Hood modified for breather clearance

One of my former classmates from high school caught up with me a few months back, and had some work he wanted done on a hood for his Tubbed V8 Plymouth Arrow. He said he wanted a more professional job over what was done back then..

https://i.imgur.com/HLgR4a7.jpg

A V8 in an Arrow is enough of a challenge, near impossible to fit it all under the hood. Here are some older pictures of the car just to show what we're working on...

https://i.imgur.com/9hlaX0b.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Ay9A2iD.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/nJRNKNy.jpg

He had bought an NOS hood for it some years back, so at least he has something solid to work with.. He said the metal flopped a bit around the opening he cut, so I thought we'd add a wire edge around the opening and make some new bracing on the underside while we were at it. Here's the phenolic dies made for the Lennox to form the new bracing..

https://i.imgur.com/xkWYSWL.jpg

Here's a test sample run...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCoTMs0ANC8

...and a test fit

https://i.imgur.com/Kv2aRgu.jpg

Next, the bracing we wanted to install needed to go around the bigass hole, and some of the existing brace needed removing.

https://i.imgur.com/H85pPhz.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/9UR9mmH.jpg

Our new brace designed to go around the hole... cut in the flat and run through our dies..

https://i.imgur.com/Miq5USw.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/PqLFnTi.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/hBlrl8G.jpg

And here's about where it will sit....

https://i.imgur.com/lOxzwUp.jpg

Rather than screw up one of the last remaining NOS Plymouth Arrow hoods in existence, let's do a test sample first.. To strengthen the opening, we'll add a 1/8 wire edge protruding upward, which will also help to keep things out.....somewhat. Here's our new dies for the 1/8 wire... This is the "inlet" side...

https://i.imgur.com/F9YUtEI.jpg

Side view shows the ramps that will add the joggle

https://i.imgur.com/4eWKQCX.jpg

We're using a 22 x 22 piece of 19 gauge for our sample, and folding a 5/16 flange, which needs a bit of stretching to keep things flat. so a rounded hammer on the top of the stump adds a bit of stretch, then a linear stretch hammer and dolly to stretch further and fold things over..

https://i.imgur.com/ABicjt5.jpg

with the flange folded, the sample is run through our dies to form the joggle

https://i.imgur.com/ib2FRbD.jpg

1/8 stainless is rolled in our tubing bender/straightener, sized, and TIG welded to form a continuous ring. Then it gets laid in the channel and the flange staked over in various spots to hold it in place using the linear stretch hammer..

https://i.imgur.com/FP6hbJd.jpg

Hammering process to fold the flange over. Linear stretch hammer used to add a bit more stretch and to minimize marks left behind..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWIpwh0zZg4

Finished sample...

https://i.imgur.com/PgRmIYC.jpg

….and checked to the brace

https://i.imgur.com/E77l9RW.jpg

With the practice behind us, lets see what we can do to this hood. The outer circle is the mark for our fold, or opening size. The inner circle is the cut for our flange that will wrap around the 1/8 wire..

https://i.imgur.com/LFdradY.jpg

Getting our tin snips started...

https://i.imgur.com/3BwHpyh.jpg

Hole cut with no filing, no sanding, and absolutely no metal "splinters".

https://i.imgur.com/soMuJt1.jpg

If you have issues with tin snips AT ALL, I recommend Bill Gibson's tin snip video... One of the best training/refresher videos on tin snips..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAOQfUaRZyw

Next, on to the underside. We have four places where these areas of the old structure was cut out that need to go. Opening the hood to see these remnants would just kill the look, so let's see if we can mimic a factory look here.

https://i.imgur.com/R9Xb2Hp.jpg

A piece of 16 gauge was used as a heat shield and using the Meco torch and the barrel end hammer, reshaped the offset back to match the adjacent contour...

https://i.imgur.com/M6M8AXY.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jV6MLDt.jpg

That'll do pig, that'll do.

