Saturday project...34 PU HOOD FAB.

Hood top anyway. Saturday my friend Geoff and I built a Hood top for his 34 pickup. He is a young hot rodder from Camarillo, CA. He built this truck when he was 17 and got to drive it to high school, that is cool! You can find Geoff working the Stromberg booth at many So Cal events, you couldn't meet a more pleasant guy! Anyway we took pics as we built it so here they are......











First, masking tape was run along the body line and connected to the grill when everything looked straight.This told us what size to make the hood top. A straight edge was laid from cowl to grill and it was at the perfect height. Some tape was also added across the cowl and grill shell so pen marks could be made.



Next the hood center line is marked on the tape. Most measurements made while making the hood will be made off the hood center line. Now the hood size is measured and a cardboard pattern is made. Fiberboard is the only thing I ever use for patterns because it acts like the aluminum. Corrugated cardboard would be too thick and soft and poster board is too flimsy, at least for me. First I just lay out the overall size.



Now I need to figure the curve so I eyeball the center of the curve and put a mark on the tape. I do this front and rear and transfer the measurements to the other side. I thought the grill curvature was tighter than the cowl but when I cut a piece of cardboard to check I discovered they were the same. That was good to know , the curve in the hood would be even and not tapered. By measuring the marks I just added from the curve center line I could now lay out the curves on the pattern. The hood center line marks are lined up every time the pattern and later the hood go on and off during the project.







Now that the curve center lines were on the pattern I scribed 3 lines 3/4" apart on either side of each line and bent the pattern into the shape of a hood and put it on the truck so it could be fit accurately. I left the sides a little long initially so they could be marked on the truck.





Now some time is spent transferring marks to the pattern and working on the pattern until is exact size and fit.

 

Nice looking hood, I wish I had a louver press.......

 

Wow!!! Looks cool! nice job Kev!

 

Hey Kev, always admire your work & thanks for sharing!!!

 

nice job on making this hood project look easy. Even more cool is that he is soo young. Thanks for showing your friend and us this how to.

 

Once I was happy with the pattern I transferred it to the aluminum. The material is grade 3003, .063 thick. It is ordered with PVC protective coating on one side. It is peeled off when you are done building the hood so you don't scar it up during the cutting, bending, punching, drilling etc. When I cut the hood out I left the sides long to aid in the bending and the front about 1/4" long for accurate trimming later.



The lines that were scribed into the pattern are transferred to the inside of the aluminum and laid out with black sharpie marker. These tell me exactly where the curve goes.





I chose a gas bottle to bend the curve. The diameter needs to be smaller than the hood curve because the aluminum will spring back a little when you bend it. The pictures tell the story. The marker lines are essential during this part. You just muscle it around the bottle. I like to use a piece of wood to give more even pressure.







The center is still straight, It just has to be muscled into shape.





Then the front is trimmed so it can drop into place, a bunch more manipulating takes place until if has a good fit.

 

Show us how you fab the hold downs.

 

Now that we are happy with the fit the swage / body line is marked on the hood and added using the bead roller. Then the bottom edge was bent under using the sheet metal brake.









Next the inner edge is trimmed and notched to clear the firewall and grill shell.



More test fitting.



It had opened a little on the front so I set up a tube to bend it over for a little fine tuning.





Now it was time to figure a louver pattern.



And get to punchin!









Now we had to figure out how to hold it on the truck in at 130mph!

 

You're such a rad dude Kev. Looks great!!!

 

incredible, what a life you got!!!

 

use that wallabee hide you have stashed and make some straps,killer hood

 

As always Perfect.

 

Nice.Would of made a good tech week entry. Reckon you need some more G clamps though.

 

Love it!!!

 

To mount it we decided on a couple of spikes that go into the firewall and tabs coming off the grill shell to bolt the front to. So undo 2 bolts and lift it off. It is rock solid when in place and the bolted down. (3/16" machine screws with nylocs )







Peeling off the PVC coating, Geoff looked like a kid on Christmas morning....

 

Kev, that looks so good!

 

That rules.
I want one.

 

very very nice

 

Not only is that thing a) bad ass, b) home built, but you also c) helped a young hot rodder out.

As the proud owner of a Kev piece, this thing rules. Good on ya for helping out a young rodder.

 

The Skills of a true metal master! Great job.

 

Thank's for all the kind words guys! It went smoothly but was a pretty long day, about 12 hours. (12 hours of fun!) A lot of fitting, bending, fitting, trimming, fitting tweaking etc.

 

Not only your talent, but your shop never ceases to amaze me! I keep looking around and seeing of ideas to steal for my little shop...

 

Geoff is a lucky guy.

 

Bitchin!!

Can I place an order for one too ?

 

that hood doesnt look right, why doesnt it have all the creases and hammer marks like the stuff i build? impressive is an understatement, one of the best looking hoods i've ever seen. and i usually do not care for pickups without fenders but that truck is proportioned perfectly, nice work guys.

 

Very nice! Show me more stuff!

 

Looks great

 

Excellent work as usual. Very nice hood, truck looked really good before and now it looks great!

 

Very nice Kev. Can you give a little more detail on the attachment means?

 

beautiful work Kev, thanks for sharing