[Riot Racing]

I was thinking about welding the two halves of my stock hood together. There is a "decorative" piece that holds the two halves. So, I was going to cut sections of this piece off and weld. Eventually i will remove the entire joining piece to have a complete weld. Then i can grind the welds down make a nice smooth transition.
In this sample picture you can see that metal piece that mates the two hood pieces together. It looks like this owner welded the "mating" piece to the two halves of the hood instead of completely deleting this piece.(not my car)


I want to know if maybe the two halves of the hood were not welded together for some reason? Maybe to allow SOME flex in the hood?
What do you think?

[OneMoreTime]

Probably because of the shape of the hood it had to be made in 2 pieces..If i were to do this I woulde start with having the pieces securely clamped together and tack welding them together..once they are secure then do the finish weld using the backstepping method.. Patience is king to keep the heat down so you do not warp the workpiece..

Sam

[matt167]

the center strip does not hold the hood togther. just covers up the seam... '49-'54 Chevy hoods were all 2 peice... the hood itself is riveted togther on the flange under the hood IIRC. the center strip is sort of crimped into place, but can be removed without cutting it.. just remove the strip and stitch weld it, and finish it up with some filler

[boatbob2]

HI,i have probably seen 20- 49 to 54 hoods welded,,,and EVERY ONE was warped,,,you better be VERY careful,use either a TIG,or MIG,I would NOT try to gas weld it,,, weld about 1/8 inch at a time,about every 6 inches,then AFTER its cool,go back and weld every 3 inches,in other words,space the welds out,dont try to put a nice long bead of welding on the hood,or you will just be another guy with a warped hood.

[fordSR]

Originally Posted by boatbob2

HI,i have probably seen 20- 49 to 54 hoods welded,,,and EVERY ONE was warped,,,you better be VERY careful,use either a TIG,or MIG,I would NOT try to gas weld it,,, weld about 1/8 inch at a time,about every 6 inches,then AFTER its cool,go back and weld every 3 inches,in other words,space the welds out,dont try to put a nice long bead of welding on the hood,or you will just be another guy with a warped hood.

I'm with boatbob on this one. I've also seen many that are warped, but I had an opportunity once to give it a try. I'm thinking.....I'm a pretty good welder and own a TIG machine.......no problem! All the other hoods were welded by hacks, and I can do it. Well I learned a lesson in humility and I will NEVER attempt to weld another two piece hood again. You might have better luck.

Jim

[41'srfun]

Originally Posted by Riot Racing

I was thinking about welding the two halves of my stock hood together. There is a "decorative" piece that holds the two halves. So, I was going to cut sections of this piece off and weld. Eventually i will remove the entire joining piece to have a complete weld. Then i can grind the welds down make a nice smooth transition.
In this sample picture you can see that metal piece that mates the two hood pieces together. It looks like this owner welded the "mating" piece to the two halves of the hood instead of completely deleting this piece.(not my car)


I want to know if maybe the two halves of the hood were not welded together for some reason? Maybe to allow SOME flex in the hood?
What do you think?

I welded the hood seam on my 41' Ford as well as the seams in the 2 piece fenders and then I welded the rear fenders to the body and filled all the seams. I also welded and filled the hood seam on my 54 Chevy pick-up. I am not a pro body man by any means, but I have been welding for a long time. If you do decide to fill the seam on your hood you will have to have a whole lot of patience. A mig welder is the only way to do it in my opinion. A tig welder would build too much heat and cause a lot more warpage on a panel like a hood.
When I welded the seams in my front fenders of my 41' I know I took over 2 weeks doing it in the afternoons by just welding one small tack at a time and letting the metal cool so I could touch it with my bare hand before I would place another tack next to it. I did skip around the seams a lot too, but I never let the metal get very hot at all in any one place and I had almost no warpage at all.
If you don't have a lot of patience on a project like this you would be better off not trying it, because you might destroy the hood if you get it too hot.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by 41'srfun

When I welded the seams in my front fenders of my 41' I know I took over 2 weeks doing it in the afternoons by just welding one small tack at a time and letting the metal cool so I could touch it with my bare hand before I would place another tack next to it. I did skip around the seams a lot too, but I never let the metal get very hot at all in any one place and I had almost no warpage at all.
If you don't have a lot of patience on a project like this you would be better off not trying it, because you might destroy the hood if you get it too hot.