https://i.imgur.com/9jl2RlG.jpg

With the hole cut now we need to fold a flange to wrap around the 1/8 wire. The linear stretch hammer and a heel dolly is used to stretch the flange that will be folded down, then a tipping tool takes the flange down about halfway. Then I needed to get in the thick of things, further stretching and hammering over to a 90* flange, all while checking the crown around the hole to ensure consistent stretch of the flange.

https://i.imgur.com/EBR5M2P.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/RoHIf8x.jpg

Once the flange is folded, the Lennox is used to add the joggle for our wired edge..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMk4myTDvmY

Bottom side....

https://i.imgur.com/qRnnpVz.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/bkhduMx.jpg

Top side....

https://i.imgur.com/1oaVHCh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/h6S8hJ4.jpg

Our 1/8 stainless wire "ring" was formed using our tubing roller, the tool shown here in the vise when we were bending fuel line a few months back....

https://i.imgur.com/6w1XB1Y.jpg

The ring was then sized to fit, ends TIG welded together, filed, and media blasted for paint adhesion. The channel and surrounding area was abraded with some 120 grit and some SPI epoxy brushed into the channel. The wire gets laid into the channel and another brush coat on any bare spots. Then the flange is staked down using the linear stretch hammer to hold the wire in position...

https://i.imgur.com/hDZ9Ipm.jpg

Then the flange is hammered over as we did previously with our test sample.

https://i.imgur.com/jVZxvHv.jpg

After our initial coat of primer had dried, we brushed around the perimeter to seal the wire and flange.

https://i.imgur.com/LvacZsV.jpg

Looking at the bottom side of the hood, all of the structure uses a radius where the parts intersect, so we may as well follow suit.. Holes were cut in some 19 Gauge and corners cut out..

https://i.imgur.com/gpriIvL.jpg

Corners TIG welded and welds dressed..

https://i.imgur.com/iQ2x6KP.jpg

The area our brace will cover is abraded so we can get it covered with epoxy primer before installing the brace.

https://i.imgur.com/UhSBJP6.jpg

Brace is media blasted to prep for epoxy primer, and test fit to the hood.. Once the epoxy sets up a couple days we'll get the brace welded in..

https://i.imgur.com/OMikkMm.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/RT66GZG.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/t78EjWr.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/dZQINGe.jpg

Prior to welding the brace in, we used some 3M NVH dampening material and added a few dabs on the inner hood skin where the brace's flanges would rest (Thanks to Chris Hamilton for the recommendation).
https://i.imgur.com/YlZLdGW.jpg

16 gauge cold rolled steel was used under the brace as a heat block for welding. The brace Is clamped, then tacked in place using the TIG.

https://i.imgur.com/yPpiwly.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Uw5aIvo.jpg

TIG welded in short beads and checked the outside hood skin for heat, let cool and continued in that fashion.

https://i.imgur.com/Qg7brw9.jpg

Welds on the flat area of the flanges were dressed smooth. Remaining portion of the weld will likely be covered in a slight amount of filler to mimic the radius elsewhere under the hood.

https://i.imgur.com/RSuExl0.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/7icWYe6.jpg

Video of underside:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvVjRLtrYZY

Topside with some epoxy on the bare parts....

https://i.imgur.com/Ag2fyYv.jpg

Great work as usual Robert, but if it was me I'd prefer nothing sticking through the hood in the first place.:eek: I would have looked for a different manifold and air filter solution, or even an EFI throttle body that's typically ~1" shorter than a carb. I'm sure there's something out there that would have precluded cutting a hole in the hood the only question is the cost. I had a concern about my EFI manifold being too tall but I would have never cut my hood to accommodate it. I guess everyone has their own objectives. :p

Again, awesome work!! That brace looks factory!

The Master has again showed why he is the Master!!!! Thanks

Amazing work! I can't begin to do what you do, but do appreciate your craftsmanship.

Thanks Guys!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chevynut

......if it was me I'd prefer nothing sticking through the hood in the first place.

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CN, I'm with you, but he already has a running drivetrain. He's more anxious to get the little bit of body details fixed and not take anything else apart.