Customs How many 49-51 Fords HOODS FLEW OPEN?

Why in hell is it that I can name 30 shoebox fords that have had their hoods fly open?????

 

mine flew open the week before lead east this year! luckily PA Bob had one, had it on and rounded the corners for lead east! haha lucky only the hood was wrinkled...

 

You still have your own hood? Usable?

Anthony, I think I know of a few too. Did it happen to that coupe your friend has? One of my old cars I would BET had the hood fly open...some odd filler, never dug that deep tho.

 

The question is ,What can be done to stop it.Joe the gindos is fine.

 

I had one.

 

Don't know, but I do remember about 6 years ago a shoebox that made it to Paso after driving all the way down from the northwest and on the way down the hood blew open on the highway and wasted the windshield, roof and obviously the hood too.
Was a real nice custom that they had just finished painting barely in time to go to the show and then that happened and the whole thing was toast. They just smashed the hood back down and kept on driving to Paso.
All weekend long people were writing stuff all over the car with a Sharpee about how nice it WAS - signing condolences and encouragement.

 

Wayne McGregor
Ray Soff
sedan I striped last week.
Geemann
Theres four more and I could go on forever.

 

Happened to me too

 

Maybe that's why a good portion of the ones I see for sale in project form are missing their hoods

 

A friend of mine owned Don Lowe 49 Ford, that the hood flow open.
Candy paint was hard to match the way Don had done it.
TwoChops

 

my buddy found a hood for his 'box in a feild, it was full of louvers and he figures it was off of some old custom, all the filling was done in lead. It flipped up and smashed the roof of his car, did a number on the hood but he's determined to fix it

 

i put over 20,000 miles on my box with no problems. rounded the hood corners .one week later was taking this juicy little tart home one night and the damn thing flew on me .. i was hot . took it out on her then went to the shop the next day and fixed it along with an added hood catch

 

I remember that. It was like a full custom,sectioned? Red shoebox. He said He had an electrical short and his power doors, hood, trunk all opened on the highway!! I remember he had a bunch of cool signatures on the hood though, bariis, bill hines etc etc..

Also happened to me in my 50 chevy. My buddies 51 pontiac, another friends 51 buick, and another friends 56 chevy. I guess the latch gets worn down after so many years??

 

The flatty in my shoebox couldnt push the car fast enough for the hood to fly open

 

the hood on my '50 popped up at about 35 mph years ago

it was own damn fault though, I didn't close it properly

 

Back in the day, the hood flew up on old Fords about the same time that all the windows fell down into the doors.

 

Mines ****ed UP. I think its savable though. I plan to change to an aftermarket latch when I put the front clip back together.

Drew

 

I've heard it is a common problem (obviously), and have a set of those cheap, Mr Gasket hood pins to use on my two shoeboxes....One each. There was a tech on it here a Loooong time ago. It goes up under the front of the hood, and out of sight from the outside.

 

mine did the day I took it from the pain shop, I have had two hoods blow open on me, it ****s!!

 

I made sure both of my shoeboxes had the original style safety latches on them. They are cheap and easy to install. Can be purchased from shoeboxford.com. Cheap insurance if you ask me.

 

Towing my '50 Chevy the other day the hood popped off the first catch about three times. Something's out of whack on it, but there is a ton of flex in the hood, too.

 

Yup. Happened to me while driving my wifes old 51. I did not know that this is a common thing.
"use a saftey chain" they said. "Shoebox fords are famous for this" they said. I'm thinking "well now ya tell me"
What a rip.

 

Do you guys mean the stock latch, or after market?

 

I mean that I can name 30 shoeboxes that had the hoods floy open!LOL

 

The hood on my '50 Dodge flew open on the freeway a while back. Was about midnight, cruising in the fastlane, going about 70. Out of no where a big BAM and I couldn't see ****. Luckily I was the only one on the road at the time. Coasted to the side. Jumped out smashed it back down and went home. Luckily I didn't bust my windshield, the only damage being the hood. All wrinkled up at the cowl, smashed down in the middle, and two tears on each side where it tore through the hinges. I finally found a straigh hood to replace it with.

 

Happened to me in 1958, nice 51 Convert!

 

Happened to me in my 56 Wagon. I got another hood and fabricated a bracket so I could use a hood latch from something newer AND added one of those under hood spikes that attach to the hood and hook onto the panel above the radiator. You know the ones, once you unlatch the hood you open it an inch or so and the spike is still holding it , so you stick your fingers under the hood to release the spike.

Later, once the hood is open, you remove a large piece of your scalp when you hit your head on it while working on the engine.

 

how many of these are from the latch rattling open, or are they all from the "stud" part of the latch breaking off?

Educate me.

on GMans, the actual "hold downy pin" thing was the culprit. I was going to see if we could get it to close so we could get off the highway, but looked down at the latch and the "male" side was still stuck in it. looks like the tack welds broke.

is this how it always happens, or is it a latch that becomes unlathed?

 

49-51's have weak hood springs that will allow the hood to rise at the rear and work the latch loose eventually. factor in 50-plus years of wear and age and it's bound to happen sooner or later. Mercuries and Lincolns fare better simply because their hoods are a good 30% heavier.

then again, '49's are notorious for bad door latches and trunk locks too. which is why you customize them! put better stuff where the original was ****. identifying WHERE they used the **** parts is the FUN part....

and i'd take my POS '51 coupe back TODAY if i could.

 

The shoebox in my album had it happen too... Lucky I wasn't going too fast.