Don't read this and think he is exaggerating or think he must be crazy or what ever, read what 41srfun said, TWO Weeks to weld the fenders up. He is NOT joking, if you want to ruin that hood push it, weld it up faster because you don't have the patience, weld up up faster because you think he is wrong, and you WILL warp that hood.

Brian

[302 Z28]

My friend who built his 51 Merc at the same time I was working on my 34 vastly modified the Merc hood. He both channeled it and reshaped the front of it to make it lower. It took him no less than a month of fitting and welding just on that hood. It is a very time consuming process that takes patience and skill. Try and rush it and you will have a mess on your hands, but it can be done.

Vince

[Riot Racing]

I'm gonna do it! I am a patient person and I can take my time and not let it bother me. Thanks for all the pointers. It was very helpful.

[boatbob2]

Hi,good luck welding the hood,MIG only,space youre welds at least 6 inches apart,only TACK GOOD,dont try to run a bead,hope you have good luck,BE HONEST,show us the photos after youre finished,,,i promise i wont laugh,,(i dont know about the rest of the hotrodders site guys)

[deadbodyman]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

Don't read this and think he is exaggerating or think he must be crazy or what ever, read what 41srfun said, TWO Weeks to weld the fenders up. He is NOT joking, if you want to ruin that hood push it, weld it up faster because you don't have the patience, weld up up faster because you think he is wrong, and you WILL warp that hood.

Brian

Thats pretty darn good ,it takes me two just looking at it to figure out where to start...
Whatever you do ,leave the flanges and rivits /welds that hold the two halves together..Thats where all its strength is...If thats removed it'll have to be reinforced some other way or it'll buckle and look like a bird bath in the middle of your hood the first time its closed.
Unless your very good with a hammer and dolly.....and tig sheetmetal every day, I wouldn't tig ....mig would be the only way to go....

[Riot Racing]

Originally Posted by deadbodyman

Thats pretty darn good ,it takes me two just looking at it to figure out where to start...
Whatever you do ,leave the flanges and rivits /welds that hold the two halves together..Thats where all its strength is...If thats removed it'll have to be reinforced some other way or it'll buckle and look like a bird bath in the middle of your hood the first time its closed.
Unless your very good with a hammer and dolly.....and tig sheetmetal every day, I wouldn't tig ....mig would be the only way to go....

Definitely going to MIG weld it! I won't pull out the rivits!
I will make sure to post pictures when I begin. I need to get rid of the engine sitting in my work area so I have enough room to maneuver around the hood.

Thanks for the advice.

[dinger]

Would this be better welded on the car? Just curious. Vince, you have anymore pics of that Merc? A great looking car! Dan

[deadbodyman]

When I weld hoods I prefer them on a folding horse ,its easier to get to and everything is in reach.
Something that has worked for me has been covering everything with wet towels except about 2" where the seam is.
Something I would do is replace the rivits one at a time with a good spot weld
I'm working on a two piece hood right now.

[Shelby1]

Originally Posted by deadbodyman

When I weld hoods I prefer them on a folding horse ,its easier to get to and everything is in reach.
Something that has worked for me has been covering everything with wet towels except about 2" where the seam is.
Something I would do is replace the rivits one at a time with a good spot weld
I'm working on a two piece hood right now.

DB the wet towels brought back some old memorys ,in my early teens I worked after school at the Ford dealer body shop,sweeping the floor carrying out trash e.t.c.. I got to help out the resident master body man ( he was in his 60's and had worked in body work all of his working life,so I guess Master was correct)and he put together three roof pieces to make a complete roof for a 49-50 Ford and that was my job keeping all of the towels wet and handing him stuff .He was a grouch and no one in the shop wanted to work with him. I stuck it out got to be good friends with him. He taught me how to work metal ,how to gas weld and how to do lead body work.....and how to cuss when things did not go right !
Kenny