The power brake & hydraulic clutch m/c & battery location keep me from installing stock hood springs on my 49 Ford F!. I have the outer hinges mounted and a fabricated rod up front to hold the hood open, but without the inner hinge/springs the rear of the hood rattles on rough roads. There's about a 1/4" movement at the hinge pivots that lets the rear of the hood move up/down. I'm fine using the rod up front to hold it open, but need some kind of spring(?) mechanism to hold the back of the hood tight when closed. Does anyone have suggestions for a simple fix? I'm going to browse the local pik-n-pull & see if anything there gives me a revelation, but thought I'd check here in case someone here has solved a similar problem.

 

Pic of your setup would help

 

I'll snap some pictures tomorrow & try to research how to post them.

 

Can't figure out how to post or attach pictures -- probably because I'm older than my truck.

 

OK, I think I found the method to post pictures:



The outside hinges allow me to open/close the hood & it keeps alignment fine when closed, but there's just enough slop in the pivot bolts & rivets that the rear of the hood rattles up/down on rough roads.

 

How about installing some struts commonly found on SUV rear glass and some wagons? You'll have to fabricate some brackets on the hood brace and the cowl. I'm sure that the "new" struts positioned in similar fashion as the original brackets will keep your hood closed tight in the center. Plus, the struts will also help with holding the hood in the up position.

 

I know you don't want to hear it, but maybe you could move a couple of things and get the spring hinges back in. Also, I think I have read on the forum of people reworking the outer hinges to tighten them up, maybe that would do the trick for you. Maybe some extra rubber bumpers in key spots to keep the hood from rattling.

Mal

 

I have attempted the strut idea. I got a couple out of a Kia at the junkyard. They held up the rear hatch. Seamed pretty strong, but not strong enough to hold up the 48's heavy hood. Maybe some struts from somthing like an SUV.

 

Oh, nice looking truck by the way. Four wheel drive too. Very cool.

Mal

 

I also considered the strut idea but have had bad experience with them. I want to keep the existing rod support up front, so I'm not worried about holding it open. The rod I have is attached to the front of the hood. It's hollow & the bottom slips over a pin when in use & slides down inside a hollow retainer when hood is closed. Extra bumpers raise the hood up too much -- maybe I can come up with some kind of bushings for the existing hinge pivots to snug them up. That might allow me to use some slightly thicker bumpers. I appreciate all your comments & suggestions.

 

my 85 camaro has some heavy struts to hold it up maybe a set of them would work for u

 

could you move the hinge to the other side of the slave cyl then move the mount on the hood or put a longer pin and spacer on the hinge

 

I don't have the original spring assemblies anymore. Even so I would have to modify my battery location as well as modify the driver side, which I don't want to do. Besides, I really want to keep the front rod arrangement I have for holding the hood open. I've had problems in the past with old truck hoods (not Ford) that would bend when the metal got weak using the stock spring assemblies & just prefer a simple rod. I did insert thin bushings on a couple of the outer hinge pivots today & it made a little improvement. There's no metal-to-metal contact between the hood & cowl, it's just the combination of slop on all the outer hinge pivots that cause the hood to rattle on the pivots on rough roads. Tomorrow I'll try putting a strip of weatherstrip on the existing cowl seal & see if that doesn't further snug up the hood, per someone's earlier suggestion. I'm probably making a bigger deal out of this than necessary -- I'll lose some of the ambiance if I get rid of all the rattles Thanks again for the tips.

 

Hello and welcome to F T E . I see you are from Caldwell Idaho, not far from me. I'm at Parma , about 15 miles west of you. Good looking truck you have, If you cant get the problem fixed and need some hinges I believe I have an extra set or two. In case you want to relocate them. Looks like you have a 4x4 with G M 6 lug wheels. Did you change chassis or adapt the axles to the 49 frame ? I have a 51 in the start of a 4x4 build with a chassis change.

 

A front-tilt hood would solve that problem.