Technical Metal work - 37 Chevy Hood - How would you fix this?

I think what I’m seeing here is that the center hood strip is not straight. The two hood sides seem to be ok, but are being pulled off center at the front by the center hinge support strip.



The hinges are straight. The misalignment seems to start right where the hinges end.




On the top side, there is a paint crack right about where I think the misalignment starts. On the bottom side, there is a weld at the end of the hinge. I don’t know if that is original or not.

The hood ornament has been removed and the holes filled. I don’t know if that’s part of the problem or not. I think it is. I have an old pre-build picture with the hood ornament holes unfilled that seems to show that the hood alignment was ok.



It looks like the back end of the hood ornament is around the area where the hinges end, and there was a mounting hole back there. The weld blob I see at the front of the hinges may be from closing the hole, and may have distorted the strip at that point.

What I think I need to do is bend the center strip at the point where it stops being straight, at the front end of the hinges, pushing it 1/8” - 1/4” toward the driver side. I’d like to do that without having to re-paint if possible, since I have no idea what “silver” this paint is. If I have to repaint, if I can match it, just painting the middle strip might not be too bad. I don’t paint, but I have a friend that does.

How to bend / straighten this strip, though? Somehow support the hinge part, while somehow grabbing the front part, and bending it without either screwing up the hinges, or twisting the strip.

Maybe this is a job for a shrinker (passenger) and stretcher (driver) to pull it over? The piece I’m looking at is an inverted U shape. Doesn’t look to me like there’s enough room to get a shrinker / stretcher in there. Hammer on dolly to stretch?



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Not trying to be a smart ass but maybe a bodyshop is the answer here? Lippy

 

It might be. Still interested in how to do it, even if I end up having to pay to have it done.



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Seeing your first picture and your before picture, it looks like the front of the center strip and the chrome piece it attaches to are not only left but also down. Is there supposed to be that big a gap between the front of the hood and and the chrome piece? The down and the compound curve of the hood edge and the center strip would be contributing factors to the widening gap. How is the gap between the hood and the hood sides, especially where the front of the hood meets the chrome piece? Have you tried a laser level to check the the center strip for straightness? I would also check the center strip for twist because that could also cause the problem you have.

If it bent you could make jig out of some 2X or whatever that would hold the sides of the ends firmly and keep the bottom square (soft cloth on the contact surfaces to protect the paint). Then a pusher strip for the outside of the bend and a bunch of C clamps and start tightening the clamps very, very gently. When you have it straight, release the pressure and see how much spring back you have. Make your best guess of how far over center you need to go to get it straight, then stop short of that on your next pass. Re-check and repeat until satisfied. No time for impatience!

 

Not seeing this in person but have worked on these hoods.
I would probably remove the hood and separate the pieces.
I would make sure the hinge area of the hood tops are straight Also check the center strip.
I had one that the hinge part of the hood top was bent outward.

 

Hood half is twisted??

 

Poor design from GM. The front half is the base for the hood ornament and has 4 bolts to the radiator shroud. the back half is formed to act as half the hinge for each hood side. It is very weak at the transition and they all crack or get totally torn in two. You took a picture of the horrendous weld. With that much heat and distortion there will be little chance of saving it. Call Chev's of the 40's and see if they make new ones. I think I and I Reproduction did.

 

So that’s not supposed to be welded at all? That’s helpful, thanks.

I and I have a repro listed:

https://iandireproduction.com/products/hr31-s

Since I don’t have the hood ornament, the no hole one would work. And, just this once, chrome might be cheaper than paint.

Wondering now if I might then also have to replace the hinges. If I understand the assembly correctly, this strip slides on over the hinges to tie the hood halves together? That weld makes it look unlikely that this is going to slide off.



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I’m curious, paint looks nice, did this occur over a period of time since you have had it, or did it come to you that way?

 

The front piece at the top of the grill shell isn’t attached to the hood, only to the shell. There’s a little play in where it all fits together, but not much. Some gap between the front of the hood and the trim is probably correct, but currently distorted by the hood being out of position.

Hood top to hood sides, there is no gap. That’s a riveted joint.

Hood side the grill shell gaps are wonky because the hood is in the wrong place.

I was thinking maybe some kind of jig with a hinge to concentrate the bend at the spot of distortion. C clamps as force application is a good idea. I guess I can try it. Worst case, I get the repop from I&I.



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The gap along the hinge is even, so I think the hinge is straight. The distortion at the weld is where it goes off straight.

I’ve seen other 37s with this same problem. Between redo32’s comments and looking at the I&I repop, this does seem to be a very weak spot. A lot of available leverage with the hood up, and one good wind gust would quickly damage the strip at the weak spot, right where this one is.



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The hoods seem straight. Where are you seeing twist in the hoods?



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Came to me this way.

That crack in the paint may be from it trying to break a second time, if I assume the weld repair is from an earlier break.



