I have been searching for the inner hood hinge that was used on the 1932/33/34 Ford hoods, and the outer stainless hood hinge (1932 style center strip) that many replace the stock model A' style hood with. The only dealer I have found that carries this piece is Macs - http://www.macsautoparts.com/ford_mercury_early/inner-hood-hinge-steel-31-1-4-long-ford.html - and I would rather patronize some other dealer than Macs, if possible. I was working on a short wish list and priced everything out at Macs; the entire bill came to $238, which I could live with - BUT - there is a 20% shipping & handling charge attached to the final bill ! I called, asked to speak with someone that has the authority to charge me actual shipping charges, and was told "that is our shipping policy" really and followed up with "... but you can always buy from someone else....." Does anyone know of another supplier that carries the inner hood hinge structure for the 1932/34 hoods? Oh ya - just a P.S. since Macs is owned by Ecklers, and I just happen to be one of Ecklers suppliers of parts that I make, I am planning on talking with their purchasing department on Monday to see if there is anything they can do regarding the 20% shipping & handling charges on the parts I wanted to buy from their sister company, Macs - if no, I am going to inform them that all future orders will have a 20% shipping & handling charge applied to the parts that I make for them..... just sayen
Sounds fair to me....but be aware that it may precipitate unintended consequences. Look at eBay for the part. Mac's prices are generally lower there than their catalog.
Rootlieb sells the same item. Mac's likely duplicted them. Buy the stainless from the same place you get the "inner" part. I have one for my car.
Steve, I am not sure what you are doing but note that MAC's says fits '33-'36. You keep saying '32-'34. I am not sure about your overall project but wanted to point this out. Charlie Stephens
The U shaped stainless center hinge can't be used on an A unless you have the special hood tops to go with it. I'm pretty sure Rootleib makes that hood. Just go straight to Rootleib.
Bob Drake & Speedway motors just to name 2 but they all charge shipping,you can always buy at a show or from a shop that sells parts and avoid shipping.HRP
I think the inner hood hinge shown in his reference http://mafca.com/data_eng_production.html allows you to use the stainless center hinge. I ***ume he intends to cut off the Model A hinge sheet metal and weld these on. If he is lucky Rootlieb makes what he needs. Seems like a lot of work. Charlie Stephens
Yes, sort of - I have always liked the look of the 32 style center hood hinge and recently looked at a 34, so I ***umed that a 33 falls between the 2 years and it would be the same also (didn't know about the 35 & 36 years) I have a good 31 hood and it's simple enough for me to cut out the A' style center hinge and replace it with the one in question. At the cost of a new A' hood with the 32 style center hinge I just wanted to find out if the parts were available, what their cost would be and compare that to the cost of a new hood. The labor portion is my own time... I have a 52" shear, I do all my own TIG welding, and wanted to try another aspect of making my coupe a little different without much expense. The issue with the 20% surcharge from Macs just frustrates me - pick out something you need for your car and then add another 20% onto the cost you just paid for the part.... or, as they used to say; yes, a tune up is $49.95, parts & labor are extra so what does the "tune up" consist of?
That’s a nice looking A Coupe in your avatar; I ***ume that’s the car you’re talking about. You have good taste. The hinge upgrade on a Model A to stainless is striking. It’s not attempted by many because it’s not quite as easy as it looks. I found a very rough, creased ’32 hood super cheap and decided to slice and dice it to fit. It was dirt cheap and worth the trouble…came out pretty good. This is probably not an option for you with your original hood sides. But here’s a couple of links for you to research. There were some questions regarding the orientation of the aftermarket hinge you’re looking at. It’s discussed in the thread. Also, there is a link to the hinge being sold at Sasche Rod Shop…not sure if it’s accurate anymore. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/deuce-hood-help.939934/#post-10578410 Here’s another link to a thread where the hinge was used on a custom Model A hood…lots of pics for you. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/custom-hood-for-my-model-a.298817/ It would be best if you had a second hood top to work with and keep your nice looking original. Everybody will tell you to go to Rootleib. I personally couldn’t do that but that’s me. I’m one of those weird guys who builds everything…even fabbed the frame under the grey coupe above from 1/8” flat stock. And if the 49.00 shipping charge bugs you, wait till you get the bill from Rootleib.
Thanks those pictures are worth a lot more that the traditional '1000 words...' Now that I see what the original 32 hinge ***embly looked like in the closed position, I can figure all this out on top of the car with some clean poster board. If the hood tops actually needed a 90 degree fold for the hinges to work properly, one could un-fold the original A' staggered hinge tubes and bend them down 90 degrees - or even add a ssupport piece behind the bends and then install the replacement hinge pieces. It sure is nice when you can go back into other threads and look at their photographs
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