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hood hinges

58K views 144 replies 17 participants last post by  idrivejunk 
#1 ·
Having some trouble coming up with a hinge that'll do what I want.

Car is a 84 monte carlo ss

Hood is a 6" vfn cowl that goes all the way to the windshield. This was a pin on hood but has been made into a bolt on.

I need a hinge that when opening will bring the hood a few inches forward than tilt up. If I could wrap my head around exactly how the hinges work with the multiple bars maybe I could make something.

Just figures I would ask here.
 
#84 ·
Yes Brian, I have spent sitting and looking at the hinge when mounted and tried various modified arms to see how they influence the movement.
The number of times I have removed the unit from the firewall and then reattached I have lost count of.

Since my hinge design is already in the laser guys CAD system just going back and sitting with him and offering my feedback should help us both determine what will work best.

From the little that I know, the CAD system can show the radius movement with dotted lines of all the arms and by simple length adjustments of arms and pivot centers we should be able to determine what works best.

I am sure it will be some kind of trade off.

I have now implemented my first thought above and shortened the base bracket back 6mm towards the firewall which in my view will reduce the length of the tail which is binding as it lifts.
The shorter tail should go some way to making other adjustments possible and give us a little room to move.

I feel that I am close to a solution but need more skilled help.:thumbup:
 
#85 ·
I've visited the laser guy today and we had a play with the hinge and a sit down chat about how to improve my current situation.
He seems to think that my 2 ideas are workable and that the 6mm shortening will definitely help.
We have settled on looking at doubling the length of the fish plate, which seems at first look to satisfy the rear/tail end lift/clearance issues.
I left him looking for a solution to clawing back a lot of my front hood tilt which appears to have been lost with the other 2 improvements.
The hood tilt was at about 43 degrees and we are now down to about 20 degrees which is pretty bad.
I am hoping for 30 degrees or better, so fingers crossed again...
 
#86 ·
Sorry folks, I've been off the air here as I am still waiting for my laser guy and I have also updated to a newer computer.
Both results of actions are out of my control and I have spend a good number of hours trying to get my files etc into some sort of order.
I expect to get my laser cut parts by weeks end if the Gods are with me...
Boy that would be a first. hahhaha!!!
 
#87 ·
Finally got my hinges back and need to drill and assemble them.
It is looking to be not that simple as now as I refine them I am discovering other small adjustments that I feel would be advisable to deal with at this point.

The refinements basically will consist of grinding and filing on the bench to ensure full movement and clearance is achieved.
Part of my current problem is that I have lost nearly 50% of my hood lift angle and I need to claw some of that back by doing these refinements.

More pic's soon.
 
#93 ·
I am doing a Model A job and have not reached the point of ready to install it, but boss got us this fancy high dollar 3-way opening hood latch kit-

https://www.haganauto.com/product_p/hdh2832.htm

It may provide some food for thought on your car, if you care to study the design.

The only thing I see on his car is the height of the sides. Just wondering if they just might not clear upon opening/closing.
 
#89 · (Edited)
I am probably not really the guy to ask right now since my hood has not been completed and is not a proven success yet.
However, when I started evaluating a hood and how it would be hinged, my first preference at that time was to have a simple removable hood probably as you started off with.
I quickly came to the realisation that a hood needed to be hinged.

My first idea was to hinge it on one side and have it lift up from the other side and if lucky I could possibly get that idea working so I could lift it from either side and easily remove it completely if required.
I still think that method is best.

In my case I could not get my head around that idea so late into my build as it was likely to interfere with other finished stuff.
Had I given this style of hood much earlier consideration I would have used that method.

So, when considering my other options, I came to the conclusion that hinging from either the grille end or the firewall end were my last real options.
I saw several really good setups hinged from the grille end and much preferred them to the firewall option, but again as my build is basically completed and I would find it difficult to build in extra hinge supports etc, so I found myself painted into a corner with either settling for a removable hood as you have now or a hinged from the firewall.

