56 hood hinge

[jeffpal43]

Anyone know how the Billet aluminun hood hinges hold up??? I herd the piston doesnt hold up after awile...anyone purchase them or know about this???
Jeff

[Rick_L]

First off, I haven't purchased or used any of these hinges, and I have a 55, so I can't give you first hand experience.

Both the Fesler and EMS hinges have their issues. I'm not thinking the Fesler are viable at all. I've heard varying reports on making the EMS work; the facts seem inconsistent and they shouldn't be. There are issues both ways. Hood won't stay up, hood won't close. There is this rumor out there that since the 56 hood is longer and heavier than the 55 hood that it's more of a problem. I don't think so, I think the hinge design is not what it could be.

I gave some thought to building my own based on their design (Fesler and EMS are the same style even if the details are different.) What I found was that from an engineering viewpoint, the gas pressure strut force required was pretty sensitive, and it was difficult to pick one that had a good chance of working.

I've never seen a post on the various forums about the other brands like Ring Bros.

Chevynut did a completely different design on his. He's talked about selling them but I don't think he's ever really offered them. And his worked with the inner fenders he did, needed them. He's never shown us what's behind the inner fender so it's difficult to critique what may be good or bad about the spring or gas strut forces required.