Here is a rank amateur approach to pie-cutting and shortening a hood for a mid-40's Lincoln. It could well apply to other makes and models in the '40's like Olds, Cadillac, etc. This came about after the chop which changed all the designed proportions of the car and made the hood rather like the prow of a ship..... ..this is the hood before surgery..... The first thing I had to do was remove the hood latching mechanism -both the spring bolt in the hood itself and the latch in between the fenders. This entailed drilling out factory spot welds and being ruthless with my trusty cutting wheel .... ....then I had to layout tape to define the wedge to be removed. It was total intuition at this point as to how much to remove at the 'thick end' of the wedge (the front). I ended up guestimating 1 1/2" which tapered down to nothing at a point 8" out from the windshild end and 4" up from the fender. ....I started to do the big cuts and then remembered that there was a cross-brace inside the hood that could cause havoc...-so I liberated it.....and continued the cutting. My cuts were really sloppy cuz I don't have one of those skinny cut-off wheels (no air either) but they got the job done. The results were instantaneous..... ...due to the imprecise cuts, I had to weld backing strips inside the hood for stability and captured the hood support again. I then tacked the top and bottom pieces of the hood every few inches carefully to avoid heat distortion. Inevitably, the cuts at the thin end bulged with heat and I had to put three relief cuts to take out the tension. Then I started on the nose. It may not be apparent from the previous pics but the hood actually sticks out 4" over the CAD grille. This really upset my aesthetic sensibilities. What I had to do was reduce the length of the hood 4" within the front 6" of the hood. I started with the metal between the fenders to estimate the curvature for the new hood front.....lots of relief cuts for a new roundness.... I wanted to preserve the peak in the front half of the hood and to do that I had to cut on both sides of the peak to start. I concentrated on the flat steel that curved in one direction first (i.e. the vertical side/front pieces), the top of the hood. I was acutely aware that I would be into real trouble if I screwed with the compound curves and formed pieces..... ...thank goodness for bungee cords and rubber cargo straps.... ....then I had to cut the compound curve areas away from the 'planar' part of the hood.....and come to terms with the gaps (relief cuts again).... ...planning for long relief cuts to 'settle' the hood centre....remember relief cuts are our friends -treat them with respect and they will save you from being seen as a completly incompetent...... ...not all of the taped cuts were required until the hood centre settled to a new position. However, be aware of how floppy the steel is when the tension and support is taken away The top strips of the hood relaxed down to the inake on the engine.....how floppy is that!!!!!! I also had to shorten the bullnose strip (it was cut off for this pic).... ...the end result with alot of grinding to do....I love it.....so be not afraid my little Munchkins...tackle the thing and solve problems as you go...... bgbdlinc
Lookin' good there, David. Takes some cohones to cut that hood. Some finish welding, some filler, it's going to look awesome.
Dude, That sure made a dramatic difference in your car. I think you did a really nice job. Looking forward to any other update you post. When I was doing my chop[ed '41 Ford, the body man said I shouls do that to my hood. I chose to only have the seam welded. Wonder if the pie cut would make as dramtatic a difference ? Maybe next time ! 41 Dave
41 Dave; I believe the Lincoln hood is more m***ive since the whole car is longer and wider (rather like your '41 on steroids) and really needed some attention....the hood sticks up at least 6-8" over the fenders.....yours might need an inch at the front end? What's interesting about it, if you attempt it, is that you can always practice on one from a swap meet to get what you want, then go nuts on the 'good one'..... bgbdlinc
...here's a link to a recently resurrected thread. At the end are current pics of the rear...(not exactly hood tech, but what the hell) http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=153436 bgbdlinc
Hey, With the removal of 1.5" of material from the center, didn't that create an additional gap where the center of the hood panel meets the cowl? If that's the case, can you adjust the difference out by moving the hood back on its' hinges and t******* the corners a little to get a dead nuts fit, or will some material have to be added to the hood in that area? That's gonna be a hot lookin' kustom when you're finished! S****ey devils C.C. Happy Xmas! Happy Whatever!
WOW that was alot of work, but so worth it. It does look MUCH better. Congrats! A great tech, how-to post. Nice clear, concise photos with text explaining what you did. GREAT job, 5 stars for sure.
Pimpin' paint...not sure I understand your post, dude. The 1 1/2" was the amount removed horizontally from the front of the hood (the 'thick' end of the pie-cut). The cuts tapered off to nothing, just short of the windshield end of the hood. At one point I thought about moving the entire hood back the required 4" over the grille -but then the sides of the hood wouldn't meet the fenders properly (i.e. a different taper from a birdseye view and a long arc from the side view)....maybe that clarifies? Denise -great to hear from you hugs+hugs......the nose of the Olds is looking a little large, and that nice paint needs a little scruffin' up..anytime you want an amateur pie-job done ....I'm your man.... bgbdlinc
Where were you two years ago before the shiney paint went on?? You could have practiced on Big Olds. hugs, hugs back. I'll see you sometime this spring
Pimpin' -now I understand.....nope the hood still kept its rear contour and fits nice in its recess in front of the windshield and cowl vent. If it did move a tiny bit, it's not noticable. I stopped cutting about 8" before the back end of the hood.... Thanks....any more comments -fire away.... bgbdlinc
I'm wondering the same thing. If the hood gaps are the same around the cowl, how did the top of the hood come down to meet the front? Wouldn't there either be a ****ed-up hood gap, or a big slope in the hood on the top?
...the pivot point of the top of the hood was actually 8-10 " in front of the cowl vent....I had to stop cutting there (on the sides of the hood) to avoid screwing around with the hinge mounts and an inner brace at the back of the hood....hope this helps.... bgbdlinc
Looks good. I have never tried that before so props to for just doing it and not just paying someone else to do it for you.
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