Once I had worked that all out, it was a matter of finding a suitable hinge method that I thought I liked and would work and do the job.
What I did discover was that hinges ain't hinges and there are just so many versions and variations that trying to work out which one would work best for my set of circumstances was going to be tricky.

Firstly, taking a hinge from another car can/could work but it seemed that it always meant accepting things like size and looks that may not suit the small engine bay of a hot rod..
As you know from reading my thread, that my hood project in the early part was dominated by getting a hinge worked out.

I saw some common and easy to acquire used hinges and also some more specific hot rod hinges while surfing eBay and the like, which helped me home in on a style that I thought could work.
When I saw what reproduction and fancy hot rod products were going to cost, I decided to choice a hinge principle that would work and then scale it down to suit my needs. So custom make my own and so that is what I have attempted to do.

Hinges can be a difficult things to get your head around in the first instance, since they are something we just take for granted and have very little to do with mostly.

Given my time over or on a similar build next time I would definitely take steps to incorporate hinging of a hood much earlier, even if I chose later not to use a hood.
My first choice remains the double side lift hood that is most practical IMHO and is easily removed.

If you think that you could make that hood hinge with your car at the stage it is now, without to much grief and/or doing damage to your car that would be my recommendation.

Feel free to ask more questions should you feel the need.

Something that has sat in the back of my mind since building my hood and hinges that I remain curious as to how early 1960's Falcon and Ranchero hood hinges may have worked for me and avoided the route I have taken.
They are quite slender in size and shape, light and easily modified from what I recall of them in the past.
I am talking about the ones with no springs on them...
 
#90 ·
Well, I am back on track again now, my latest hinge appears to be about right and seems to capable of working as required now.
It sure has been a long time coming but worth the wait.
Next step now that I have both hinges temporarily attached to the firewall and level etc, I now need to work out how I will attach them to the inner skin of my hood.
Tomorrow I plan to start cutting out some small pieces of metal to create the attaching faces and see where it leads me.

All that tinkering and filing etc has paid off and the hinges have a nice firm but smooth movement to them which is a great outcome.
 

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#91 ·
I have made some reportable progress although the time was greater than it may look, to have worked out and produced what I have in pic's.

I have a plate that attaches to the hinge arm and a sheet metal boxing that will form the contact point to the hinge once welded to the inner hood sheet metal.

Good, bad or indifferent this is now the direction I am heading in and I hope it will be the correct choice.
 

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#96 ·
idrivejunk, your food for thought is very appropriate and has been on my mind for a while now.
It is probably the last remaining question mark I have with this project.

Should things go real bad in that regard, I have another hinge design that I could fall back on (more complex & not so pretty), but for now I am running with my gut feelings.

Still the money I've spend to date, is like nothing compared to the prices of the hinges that can be purchased and I also have a hood made in my out goings as well.
I admit to spending many hours of my own time in place of spending the cash, but I have learned a lot and mostly it has been fun and rewarding getting to where I am now.

Worst case scenario, I don't end up with a hood which is where I was when I started out.
I only wish I had factored a hood into my build much earlier...
 
#99 ·
Well, what an adventure, it has been a slow struggle.
No pic's to post this time, but I can tell you I am now in 2 minds whether to keep at it or walk away.
I attached the inner panel the hinge pockets and then to the hinges and tried lifting it.
Well, it just touches my firewall lip at the rear and wants to take paint off.

Disappointing to say the least.
I know I am real close, so I added a washer spacer between the hinge and the pocket and it kinder clears but not what I was hoping for.

I have now removed the hood from the hinges and cut the pockets out in the hope that I can do some tweaking and get the clearance I need.
Boy, it is close but no cigar just yet...

I am going to persist for now and give it my best shot since it seems so near, but otherwise I am at somewhat of a loss to know what else to do.
Obviously my rejig of the hinges was a get success and I almost hit the target with the mods.

