Another Build Thread - My '32

[34_40]

Hot rodding sure was a lot easier when I was young and didn't care about creature comforts...

Whew... I guess I am still a youngin'..

[rspears]

Whew... I guess I am still a youngin'..

Just wait until you move to New Mexico!

[34_40]

Just wait until you move to New Mexico!

HMmmmm.. a car with no heater or A/C.? in the southwestern desert! Might be ...... interesting? LOL

[J. Robinson]

I haven't been here for a while. Aside from a couple of "honey- do's" I have no real excuse. I was so frustrated with this project that I just walked away from it for about a month. The problem is one I created for myself by doing things out of sequence. Lesson learned - now, do as I say, not as I did - I should have mounted the condenser before I ordered the hood.

After I mounted the radiator I drilled the brackets and mounted the grille shell. That was a few pages ago... After that I measured the distance between the cowl and the grille shell and I ordered a stock length hood top for a '32 Ford. I mounted it and made latch mechanisms, etc., also a few pages ago. Then.., I began installation of the A/C system and that's when the feces collided with the rotary oscillator - the condenser wouldn't fit behind the grille. I bought another condenser, 2 inches shorter and 2 inches narrower, hoping it may solve my dilemma. It didn't. That's when I walked away, before I did something stupid.

After staying away from it for a while and thinking about all the options, I have finally resolved that the best solution to my problem is to move the grille shell forward an inch and lengthen the hood to fit. If I had just done this part BEFORE I bought the hood, I could have ordered one an inch longer - Live and learn! The pics below show where I simply drilled new holes in the mounting brackets to move the shell forward and the resulting gap at the front of the hood.

[36 sedan]

Bummer, but with your skills I'm sure you'll have looking great in no time!!

[Hotrod46]

Hate you have to redo the hood. It's a lot of work to fix something like this. I know the repair will be like it never even happened considering your high level of quality work.

At least I know I'm not the only one that winds up with these kinds of problems. "Well Sh##!!!!", seems to be said a lot more in my shop (to no one in particular) than I want it to.

[34_40]

Good to learn that I am not the only one who has that happen! LOL.

Yeah, we've all done it.

[figure8]

If your hood is stock length maybe you could trade it, or sell it and buy one 1" longer

[J. Robinson]

OK, it's been several days (5 weeks!!) since I did anything. The holidays had to come and go and we've had visitors intermittently. Then I did some work on one of my Electrathon friend's cars, etc., etc. It's always something... I considered selling the hood and replacing it like Figure8 suggested, but no telling how long it might take to find a buyer and then I'd have to order the special length hood and wait. Once I get moving on something I'm not a very patient person, so fixing what I have will be my course of action.

Anyway, a few days after my last post I cut and shaped some 16 gauge steel filler pieces to extend the hood (first pic). The front edge of the hood was folded under, so the finished thickness is a few thousands of an inch over 1/16th of an inch. 16 gauge steel is approximately 1/16th inch thick, so it was a good match. Today I finally got some time to spend in the shop welding the filler pieces in place. I welded them on the bottom side first; spot-stitching about 3/8 inch apart (2nd pic) and then filling in between a few at a time to avoid any serious warping.

After finishing the underside, I flipped the hood halves over and welded the outside. I did it in short sections, moving around randomly again to avoid warping. I neglected to take a picture, but it looked the same as the underside. After all the welding was done I ground the welds flat inside and out, first with a stone wheel and then with a soft disc (3rd pic).

I had to do just a little hammer-off-dolly work to straighten the corners (very minor warpage). A tiny amount of body filler will fix the pits and grinder marks when I get to it. The last pic is the newly extended hood back on the car.

[34_40]

Came out just fine I'd say.

[40FordDeluxe]

That looks nice. Do you plan to extend the small portion of the center hinge so there is no gap there as well?

.

[J. Robinson]

Sorry for the delay in answering. I've been doing too many other things and just haven't spent any time here. Yes, I will either get a longer center hinge or I will fabricate an extended mounting "T bracket" for the front. Whichever I do I will show it here.

I'm in the middle of my Electrathon racing season and building a new car for that plus the wife and I are beginning to remodel a bathroom. I probably won't make much progress on the '32 for a while.