Hood hinges

[RICH MUISE]

Looking forward to the pics..thanks. I couldn't find the suspa pn on a limited search last night..was trying to find a pic of the ends hoping they had just an eye rather than the ball stud you normally see on them. Can't beat the price..cheap improvement.
"very simple, just need to be creative"...yep, find that happens alot when you don't have a machine shop. LOL, gets frustrating when you have 20 years experience in machining, but no equiptment available now.

[hiball3985]

Rich, I know that feeling well. I always had machines available back in the day that made fabricating easy. My neighbor lady has a old Bridgeport mill that comes in handy but I sure wish I had a lathe..

[petew]

I am glad there is an interest in this modification.  The silence is wonderful when the hood is going up and down.  I am sure that someone has done this before.  I will take some pictures in a couple of days.  My Custom 300 is still under construction but I have mounted the hood on the modified hinges on the car and tested for travel and spring rate.  The hood lift feels the same as the old coil springs to me. I purchase the gas springs from McMaster-Carr and chose the 130 lb. size. their part number is 9416K24. They have a 3.15" stroke. They cost $12.40 each. I also purchased the top Ball Joints, part #59935K72 from McMaster.  They cost $6.00 each. I will take pictures of the two mounting parts that I made in my machine shop. They are very simple and could be done several different ways. Just need to be creative.

Subscribed, I will be standing by for further instructions ! Great mod , I am looking forward to the particulars..

Pete

[wighty]

Here are some pictures. I am not good with the camera, so this is the best I was able to come up with. The parts are all so dark. I stuck some white paper in the assembly view for better clarity.
1. The bottom mount is 1.00" Dia Delrin with a 5/16" dia hole through the center so I could use the stock pin. The cross hole is tapped with a thread insert for M6X1.0 for the gas spring to screw into.
2. The top mount is just a 3/8" dia SS rod drilled and tapped thru for a M6X1.0 thread. The length of the top mount had to be a little different on each of the hinge assemblies.
3. The McMaster Ball End was shortened up about .30" and screwed onto the gas spring rod.
4. The factory stamping that goes down thru the factory coil spring was drilled out and removed.
5. A 3/8" dia. hole was drilled in the hinge as shown and a clearance hole for an M6 Screw was drilled on the far side.
I hope this all makes sense and helps.

[wighty]

Pictures 3 and 4

[RICH MUISE]

Great pics and discription...thanks for taking the time to do that for us. I'm going to save it in my favorites list so I'll be able to find it down the road. Looks well plannned out, my only thoughts would be whether or not the threads in the Delrin (tough stuff I know) will hold up over time. If that turns out to be a problem, another ball swivel like the one on top should do the trick, with a pocket machined in the delrin so the swivel could get thru to the cross pin.Thanks again
Rich

[wighty]

The M6 Threads are steel inserts in the Delrin. The Delrin is a good bearing material for the little movement on the 5/16 dia steel pin.

[VwDrvFnd]

So awsome! This is going to get done to my Ranchero!

[RICH MUISE]

Another plus with this modification, for me at least, is eliminating the slotted center piece for the spring means there is nothing extending below the hinge bracket. That makes it easier to run my A/C condenser lines. Much more room.
I think I'll keep that hitch pin I was using to replace the clevis pin. It can be removed without tools, so it would make replacing the lifts easier when the time comes. If I remember, there is enough room to reach down into that area from up top, but trying to remove/replace a cotter pin down there would be a different story. The second pic is before lift installation, and still has the spring's bracket in place.

[wighty]

My secondary reason for making this modification was so I could have more room to run the A/C hoses. No moving parts down there now.

[RICH MUISE]

Have you run your A/C lines yet? I'm still trying to sit down and figure out what I need to get them done.

[wighty]

I have not installed the A/C lines yet, but I did do a mock up to determine where to put the hole in the front radiator support for these lines to pass thru.  I modified the radiator support quite a bit because I had to move the Griffin radiator forward a couple of inches.  I will be back in the shop on Monday, so I can take a couple of pictures for you.

[RICH MUISE]

No hurry. I'm at a stand still until I can locate fittings to adapt or replace the Ford compressor's springlock tubes. Though I found a replacement block with o-ring fittings, but the pic shows the small and big tube reversed from what I have on the Markviii compressor. The info said it was for a Ford FS10 compressor...don't know what that is...I'll find out tommorrow.
Where is the compressor on your motor?

[wighty]

Rich.  I will try to send pictures tomorrow evening.  There are a couple pictures in the Gallery in under construction.  There are two pictures on the second row that were taken before I put the body back on.  It is hard to see the compressor mounting, but at least you can see the general location. My engine is a 351 Cleveland and I put a "Concept One" front pulley system on it so it uses standard fittings.

[wighty]

Rich. Here is a picture of the hole I cut for the A/C lines to pass through.