find a lot of pictures of this Volkswagen Jetta latch from the nineties. It is a good system and easily adapts to the 40 Ford. http://www.pro-touring.com/threads/95550-Small-custom-hood-latch-options This picture shows the elements of the latch pretty well. This is a kit for some GM OT car but the principles are the same . I can't attest to the accuracy of this photo and description but it is a place to start looking for a latch. Good luck!
I’ve been using that VW latch for years with great success. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Thanks for all of the replies. I'd like to retain the stock 1940 safety catch, so the early beetle style might be the ticket.
The VW assembly has the safety hook built into it. That’s why it’s so easy to use. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Right, but to mount where it needs to mount is going to be a good 8" in from the front of the grille, so it would be hard to get your hand in to get to the safety catch. The factory safety catch is right on the tip of the nose, easy to get to.
Those VW latches aren't that big. You wouldn't need to mount it 8" in. It should fit into the bulbous shnoz of the Deluxe hood. I just chose the Chevy pickup latch because I don't trust cable pulls.
This latch has been in use since the late 80's on my OT 39 with 40 standard grill.You can see it is not mounted all that far back. It's not that difficult to reach. If you will be installing one of these air block off plates it is pretty easy to mount the latch where you want it. I also mounted a similar latch system in a 38 standard a few years ago. I used a 40 style safety latch on that one. When I locate the picture I will post it.
Street rod Headquarters offers this one. https://www.streetrodhq.com/dept/Trunk/cat/Latches.html It is listed under trunk latches and costs about $51.00. If you could figure out what car it came from you might get it cheaper.
A little self-serving, but I'll be happy to sell you a bear claw style latch if you want to go that route. No matter what, any hood latch application needs to have the secondary safety catch, your stock parts can be fine for this.
This latch is also from a VW. It’s from the rear. It doesn’t need the safety hook. You could use it with the stock ‘40 safety hook easily. As mentioned above, the one with the hook doesn’t need to go that far back to be effective and still hit the hook release with ease. See picture. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I know this is an old post. Did you put any support under the air deflector/plate on top of the grill? What gauge metal for the plate? Do you have a picture of the hood side? Another plate? Thanks Bill
I did similar on a '37 with the VW latch. I used 16swg metal , principally as that was all I had available, which in the absence of bead rolling of thinner material is probably whats necessary given the job it has to do. A 90 degree bend at the rear stiffened it enormously and gave a neater appearance by the radiator. The upper mount needed to be notched up into the hood so that there was enough room to allow the latch to sit. With the mount on the grille and the whole latch installed, including the upper section, its easy enough to work out the mounting height required within the hood top. Chris Sent from my SM-T515 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Since we brought this back up, this is how I wound up doing it. I really didn't want to use modern looking stuff. I found some old pictures of this coupe, and also looked at the Valley Customs sectioned '40 convertible and determined both of these cars used a cut down '41 hood latch, so I did the same. I mounted it below the grille so the potmetal isn't taking the load of the hood, and reworked the '41's lower support so that it bolts it to metal underneath. I filled in the '41 safety catch and retained the '40 safety catch. I also filled in the space at the rear and made a flange there so it also bolts through to the existing support.
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