Hood hinges

wighty · 2015-04-02 22:13

I have not been paying attention to this thread for a while. Sorry that I have not responded to the several questions. Rich is right, I do have the gas springs mounted upside down, which is a mistake on my part. The springs are still working good, but they have mostly been holding the hood in the open position as I have been busy with my wiring and getting the new engine tuned and detailed. For me it is not that hard to reach down to the lower mounting shaft, should I need to replace a spring. I will look to see if I can turn the spring over so they will last a little longer. There are usually lots of ways to design and the designs usually get better with each iteration. I must say that I sure do not miss the noisy coil springs.
Wighty

RICH MUISE · 2015-04-02 22:51

Hey wighty...good to hear from you. I was trying to come up with a way to avoid machined parts. I figured if you could get to your rod, you could just unscrew it, that's when I noticed it wasn't the rod that was attached there. I figured if I went with a 5/16 pin and spacers trying to substitute for the machined delrin part, I'd a heck of a time trying to assemble all that stuff without removing the grille to get to it if it ever needed replacing. Kudos again to you for coming up with this idea to begin with.

57 imposter · 2015-04-04 20:14

Rich...Sorry I am so late in getting to this but I have been up to my, you know what, trying to finish a bathroom remodel. It sounds like this conversion has left me in the dust. Its fun to watch an idea grow and expand when more eyes look at it and more minds think about it. I can't even remember exactly how the bottom attachment was made on mine but I know I used an aluminum rod with brass bushings due to the high cost of delrin, in this area Had to buy a 6 foot stick. My shocks are also in upside down {and I knew better} but it would take a complete re-do correct them. If and when I have a problem, I will have to remove the hood to remove the hinges for repair. When I consider my age, I have a feeling by the time they fail, hopefully, they will be someone else's problem..

RICH MUISE · 2015-04-04 22:57

I know how the remodeling projects go...my wife keeps bringing up taking money out of the retirement acount so I can start working on the house again. LOL...it's her account, not like she's waiting for me to do it, and I ain't going to remind her.
Well, I'm glad you confirmed the assembly will be difficult to reach with the hood or grille on, so I may just continue with my experiment to see what I come up with. Thor was here yesterday from Kansas and saved me a little experimenting. He quickly pointed out where I was goint to attach the gas lift would be adding a second pivot point. I would have found out quickly that wouldn't have worked.
Looking at the new points for mounting the hood lift (how many different names do you think we can come up with for this thing?), and the amount of clearance from the inline plane,I can see why some rework might be necessary to turn it right side up. It's also obvious why, for the same reason, Wighty put the top hole where he did to maximize clearance. Hopefully my hardware will be in early next week, and I can proceed on the project.

RICH MUISE · 2015-04-07 22:45

Got one side finished. I'll post some better pics tommorrow of the rectangular tube. Pic 1 is the internally threaded shoulder bolt. As you can see, my lower mount ended up quite lower than wighties...not sure why so much, but doesn't matter. (Edit...whoops, you can't see. see next post for another pic) Since it ended up below the hinge bracket, I wasn't as short on space as I had figured, so could have gotten by with a normal 2" shoulder bolt. or pin.
second pic was locating the down position using the oem spring retainer and pin location. I marked it with masking tape so I could set the hydlaulic lift at this poition when closed. Gotta make sure this one is correct so the hood will close....there's less stroke in these lifts than the oem spring, so the loss has got to come at the open position.
third pic shows the location of the two 1/4 bolts located at the top. Undoing these and the top gas lift ball will allow the unit to be lifted out for easy access to the bottom pin.
fourth pic shows the ball stud with a 5/6-18 thread. I just drilled and tapped the oem bracket.

RICH MUISE · 2015-04-07 22:47

lower pin location. I'm a little confused as to why I'm so much lower at the bottom. I realize I'm using a longer fitting versus no fitting that wighty used. The top mount should be pretty close to the same.
The bushings on lower pin are some 1" long and 1/2" long 5/16 chrome spacers I had in the shop. That leaves about 1/16 slop for the fitting to move around. I was able to put the unit in my vise holding by the the rectangular tube at the bottom, and with a pipe as leverage, pull the arm down into the closed position. No clearance issues where I have it set in either open or closed positions.

VwDrvFnd · 2015-04-08 11:47

Looks Good Rich! I understand now why you are using the square tubing i didn't grasp the concept at first.(ease of replacement). Do you have the part numbers for the Strut ball end and the ball end stud you used?
I really really like that solution instead of using a threaded stud up there. I am not to concerned with having to replace the gas struts so i am thinking now a conbination of what you have done and what whitey did is going to work for me.
I am going to use the stock pin with delrin spacers and an swivel eye at the bottom and one of those ball studs at the top and i think that is going to work good! It's going to be some time before i can pull my car apart to do the mods but i will get some pics when i do the hinge work.

wighty · 2015-04-08 22:38

Your project is looking good Rich, and I can tell that you are having fun with it. Having fun is why we do what we do in building these cars.
Wighty