More to follow when I cool down...
 
#100 ·
Sounds to me like you are close enough that your mind may pop out a solution at any time. Let it stew for a spell and you'll think of something to try. Allow me to strike the flint in your direction a couple more times and see if any sparks fly.

Since I last visited this conversation, I have had some additional thoughts. One about the other guy's Plymouth but another which, crazy as it may sound, might be a seed. Relies again on a tad of hood flexibility. I will drop what I have now...

What if, at the place it rubs the firewall upon opening, there was a little, perhaps spring loaded, plastic roller wheel at the contact point? Could it ramp the hood over that spot without hurting it? Could roller theory be applied at the front corners of the Plymouth with the long hood sides? My vision has the roller(s) completely hidden with panels shut.

Variant of idea seed: Use shaped nylon blocks attached to both panels as sliding ramps instead of rollers.

Bonus thought about corners:

Could there be downward, angled spikes at hood corners that engage cones in the body... that would rest with panels closed normally but as soon as the hinge begins to open, the spike and cone rigs would flex the hood corners out just enough to clear and for just enough of the travel?

Any ponder fodder in that? Can sketch or further develop or debunk the theories.:drunk:
 
#101 ·
Would you believe I left something out? :confused:

You know what suicide locks are. Imagine some with roller tips. (Heck, weld a roller lifter to the end of the rod and sink it into tubing in the body) So you pull your latch, hood pops ajar. Now you extend the rollers with the suicide lock mechanism, lock, and open hood. To close, set it down on the rollers, retract rollers, push down to latch.

Just another germ.
 
#103 ·
idrivejunk, I think you are on to something with your comments.
I am gpoing to take a closer look at what you suggest when I get the courage to face it again.

I have been drawn to a similar conclusion with intent of lifting the hinge arms out of the rest position slightly, so the forward movement commences immediately.
Right now, there is a kind of dead spot it seems just for a couple of millimetres of initial movement where the hinge seems to be in limbo so to speak as it commences its path of movement and rides too low to clear the firewall lip edge.

I had to walk away and I am a pretty patient individual, but I needed to avoid being drawn in by the problem and grasping at straws which could have lead me to do some dumb stuff.
So I am now in a cooling off period just mulling over my next steps and listening to others view points.
I am just so close, but finding the tweak that will get me over the line is killing me right now...

Thanks for your continued interest.
 
#104 · (Edited)
Hinges can really do your head in once you really get into them.
I will persist for now, but do have a plan B, which is to use another hinge design (drawings) which I purchased from a guy in Canada for little money.
Only problem IMHO is that it does not look pretty as it has super lift and sticks up oddly when open.
Looks kinder fragile, like a scissor lift effect or could from the look of it end up with the problem at the front rather than the rear......
Plan C is to scrap the hinge and just tie down the hood and make it hand removeable which really goes against the grain in my book...
I am not all that competitive, but I hate being beaten when I am so close to the finish line.
 

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#105 ·
Fictional character Metal


Well men, I think I am all tweaked out.
My latest hinge pocket tweaking has gone some way to improving the lift motion.
It is more obvious now that the peak of the hood arc at the cowl end is the issue.
As the hood rotates up the arc is moving from the horizonal more into the vertical plane and hence needs space towards the windshield end.

It is so damn close now that if I put a nylon washer in its travel path is rides on the washer and then clears.
The washer is protecting paint scratching for now.
idrivejunk from this Forum had earlier suggested a small nylon wheel or skid wedge for that edge of the hood.
It did not make much sense to me then, but now it does.

I need more thinking time as this is turning into brain surgery...
I really don't have anything in the actual hinge or hood left to tweak now.
I think if the straight seal lip in the cowl/firewall sheet metal had a curve or bow in it at about the center line of the hood instead of being straight, it probably would saved my bacon and cleared.

Pre-load is definitely a part solution that I at this late stage will not be able to take advantage of.
It sure is something to consider for others following in my foot steps.

