Test fitting sheet metal

[Jim in LA]

I got this hood over a year ago for my ‘49 and finally was able to test fit it and a new aftermarket grille. I have some reshaping,tweaking,welding, and some bondo work to do on the hood and some on one dogleg. The grille is more pointed than the original ones as are the replacement hoods that are a nightmare to fit. I may be able to press the grille some to match the outline of the Ford hood. There is adequate gap between the doglegs and the outside of the grille.

 

[Tall T]

I got this hood over a year ago for my ‘49 and finally was able to test fit it and a new aftermarket grille. I have some reshaping,tweaking,welding, and some bondo work to do on the hood and some on one dogleg. The grille is more pointed than the original ones as are the replacement hoods that are a nightmare to fit. I may be able to press the grille some to match the outline of the Ford hood. There is adequate gap between the doglegs and the outside of the grille.

Looks to me from here that something is obstructing the outer top corners of the grill from behind. . . something that has to be cut away or cut back. If it is a case of repositioning brackets, you can weld so do that.

Maybe the nose of the hood has been pushed in from bumping into things . . . in which case, take the hood off stand it on end on a slab of leather and beat it more into conformity with the grill frame. In the end you could get it looking fit by using bondo on the hood to make it conform perfectly to the new grille.

Tt

 

[Jim in LA]

It's definitely a matter of made "almost right" It will match up to the "almost right" hood I bought a few years ago but would require being cut up,reshaped, and welded back together to fit either 8N that I own. Aftermarket is not built off of OE blueprints or specs and the geometry is not right, the new hoods are more pointed than the originals. I can to some tweeking and make it ok. The mating surfaces of the hood and doglegs need to be flattened out some more. I will probably make some straps to insure the grille can't fall off. What is strange is the doglegs I bought off Ebay 2 years ago to put on the '49 have threaded holes for bolts and the new grille lower tabs are made to be bolted on. The OE doglegs on the '49 accepted 3/8 pins that were made into the lower tabs of the grille. My '51 is the same so I don't know what happened there. I bought a body repair hammer and dolly set several months ago just for this situation.

 

[showcrop]

From where I sit, it looks like the center of the hood needs to come out about a half inch to be where it was before its first collision, and the right (from the seat) dogleg needs to come in at the top towards the center by about a half inch.

 

[Tall T]

It's definitely a matter of made "almost right" It will match up to the "almost right" hood I bought a few years ago but would require being cut up,reshaped, and welded back together to fit either 8N that I own. Aftermarket is not built off of OE blueprints or specs and the geometry is not right, the new hoods are more pointed than the originals. I can to some tweeking and make it ok. The mating surfaces of the hood and doglegs need to be flattened out some more. I will probably make some straps to insure the grille can't fall off. What is strange is the doglegs I bought off Ebay 2 years ago to put on the '49 have threaded holes for bolts and the new grille lower tabs are made to be bolted on. The OE doglegs on the '49 accepted 3/8 pins that were made into the lower tabs of the grille. My '51 is the same so I don't know what happened there. I bought a body repair hammer and dolly set several months ago just for this situation.

In the second photo from left , enlarged, right side of hood obviously needs straightening outwardly and further towards the center needs being pushed back.

Something that might work for you is what i did to the chevrolet badge on the front of my truck which actually came off a pickup so it was too curved for my van face. What I did was cut a V out of the backside upper dead center so I could flatten the whole thing a little to make it conform to the van body. You only get away with so much bend before the face starts to distort.

So . . . if you cut a small V out of the top center backside of your grille, laid it down and leaned on it a little you can minimize the pointedness at the center, which will bring the extreme top corners forward.

 

[Jim in LA]

In the second photo from left , enlarged, right side of hood obviously needs straightening outwardly and further towards the center needs being pushed back.

Something that might work for you is what i did to the chevrolet badge on the front of my truck which actually came off a pickup so it was too curved for my van face. What I did was cut a V out of the backside upper dead center so I could flatten the whole thing a little to make it conform to the van body. You only get away with so much bend before the face starts to distort.

So . . . if you cut a small V out of the top center backside of your grille, laid it down and leaned on it a little you can minimize the pointedness at the center, which will bring the extreme top corners forward.

I was thinking about doing that very thing Upon closer inspection, the nose of the hood needs some reshaping.