hey all... i just got a 53 f100... there is something wrong with the hood... it came with a spare set of hinges... the back part of the hood Keeps popping up!
I used the reverse opening kit from Mid Fifties F100s in Arizona...about $125 and worth every dollar. It works great and is an easy install and no welding. The original hinges will drive you nuts! Frank
That's about as far as a 53 hood opens....Someone makes a forward tilt kit that is a bolt in but I can't remember who....macs55 on here has one on his panel.
My '54 opens the same as yours. There's PLENTY of room in it to manuver around when I need to. I'm not a fan of the foward tilt hood. Just doesn't look right to me.
The whole setup ****s on that era Ford trucks, I have a 56, and plan to do the front opening kit down the road. I have my doubts that they even worked right from day one.
im also having a problem with the latch... it seems that the brace that the latch hooks to on the actual hood has rotted away from the front of the hood and is only attached on the side... so i don't think its all that safe... so i will me drilling some holes and making some L brackets to firm it up again..
I'll second what everyone else has said about how far the hoods open. It doesn't open as much as you'd probably think it should. When I got mine the hood wasn't really even bolted on tightly. I thought that was the problem- put in new bolts, even re-wound the springs- no better. Like someone else already said- there's still plenty of room to work in there... Pick up some catalogs- one nice thing about these trucks is that you can get about anything you might find 'unsalvageable' onyour truck from one of the bigger supplliers. I've had good luck with LMC. Jay
the guy i got the truck from gave me a Dennis Carpenter book... i orderd a LMC and a Mid fifty book... and also speed way motors( i like to keep one of the around all the time...
IMO the tilt hood is harder to get to things than the stocker, plus they are ugly. Just get used to owning a 56 F100
I used the forward tilt hood from Mid-Fiftys. Better than sliced bread. No welding and worked like a swiss watch. ONLY way to go. Had lots and lots of positive remarks about the hood. Get one even if the price has gone up, well worth the price. Easy to install and open. _________________________________________________________- Like I told the kid, "Your music not too loud, it just ****s!"
Actually most people have trouble with the set up because allbeit its not one of fords better ideas, but most people dont know how to deal with them correctly. I will see if I can find a written approach to it, I know I have one somewhere. The thing is, everything has to work together, if not the set up has its problems, like not wanting to close either. You have to have the right shoulder bolts with all the washers present, and the bolts have to have the wire going through them to hold they're position. The springs have to be in some kind of reasonable shape, and the hinges have to not have allot of wear at the point of movement to cause the hinges to buckle out, sometimes you can tighten up that aspect by pressing the rivets to wear there is no slop side to side. Now this is where everyone doesn't quite understand. These truck were put together by hand and they were really bad for not being in a standard form, kinda like fitting pistons to a hole even though they are all suppose to fit? What your going to have to do is look at the position of the hinge and you may even have to drill some adjustment into the cab holes to allow the hinge to rock or tilt further that it is right now. this will give you the movement required to get it up in the zone it will stay up in. That is why every one wants to go away from the hinges altogether. Oh and I have a 53 myself. I have an idea for a tilt front my self but I'd rather keep it to myself for future money making ventures.....any vendors out there want to buy an idea? actually two?
OK, I found the article, and reinstalled my scanner! This is material that as far as I can find does not have a copyright on it. If someone finds that it does please feel free to have it removed. This comes from the 1954-1955 ford shop manual. This describes the things you have to do to adjust your hoods. Well it looks like I'm going to have to learn about photobucket some more cause I cant quite get the pictures in here, and I cant figure out how to get phot bucket to work on a right now scale. n If you want the pictures I have them on my computer, just holler at me. Dusty
Ok lets try it with pictures. This is from the book I cant find any copyright on it, so we will try it. http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll217/duste01/f100%20hood adjustment/Chapter1Bodypage1.jpg http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll217/duste01/f100 hood adjustment/Section3Hood.jpg http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll217/duste01/f100 hood adjustment/Chapter1Body.jpg
I've got a '53 F-100 Panel Truck that has the same problem with the hood hinges in fact, one of the original hinges was replaced by the previous owner with an after market hinges and now, closing the hood is a three step process... It's a pain in the *** every time I want to open the hood; I've also got to hold it open with a prop. I think I'll look into the front tilt as a solution.
I also have the midfifty kit and love it. It's really the only way I found to really get all four corners to actually close and line up properly. mike
does the mid-fifty kit have a means to prevent the bottom leading edge of the hood from crashing down into the grille when opened? I've seen this on several trucks at local shows and queried, but not one of the owners were builders, just buyers. JML
hey guys.... so the truck is finally on the road after having to goto the state capital to get my plates!!!!! god damn DMV.... any who now the problem im having with the hood is that the back by the cab pops up every time i hit a bump... wondering if this a spring tension problem or bad hinges or just dad adjustment... i dont know anyting about this style hinges so im hopping for a little help!
Drop in on the FTE at http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum41/ and do a search on hoods. You will find everything from real answers to songs about pushing down the back of the hood sung to the tune of the hokey pokey. The answers here are all pertinant to the problem. The guy with the pics got them from a shop manual. If you are going to keep this truck you'd do yourself a favor and get a shop manual from mid-fifties or wherever. Most answers lay within. Consensus seems to be that the poor design on a 50ish year old truck with a bunch of wear bears almost insurmountable problems for the proud owner. In other words the problem is a fact of life with these trucks. The front tilt will keep the problem from recurring. Good luck. himmelberg
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