Fictional character Metal


Motor vehicle Auto part Vehicle Fuel tank Car
 
#106 ·
"Skid Wedge"! :thumbup: Thank you.

If a nylon washer makes it OK for now, let it. Sidestep that and go to another thing. When you come back to hood hinges later, it will look better and you may see then that you pretty much have it nailed now anyway. I get the same way, believe me.:rolleyes: Many times now. Always looks better after disengaging focus from "the thing" whatever it may be, for a spell.;) Kick it into neutral and just roll.
 
#107 ·
I note that many vehicles of the 1940's and 50's with high arched hoods had a kind of V shape or taper to the center along the back edge of their hoods, probably as a means of avoiding exactly what I am experiencing now.

I've have decided to take a day or two off and do some gardening instead and mix with non car friends as a means of clearing my head for now...
 
#108 ·
Well folks, its been a while.
Between life, a spell of hot weather and a lack of motivation, I have now got a new idea and have started implementing it.

Well, 2 ideas actually;

1st is a slightly modified hinge design, nothing drastic, but it appears that it may offer some extra lift at the rear.

2nd I have decided to do a mock up on my old wooden engine bay buck and use it to make any hinge position tweaks.

Attached are a couple of pic's of the hinges in place as per the real engine bay, with the exception, I have moved the hinges in from the outer edge by 1" and raised them 3/8".

I can not give a detail explanation for this move, other than to say I am going with my gut right now.

Fingers crossed again...
 

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#109 ·
Sorry for no updates, but I've been off the radar with a really bad bout of Bronchitis.
It has taken some time to get over, although I am still not fully recovered yet, hence nothing much has happened other than my new Tesla electric home storage battery was delivered yesterday and installed into position.
It is still to be wired in and commissioned which is still about 10 days away.

I've been waiting for this delivery for about 8 weeks or more and I live in the hope that once operational, it will come close to eliminating my power needs from the grid.
Once it is up and running I will post my thoughts about how it is performing...
 
#110 ·
To all the Forum members who care to take an interest in my project work, may I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I've remained off the radar as I have been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which has been quite debilitating to say the least.
It came on after my bout of Bronchitis.
I am determined to beat it and get back to my old self asap...
 
#112 ·
Well guys, I am back and getting into it.
It has been a tough time but I am over it for now and ready to make some progress.

After numerous attempts to get a hinge location relating to the firewall and have a clear lift, it seems I have not been successful.
In the meantime, I have come down with a case of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome CFS which has been no fun and taken away most of my project motivation.

However, I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel with this CFS.
It has been a challenge to say the least, but have been looking a round the forum on good days.

The good news is that I have also spent my time wisely and discovered a different style hinge which I decided to try after many mock ups of the original hinge I made with no success.

When I say no success, I really mean not enough improvement for it to work without scraping or binding.
The alternative hinge I plan to use was discovered quite by accident and had been under my arm all this time as it is being used in a console to the side of my TV chair. I rarely open it but was looking for the lost remote controller and opened the lid and the penny dropped.

I thought that discovery was going to be too easy, if it worked.
I took the pair off my console much to my wife's disgust and installed them and made new mounting brackets.
I could not be that lucky of course as they did not work either, but I could see their potential and have started modifying them to see if I could get them to move slightly differently and that is where I am right now.
If this fails I will definitely walk away from the idea of a firewall hinge.

Stay posted...
 

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#113 ·
The above picture is the hinge I plan to use/modify now.
Since it had no brand name etc on it, I thought I'd never find any information about it.

However the power of the internet and the right choice of search words finally provided me with this picture which is identical to what I had in my console.

I still don't know who makes them or where they are made, but I did end finding a supplier/agent who has them in stock.
They are mainly used in caravans and RV's as a hinge for a bench seat that has a lift up lid that has a storage compartment below it.
No need buy a pair for now until I am sure they will or wont work as required.
 
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