So, I hop into the rocket this morning with my girl. Simple mission of dropping her off then going over to aaa to register the car since I've only recently put it back together and just insured it on friday. I hit the 101 north and as soon as I am up to speed I see the entire hood float up into the air, fly over the car and smash the corner of the windsheild of a swerving van behind me! The really terrifying part is... If he had not moved as quickly as he did that big heavy hood would've surely decapitated him. Now this car has not had hinges and springs installed for almost all of the 10 years I have owned it but the front latch was sturdy and has a big hook that somehow did not catch, but I have driven this car at high speeds for extended periods without any hood issues ever. Of course the hood is now completely destroyed and the unfortunate van behind me took damage not just in the windsheild but my hood literally cut the roof open and banged up the side as well! I have always planned on customizing it to open tilt-forward because I did buy new hinges and springs for it many years ago but after installing them the hood opened so low it was a pain to get anything done under there. Of course I used to keep a chain and padlock through the frame of the hood due to fearing this very thing as well as theft until I just got lazy cause it seemed like this was impossible! All I have to say is thank all and any deities that it did not decapitate the fella in the van. After exchanging all the necessary info and apologies with the guy in the van, I dropped off my girl and got back on the freeway then I hear this weird sound and see one of my hubcaps roll across a few lanes before a big truck ran it over to add insult to injury! So I've learned quite a lesson today! If anyone has a line on a 55 olds hood let me know cause' I need one bad and I promise to either make it tilt forward or back to the chain for safety!
Man Thas a baaaaad day, keep your chin up. Lost a hood from one of my cars once, she flipped @ about 60 miles an hour, I had my hand resting on the outer A pillar, scarred my fingers for life, smashedthe screen and the hood but also smashed a nice dent in the roof.
Wait, you were driving at highway speeds with your hood not bolted to the car? That is just ****ing reckless man. You are really lucky you did not kill somebody.
Yeah, I'm glad no one was hurt and usually I hate to say something negative at a time like this, but Low is right. What you did was downright stupid and you're lucky nothing worse happened.
Am i to understand youve been driving your car with NO HOOD HINGES???just the front latch?? you sir, are a ****ing idiot.
i can't beleive you drove the car like that!! I myself drive a T bucket & i always worry about **** like that!! Usually a wheel coming off a truck or something like that, not another HAMB'r jimV
I know, I deserve it. The latch mechanism appeared to be so sturdy for so long that I stopped using my chain, it closed tight and felt like it couldn't be opened with a crowbar and how it rose more than a couple of inches without catching the large hook latch escapes me still. However I've no excuse considering what did happen. Funny thing is I have always cursed trucks with flying debris and re-treads and never thought I would the ***hole with a flying guillotine hood. I don't remember ever feeling this humiliated and stupid before.
I've done lots of dumb things over the years, so I'm certainly no one to talk. Luckily you and the driver behind you are ok.
Something similar happened to me few years ago. My girlfriend parked her car across my driveway and I need to get to a hardware store late on Saturday afternoon so, rather than waste time moving her car I jumped in and took hers instead. On the way to the store, driving along at about 50, my eardrums nearly popped due to the change in air pressure as the sunroof blew out and disappeared behind me! When I pulled over to find out what happened, a truck pulled in behind me with the steel sunroof panel embedded right in the centre of the windshield! The driver of the truck wasn't injured (just pretty surprised to say the least!) but I didn't stop puking for about an hour. When I got home and told my girlfriend what had happened she confessed that the roof had come loose about a week earlier and she'd been driving around with it like that since then. She became my ex-girlfriend shortly after that...
I don't think I would have admitted how foolish I was on a public forum like the HAMB. You are one lucky son of a ***** that you didn't kill anyone.
I for one am glad he posted this..no matter how foolish he feels or how berated he gets on here..maybe this will make another person stop and think about their set up and think twice about how safe it is.. Just because something worked once (and is wrong) doesnt make it safe. Glad no one got hurt. Thats a good lesson
Sorry to say this, but I hope your insurance company can take a joke cause I would think something like this would put your coverage in jepardy. And if your under 30 you will no doubt have a problem. Good luck.....
3 x 2, thanks, for having the guts, to remind us what can happen. We all have demands to meet, and keeping things safe is certainly job one.
Not smart bro. I had a hood fold up on me in the lights at the drag strip...at night!! I was going about a buck and a quarter. I had an oil pressure gauge mounted on the cowl, that was the only thing that saved my ***. My hood had hinges, a primary latch, and a secondary latch. The security guard found a hinge spring about 100 yards away from the traps. I'm glad no one was at the top end of the track.
I think it's safe to say that 3x2 is more lucky that the guy driving the van didn't kill him after surviving the hood. Vance
I built a 55 Olds from field car to straight in primer cruiser (mild custom) and Chevy drivetrain. So, from dis***embly, refitting, refitting again and such I can attest that the 55 Olds hood is ****ING heavy. You mighta had some speed going, but thats beside the point. Yes, no hinges and such is idiotic and you are lucky you didnt kill anyone. Dont **** around with some rockabilly "chain" or whatever the hell youre talking about, get a hood, and get hood hinges. They would have most likely allowed the hood to fold over the windshield but kept it in tact to the car. The Olds hinge ***embly is pretty beefy. If they put that much engineering into the accelerator and kickdown linkage, the rest of the car was built in similar fashion. This is sometimes my fear with peoples cars. There are SO many people "building" cars in thier garage, with a limited resource of tools and the internet as "schooling". This is scary, cuz these cars are hitting the same roads as us and our families, and sometimes I just wonder...
THANK YOU 3x2 for posting your story. You should have the right to ask for a promotion to "grenade test dummy", LOL. An old adage states for 100000 potentially dangerous screwups, only 10000 will result in damage before being found, 1000 of those will have injuries, 10 of the injuries will be permantly "life changing", and 1 will be fatal. If you want to look at some scarey stuff go to http://www.firefighterclosecalls.com. Use a buddy check. If your car is not inspected for safety by your state, or NSRA, or club, have a buddy check it over. Then do his. If they find something questionable fix it. A kid working for us liked to play on the 1/4 mile. Wanting to go faster he put a big block in his 55 Chev and a new rear end. For two months we learned how fast he was going to go on that first set of lights. Well, he went about three feet because he spun the rear end. He had forgot to weld the spring pads to the axle housing! One of our 32 roadster with one of our bodies was wrecked because the "pro" builder could not find a proper U joint for his steering (this is before Borgeson or Flaming River). To "mock up" the car he wrapped br*** shim stock around the shaft and clamped it with the old U joints. Of course he forgot to change it. The shim slipped at about 50 mph in a curve and the car backed into a tree at speed. There were injuries but if I remember they were minor. There are no traffic "accidents". There are traffic CRASHES.
When I used to run a shop, I had a guy forget to fasten a t-top on a corvette and he nearly caused a major accident on the test drive. My fault for not double checking. This guy was very capable but it just goes to show that everyone can make a mistake no matter how good you are. Thank god no one got hurt. Keep your head up. I'm sure you will do everything you can NOT to do this again in the future.
This reminds me of when I opened the Model "A" thread yesterday. I saw an underslung with 1 "A" part! The smell of this one is about the same. be careful my friend, lotsa luck with the final outcome.
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