RICH MUISE · 2015-04-08 23:00

It has been a fun little project. I got the second side almost done this afternoon. I just have to drill and tap for the two retaining screws. Tommorrow I'll get them painted.I can post some pics and dimensions for the rectangular tubing if anybody wants them.
VW.....I bought the M6 assortment of end fittings. It has everything we need with some leftovers for 12.47. McmasterCarr pn. 9416k95 I had also purchased two extra eyelets because I wasn't sure what dia. pin the ones in the assortment were made for. As it turned out, the ones in the assortment were 5/16. The ball studs have a 5/16-18 thread , btw

KYBlueOval · 2015-04-09 06:11

Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2015-04-08 23:00
It has been a fun little project. I got the second side almost done this afternoon. I just have to drill and tap for the two retaining screws. Tommorrow I'll get them painted.I can post some pics and dimensions for the rectangular tubing if anybody wants them.
VW.....I bought the M6 assortment of end fittings. It has everything we need with some leftovers for 12.47. McmasterCarr pn. 9416k95 I had also purchased two extra eyelets because I wasn't sure what dia. pin the ones in the assortment were made for. As it turned out, the ones in the assortment were 5/16. The ball studs have a 5/16-18 thread , btw

Rich .............. yes , I'd very much like to see pictures and dimensions. I've followed this post/thread very closely and have this question, which maybe answered when you post the finished project pictures,........how and where is the square tube secured to the hinge housing at the bottom end?
Are you going to the Pate Swap meet? Is it,or has it been, a good meet for '57 parts, if you know?
Thanks
John

RICH MUISE · 2015-04-09 07:52

VW.....before I forget....I misspoke about being able to use a regular pin at the bottom. There is not enough room because that tube needs to slide up and out of the bracket. That's why I went with the internally threaded shoulder bolt to begin with. even a regulat shoulder bolt with a threaded stud on the end would be too long. A 6-32 x 1/4 button head screw and thin washer has a minimal protrusion.
KY...It is not attached at the bottom. after I got it painted I was going to add a band of rubber to prevent posible rattling or movement. There's not a whole lot of space left at the bottom.
That's why I went with the tubing...strong enogh to provide adequate support with just being attached at the top. Btw, I drilled and tapped those two mounting holes on opposite corners of the tubing. I did that so the bottom of the tube wouldn't rotate on a common centerline.
I'll get some pics and dimensions posted later today.

RICH MUISE · 2015-04-09 08:18

missed one question...yes, I'm going to the Pate swap meet. I go every year. It's probably as good a chance as finding '57 parts as anywhere else(at a swap meet) except the Hershey meet, which I've never been to. It'll be hit or miss as usual for finding '57 stuff....you just have to be persistent when looking for '57 stuff. It'll be about 10 miles, my guess, of walking...it's huge. I bought a near flawless rechromed front bumper there a few years ago from the bumper shop, and last year a really good rechromed grille from them as well.
I'm meeting AcrylicMan/Larry there on Friday.
The best part of the Pate, imo, is the quantity of new part vendors along side the thousands of individuals selling the old stuff.

RICH MUISE · 2015-04-09 11:53

pics and further info may be delayed a few days...I'm thinking of heading off to Oklahoma City for the nsra show...suppose to be 71 and sunny tommorrow.
edit...change that to...."I'm off for Oklahoma City" Will post on Saturday.

KYBlueOval · 2015-04-09 19:32

Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2015-04-09 08:18
missed one question...yes, I'm going to the Pate swap meet. I go every year. It's probably as good a chance as finding '57 parts as anywhere else(at a swap meet) except the Hershey meet, which I've never been to. It'll be hit or miss as usual for finding '57 stuff....you just have to be persistent when looking for '57 stuff. It'll be about 10 miles, my guess, of walking...it's huge. I bought a near flawless rechromed front bumper there a few years ago from the bumper shop, and last year a really good rechromed grille from them as well.
I'm meeting AcrylicMan/Larry there on Friday.
The best part of the Pate, imo, is the quantity of new part vendors along side the thousands of individuals selling the old stuff.

Rich........thanks for the reply. Now, I understand the bottom attachment, or the lack of a bottom attachment
Pictures etc. would be greatly appreciated.
I've gone to the Pate Swap meet many times in the past, but I was looking for '33 Ford parts then.
If you have never been to the NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, it is a great event. Usually about 10, 000 cars.
John

RICH MUISE · 2015-04-12 22:00

Finally got back at it. Here's a pic of the tube labeled with dimensions from the bottom. I did it this way because I had cut mine to 8 1/2 long before I realized they were going to be sticking out the bottom. If you cut yours at 9", they'll be closer to flush up top, but either way is ok. I got both painted and installed. If you need anything else, let me know.
To form the side that is angled out, I just put the tube in a vise and used a prybar to bend it out. I then used an adjustible wrench to grab the side and give it the twist it needed. Back and forth a few times, but pretty easy to do.
Don't forget you need one left and one right.

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Hood hinges