I want to take the trim off the hood of my 52' Chevy and fill the seam from the two halves. What is the best way to do this? I am also interested in peaking it, again any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Several ways to do this...if you're gonna weld it, go sloooooooow. Trust me. That's not why I'm running hoodless, though, I swear Try doing a search, lots of good info has been already been posted. Bryan
I am doing this today. I knew I should have taken pics. I have tried just welding together and trashed a hood. I just just out 3.5 inches out of the center of my hood , then I rolled a bead on a piece of flat stock and started welding it back in. You have to hammer weld it as you go. I should be done with mine by next weekend. If it were me and I had it to do all over again....I'd add a bullnose strip and be done with it.
The way that Root is doing is probabally one of teh best. There was a Rod and Custom article (i think) on it recently. It was pretty informative. We did mine by welding the two halves together and using a rod down the middle for the peak. We got a lot of warpage which meant a lot of work! If we had to do mine over I would have done what they did in the article. They clamped the hood together and removed the "flap" or edge where the bolts went through to hold the hood together. Just leaving a few inches of it at the top and bottom. THEN weld it together as root did (hammering along the way). The problem that we had was that as we got warpage we couldn't hammer it because the flap or edge prevented us from getting a dolly in there. Removing the flap would allow you to get a dolly in there and keep it straight as you weld it. I hope that made sense and helped. FONZI
Thanks for the help fellas. I think I got a good idea where to start. I will keep you updated as I go. I bought this car and it was restored in the 80's so I need to do a lot of work. Thanks again
Personally I would gas weld it with the flanges on, cooling the weld and stretching it out while during the welding process, but if you're really doubting your welding abilities, you should think about glueing your hood togather. I've used glue on boxsides of trucks, putting quarter panels on cars etc... the glue they have works, everyone has an opinon about glue, it's fine if someone doesn't like it but people can't say it doesn't work because it does. when i was working in collision shops metal glue was OEM certified for replacing large and small panels. if you're going to glue it, I would cut the flanges of both sides of the hood, make a 1.5 inch wide strip that fits on the underside of the hood. if you want to put a body line in the strip you can. then glue the strip onto the hood. It would probably be easier to glue each side at one time. then you can skim the seam with some short strand fibergl*** filler and carry on from there.
here is some pics seems to be like root is explaining. http://hollywoodhotrods.com/MetalWorks.htm Here is another method. Havent done it personally but seen the process done by gambino kustoms. In order to make my 50 hood one-piece / peaked in the center. Alex took a flat piece of steel and wedged that between the hood havles. If you can imagine that piece of steel is sticking up vertically between the two hood halves, he then tacked together and built up the peak. The metal also helped to absorb heat. dont got any pics but looks nice. hope that helps
Started out great gas hammer welding but cmon not glue on a 49-54 chevy or any traditional car. I dont know but others, I dont want **** built with those kinda methods. its sheet metal if you can't weld i take it to someone that can. glue is new tech for new cars. this is traditional rods and customs. I can see if i was a new car (since the sheet metal is so thin) but not a traditional car. I see how that may work for you personally but maybe that could be interpeted the wrong way by a beginner and then they mess up there hood.
I glued the door skins on the Fly, traditional or not...it worked. Of course, I didn't have a TIG then either.
he's not gonna **** up his hood if he tries to glue it. worst case he has to clean the glue off, accept defeat and take it to someone who can weld. If he welds it himself he'll have to throw out the hood then go buy another one, then try gluing that one, then clean the glue off......
The panel adhesive is ok for holding parts on,NOT for holding parts together.If you use the "glue" to fill the seam,once it is painted you will see a kind of shadow where the "glue" is holding the seam together. Not cool if you are planning a nice paint job.
I did my first '51 hood when I was 16,(1962). I did it the Gambino way. Put the sheet steel strip between the two halves. You don't have to go in very far. Then tacked it every couple of inches, alternating sides. Take your time and let the cooling process work w/you. After you have it all tacked, then s***ch weld about 25% of the joint, again alternating ends and sides. When done , mold, and shape. I did my buddy's '52 about a year later a different way. We tacked it about 1/4 "- 3/8 " long at the joint, again alternating ends, and wetting with a wet rag if necessary. grind the tacks flush and put a strip, about 1 1/2" wide of fibergl*** fabric over joint. Fill accordingly (very lightly) sand and finish. Both of these jobs held up nicely. These ,of course, are not the only ways to do this. In those days, we had hopes and imagination, but little money. So we had to think accordingly. It had to be cheap, and last. Now that we're geezers, we know we were true rodders.....Ole Pork
Check out these threads: How to weld a 2-piece Chevy hood How to fix a warped Chevy hood I was feelin' lazy this morning when I posted, but now I'll give you my take. Like I said earlier, take your time. Alternate your tacks from front to back and make sure they're cool to the touch before tacking the next one. Some people have just tacked the two pieces and then filled the rest...bad idea. After a while, the filler will crack and you'll find yourself doing it over again. Also be careful when grinding your welds down...there's enough heat to caused by this process to warp the metal. Good luck. Bryan
does the heat paste work that you lay down to corral the heat and not warp things. or does it just warp whats inside the paste?
i worked in the collision industry for 9 yrs. if you think that it doesn't hold panels together. how do you think you put a whole side skin on a van? you glue that **** togther. i glued this 54 hood together. i opened it up a bit, got a grinder in between the seam and cleaned it all up. i made sure to get all the glue in between the seam. i also placed a bunch of vise grips on the flange underneath to clamp it together. but i did weld the front section of it. check my web link to see other pics of a 51 chevy hood pic i did with a 1/8 rod. http://blackwidowkustoms.com/peak.html
That last picture:.... Is that the '50 in the latest Rodders Journal???? Man that is the best lookin' non chopped fleet I think I have ever seen!?!?!? That has STOPPED me from choppin' my "49!! Propps to the builder!! When we move down to So.Cal. this summer I am seeking out that car!!! O.K. yes I realize I am overdoing it but DAMN!!!!!.....Ken
glue ... cat hair bondo gl***. jeeze loueeze.. give me a break. the problem with using anything that is not metal is that it does not flex the same as metal. that's a big *** hood. that's got to be one flexin' mo fo. not to mention metal expands due to heat. last I heard, glue and bondo do not. I like my 2 piece hood... matches my 2 piece windshield. if I were going to peak it it would be welded solid. one tack at a time. if i warped it.. I'd dolly it back.... that green 50 is definitly very cool. I remember when it was blue. the guy parks in the same spot every year at Paso.
this is how I did mine, before, tacked welded the seem, I wanted a smooth hood, no peak, this ment cutting out the front edge of the hood, I welded the seem up solid, take your time welding. I welded about 1/4 inch at a time and hit it with a wire brush to pick up some heat. if you hit the weld with air the weld cools too fast and it can crack and warp the metal. it took me all day to weld mine,
WOW!! This is the first time I have asked for help and I am sorry I didn't do it sooner. I am going to TIG weld it a little at a time. Thanks a gain for the picture references those help a lot. Nice to see the spirit of hot rodding still alive and well. Thanks again!!!
Is he a HAMBr'?? Would really like to "pick" his brain on a couple of things. NOT in a stalker/celebrity way!!! But, to be honest I don't know why THAT car has captivated me so much, my '49 progress has stopped --->losing motivation<-- that along with finishing other rides and the possibility of moving down to So. Cal., that '50 has Re-inspired me on mine!!! Ken
no, i don't think he is...... you say you plan on moving to CA you'll see him at a lot of shows. it's no trailer queen.
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