1956 F100 Angry Bird

Thanks CC - hadn't thought of that one. Do you mean like a center bulkhead down the middle with spokes to the corner?

Also needing to brace the outside portion of the hood as well. It sprung out of square too.

John

Yes sir.. I think you can do similar for both... although if we could get ZZRodder to weigh in I think He's got some mad fab skills and may have some other ideas....

Yeah, and he's just across the line in BC. I only live 1 mile from the border!

He works so darn fast I could probably just go for a donut at Tim Hortons and it would be ready when I returned.

jclars said:

Yeah, and he's just across the line in BC. I only live 1 mile from the border!

He works so darn fast I could probably just go for a donut at Tim Hortons and it would be ready when I returned.

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HAHAAHAAA[cl

Well, summer projects slowed me down, but in the meantime, I visited a fellow who was reinforcing some curved gull wing doors on a Cheeta shell he nabbed from somewhere (yeah, the Chevy answer to the Cobra, back in the day).

He mentioned he was bending 1" conduit for reinforcing the compound curves and it sure looked like a possible solution. So got myself some conduit and a bending tool and voila - the ideal stiffener for this application.

Confirmation came when I cut the spot welds loose and the edges stayed put!

So I know, why, why why?

Well, I still want the open hood look, but like the curves added by the hood. The hood outer shell helped give the appearance I wanted while allowing open engine viewing. But what to do in weather or for long trips?

The solution was to use welded barrel hinges that allow the two hood shells (outer and inner) to be separated by one person. Likewise, the outer shell is pinned at the corners, rather than using stock hinges.

I am considering painting over some of the faux rust with red oxide on the outer shell and flat black over most of the clam shell. Maybe expose some of the color and rust with light sanding. Lots of filler was exposed with the spot welding on the conduit.

Rest assured, the hood was a worn out piece that made it a little more difficult, as it was fatigued in all the wrong places, but it eased my mind to cut into a less than ideal hood specimen for this experiment.

Oh, and the outer clam shell will be a good pattern/form for a clear plexiglas or lexan option if that ever comes back into play.

John L.

Nice curves and topless! That's the best of both worlds right there.

Great solution, I hope you used a heavy duty hinge... I used some cheap ones before and they bent on me, lesson learned the hard way for me.

that turned out really sweet!

They are the weldable type barrel hinge. I used them on my wife's horse stall doors, and the horses lean against them, so their strength is not a problem.

What was a problem was getting them square to each other on a compound curve! I also reinforced the lip by spot welding in another 18 ga piece along the underside edge. (you can see it on the underside pic)

Now I need to figure out an invisible handle, as there is nowhere to grab onto the clam shell, except at the seam with my fingernails. Maybe a cable loop at the pins would not be too visible, as I may be adding a cable there anyway.

Thanks for the comments!

John L.

Snake Farm said:

Nice curves and topless! That's the best of both worlds right there.

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Best in many worlds...

Maybe that's why I'm attracted to curvy, voluptuous


cars!

"finish coat" with a little faux rust showing through! But I miss seeing the engine!!!

jclars said:

"finish coat" with a little faux rust showing through! But I miss seeing the engine!!!

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Is it a removable piece? That's always an option. Or, since you now know how to make it, plexiglass or lexan would work too.

You can use the new insert as the template for some lexan. Lay the sheet over it and start warming it up with heat lamps and heat gun until it sags to the shape of the buck..[P

I like the looks better with the hood on. Shows all the curves better, IMHO.

Over the Christmas holiday, I added electric windows. I know, "No Chrome, no Comfort". That went out the window...

But the new felts and channels have produced a vehicle with absolutely no rattles or squeaks.

Also, I entertained some Canadian MG enthusiasts, acting as a staging area for a parts exchange - something from my meeker, more genteel life as a LBC (little british car) past. However, these folks were trading in smallish V-8's for their MG's, so a hint of the dark side.

In exchange for the use of my convenient intercontinental location, the fellow from Kelowna, BC who set it up, agreed to do a photo shoot of my truck while we waited for all the parties to converge. Here's the result.

jclars said:

Over the Christmas holiday, I added electric windows. I know, "No Chrome, no Comfort". That went out the window...

But the new felts and channels have produced a vehicle with absolutely no rattles or squeaks.

Also, I entertained some Canadian MG enthusiasts, acting as a staging area for a parts exchange - something from my meeker, more genteel life as a LBC (little british car) past. However, these folks were trading in smallish V-8's for their MG's, so a hint of the dark side.

In exchange for the use of my convenient intercontinental location, the fellow from Kelowna, BC who set it up, agreed to do a photo shoot of my truck while we waited for all the parties to converge. Here's the result.

Click to expand...

Nice photos! (From another who went down the Brit-car road of error. )

Gorgeous! I'm not a big oval fan, but that is my favorite body style of the Ford line up of trucks!

I like Fords, and little British cars, too. Don't fot in them, but I have the windshield and top from a Midget that is going to make one of my future projects a bit different.

jclars, Do any of your associates have a need for a AH 3k deck lid? I happened onto one a while back. Cheaper than E-bay.

jclars said:

Also, I entertained some Canadian MG enthusiasts, acting as a staging area for a parts exchange - something from my meeker, more genteel life as a LBC (little british car) past. However, these folks were trading in smallish V-8's for their MG's, so a hint of the dark side.

Click to expand...

I grew up in my Dad's MG resto shop (30's-50's MG's) so I know that world well...

Jclars when it all went out the window you did make sure you hit
the down switch first didn't you ....ha nice pics