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On my '37 Chevy truck, the hood hinge has a pin that goes into the hood ornament to hold it in place and center the hood. The back has a small sheet metal loop that holds the hinge centered and down. How is yours being held with out the hood ornament? If you pull the hood off, the two halves will slide apart, maybe then you can see if the hinge is opened up to far or damaged in some way. I would bet if you pull the hood towards the driver side to even out the gaps on both sides of the ornament, it won't look nearly as bad. Mine is not 100%, not sure any of them were.

 

Nice looking truck.

Without the hood ornament, maybe that’s part of what the weld blob is doing? Substitute weld blob for pin, holding the hinges in place on the center strip.

If so, taking it apart may be difficult.

I can live with not 100%. Originals probably weren’t perfect, certainly not up to modern standards of fit and finish. It’s the how to pull just the right part, without twisting or otherwise making it worse that I’m looking for.




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I wonder if the center strip has sagged? Can you try pushing up right where the straight hinge meets the curved front? If it has sagged there it would cause the hood tops to splay outward, causing too large a gap up front. Might be enough flex/bend in the outer curve of the hood, were it connects to the sides, and that might hide the extra "width" down there. See if you can prop something (broomstick) in there from below to check this. You already have a crack in the hinge paint, so you can't make it too much worse.

 

As stated, that weld blob is to fix where they all seem to crack at the end of the hinge portion and the beginning of the hood ornament portion. That center strip was remanufactured, but they were limited supply, may or may not be available right now? Original was chrome plated strip, not painted. It is a shitty design, and 38's have the same problem as well. Both cars and trucks have similar designs with that weak transition. Be very careful removing the hood as that seems to put the most stress in the area.

 

It looks like somehow the center, hinge strip was pushed down, taking away a lot of the arch profile at the front. This would also explain why there is too much gap between the front edge(s) of the hood halves and the chrome radiator trim. The center is pushing the chrome 'boomerang' too much forward.
My guess is someone took some fat lady on the hood, cheesecake photos, sometime in the past.

 

The only way the front goes down is if the whole top of the radiator shell goes down with it. Not saying it can’t happen, but it’d take a lot more than one person worth of weight to bend all that metal.



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On the bright side, it’s already screwed up. Taking it off is probably the least damaging thing I can do now.

37 and 38 are very similar, so yeah the 38 hood would be likely to have the same weakness. Trucks too.




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Here’s a side shot of the front.



You can see where the hinges end at two rivets. That part is pretty unsupported from logitudinal twisting forces from the hood. But the front piece is bolted securely to the radiator shell, which is quite sturdy and isn’t going anywhere, up or down.




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Maybe this is a difference between the car and truck?

Here’s an eBay pic of a 37 car hood ornament in place on what’s left of a radiator shell and piece of hood strip.



Kinda cool looking hood ornament. Kinda wish I had one.

But it looks like it’s too far forward for any pin tied in to the hinges.




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Oh, hey, is this how the truck ornament goes together?



Borrowed from eBay auction.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1937-Chevr...-BLEMISHED-CHROME-HOOD-ORNAMENT-/383762306035

If so, I see what you mean about the hinges fitting in to the back end of the hood ornament. I don’t have that. Looks like this is one cast piece, where the car ornament is cast and screw mounted to the sheet metal strip.



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I think what he ment was the front of the hood, where it should attach to the ornament is already too low. If it were raised up perhaps they would get closer together at the center strip?

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This part is relatively "easy" to take apart and repair/replace. Check out this video on removing the hinge pins:
Your hood will disassemble in the same way. Then the repairs can begin and you can compare the hood sides to each other, and inspect the center strip for the extent of damage. I found on my hood that the hood sides where the hinge is riveted to were distorted and the hinges were twisted from being forced to move due to rust.
Let the fun begin.

 

My '39 Chev was similar. If you unbolt the front and gently lift up that gap should close. If the radiator support panel sags on the the rubbers it will drop the front.

 

Does your car still have its original frame and rad support,it does look like the rad support is dropped,that is what causes this.what does the hood fit like at the back,and on the sides,if it is wonky looking there,does it look like it is "crooked" maybe stand back 30 feet and look at the lines,it should be easy to spot.Harvey

 

My truck has the ornament you posted, cars must use something similar to hold the hood down. The hinge is two pieces, one piece per hood half. On trucks, the drivers side has pins out on the ends that index into the hold down holes. The passenger side slips into the drivers side from the front or back. To separate the hood halves, you pull one or the other forward till they come apart. With the hinges being rolled as they are, it's unlikely they have bowed, I don't believe the hood would open. Could be the rubber core support mounts are rotten, how does the sides of the hood line up with the fenders?
Here is a picture of the hinges, https://www.fillingstation.com/images_product/large/gr-240_3.jpg
Here is a little better picture, https://iandireproduction.com/collections/center-rods-hinges-strips/products/hh11-s

Cars a different then trucks, but the idea is the same.

 

It looks by the gaps in the front of the hood like the grill shell needs to be adjusted for height and position. It looks like the hood fit well before.

 

If you do repair it successfully I would advise reinforcing it in some way to add strength and prevent any distortion in the future.