Building a 32 Ford Roadster at work. Going to run just a louvered hood top. I have seen the leather strap spring hold downs, but is there a hidden latch assembly available, or plans on how to make one?
Me too. One hooked between the front 2 rod loops and one between the rear 2 loops. My brother also does it this way with his 32 and it works fine.
I use the bungee cord option too and have for a few decades. Going from the loop that's used to mount the hood side across to the other going underneath the radiator support rods, it holds it down, it's simple to unhook or just pull it up to look at something and doesn't require something ugly showing that's out of place to look at. Being practically free doesn't hurt either.
I looked and couldn't find it. Tman I forgot to mention that the hood will keep the stock hinge in the center.
I did a similar thing on my 34 (hood top only) but I only hinged the one side and left the other side open so as not to restrict the view when open. Then I used leather straps to hold the hood down on the left side when closed and added a set of dummy straps on the right side for aesthetics. The system I copied and modified was supposed to have the bar on the left side with latches built into it and a cable pull release under the dash if I remember correctly.
At the bottom of the barrel is mine. A vintage screen door spring, with homemade hooks from the eyes to the side attachment dowels, running under the radiator support rods. Two piece stock louvered hood runs tight, no flapping or bouncing. Cheap, old school, low class. Perfect for my old survivor.
Shitty pic just zoom in. 4 matching leather belts from Ross dress for less, stock 32 hood latches, 4 eyelets, some brass nuts and bolts. I welded flags to the hinge rods (2 per side) that the belt bolts to at the top and the other end I added eyelets for the stock latch to go in. FLiP
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