intro....

[Ghostrider 67]

Project "YANKEE EXPRESS"

Hello all, I am a disabled combat veteran, retired Army, 30 years, and I am building a resto-mod '67 Coronet street/strip beast.
I have made many mods to this car and am not done yet. Right now I am fitting the 2002 Audi A6 Quattro dash and interior into the Dodge.
I have an issue with the hood though. I sliced away the first 8 inches of the stock hood and made it into a stationary front section and the rest of the hood to tilt open to the front.
I need hinges to tilt this heavy thing forward while missing the rear lip of the front section, think 69 Camaro, and I cant figure out whether I need to go up first and then tilt or straight tilt.
The rear lip of the front section and front lip of the rear section are 3/16 gap, and about 1 1/8th deep. It will be held open by gas lifts.
Suggestions?

[Jon]

Hi Ghostrider 67 - welcome to HomemadeTools.net

I'm going to move your question into the Tools in Progress subforum so you can get some good replies.

[Irish-jr]

Ghostrider 67-

Or should your avatar be Gluttonforpunishment 67? If I understand it right, you want to make the hood operate like a '57 Ford, is that right? The standard geometry for hood hinges moves the effective pivot away from the gap as the hood rises. I just looked on eBay and there is a set of '57 Ford hood hinges for $50. It might be good to purchase those for a system that you could model or maybe modify the mounting to make it look pretty on your Mopar. Those hinges have the springs built in, but, again, the geometry is what you need to emulate.

As an aside, I remember my father (at his garage in Cleveland) hating those forward-tilting hoods because filling the radiator was a pain in the tush!

PM me if you want to talk directly.

Jim Ireland, AKA Irish Jr.

[split window]

Project "YANKEE EXPRESS"

Hello all, I am a disabled combat veteran, retired Army, 30 years, and I am building a resto-mod '67 Coronet street/strip beast.
I have made many mods to this car and am not done yet. Right now I am fitting the 2002 Audi A6 Quattro dash and interior into the Dodge.
I have an issue with the hood though. I sliced away the first 8 inches of the stock hood and made it into a stationary front section and the rest of the hood to tilt open to the front.
I need hinges to tilt this heavy thing forward while missing the rear lip of the front section, think 69 Camaro, and I cant figure out whether I need to go up first and then tilt or straight tilt.
The rear lip of the front section and front lip of the rear section are 3/16 gap, and about 1 1/8th deep. It will be held open by gas lifts.
Suggestions?

Ghostrider: Look up 54-56 Ford F100 reverse hood kits. Many sites sell them and you can get an idea of what is required. Basically the mechanism pops the hood up and then it can be tilted upward. Keep in mind that the length of the tilt determines how much power (spring) it takes to lift the unit. The ford kit utilizes a torsion bar for lifting I think.

[junkyardjeff]

I would also say 57 to 59 Ford hinges and there are companies who sell hinges to do that but not sure where to look.

[blinn8656]

Project "YANKEE EXPRESS"

Hello all, I am a disabled combat veteran, retired Army, 30 years, and I am building a resto-mod '67 Coronet street/strip beast.
I have made many mods to this car and am not done yet. Right now I am fitting the 2002 Audi A6 Quattro dash and interior into the Dodge.
I have an issue with the hood though. I sliced away the first 8 inches of the stock hood and made it into a stationary front section and the rest of the hood to tilt open to the front.
I need hinges to tilt this heavy thing forward while missing the rear lip of the front section, think 69 Camaro, and I cant figure out whether I need to go up first and then tilt or straight tilt.
The rear lip of the front section and front lip of the rear section are 3/16 gap, and about 1 1/8th deep. It will be held open by gas lifts.
Suggestions?

Ghostrider, Welcome my brother. Answering your question: I would look into a 1990,s big buick hood release and hinge setup or a Bmw They both work about the same. When you unlock the hood it will raise in the front and slide forward allowing it to be lifted in front and over the the front grill. As a hot rodder you know this will take some modifications to make it work properly. I hope this helped a little. Good luck with your project. Time is free, patience is essential.

[60jerry]

This is something I haven't tried. The gaps front and rear seem wide enough for direct tilt if the depth (thickness) of the portion of the hood that is rising isn't so much that it scrapes on the way up. I would make that edge with a pinchweld look like the edge of a door or hood sides. The thinner the edge, the more easily it will rise without contacting the stationary part. Take a look at early (1963-'66 Mopar A-body car hinges. Very simple and easy to work with. I'm not familiar with the Coronet hinges but I suspect they are similar to Dart/Valiant hinges. You don't need something as complicated as the Camaro hinge since you are using a gas support. You've probably gone through all of this in your head already, so my comments may be of little help. I'm currently dealing with getting a hood to work properly on an old Studebaker where the hood must move front to rear while rising. The edge clearance issue isn't quite as confining as your project, but yours seems easier based on what I gleaned from your description.

[hays]

Ditto on 57 to 58 hood hinges easer to modify then start from scrtch

[Uztawuz]

mid year corvette might work , don't know if the extra weight of a metal hood would be an issue, but the vette hoods are different over the years and you've seven generations to choose from.

[nixrox]

Hi: I am a journeyman mechanic and ex-military as well. Regarding your hood problem - It would depend on how much space you have at the front and how structurally strong it is? I don't imagine it would be any more than 5 or 6 inches. Then again how much do you want the hood to swing up and out of the way? I just finished dismantling a 2002 Honda Civic and the rear trunk has some pretty hefty hinge assemblies that mount flush on the front and swing straight up and a bit forward. It would probably give you enough room to make a number of adjustment. If your hood is very heavy you could also put in some rear hatch hydraulic spring lifters to make it more manageable.