building a roadster hood from aluminum

been thinking about this for along time, but i've finially got a plan and most the materials i need.
basic plan is to build a hood that matches the aluminum carson top.
a few pics to get the thread going; any ideas/input welcome...... i don't consider myself a metalworker....

 

Heres a little thread on my hood build..Im going to update it soon when i get the car outside...hope it helps! In my experience so far you cant overplan it!
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=452336

 

so i must have strung tape 20 times on from the firewall to the grill..... (i've done this a year ago also......)
i can't get everything i want; i want the dual side panels with louvers that open with 2 hinge points each. and i want to follow the body lines of the doors/bed....
I'd like to have one hinge down the middle but want 3 aircleaners sticking through the hood i think cutting the hindge in 3 places will weaken it too much. and gotta be structually sound 120 mph plus...

the lower hinge is so far down the grill i think it looks odd (any thoughts) plan is to cover with cardboard soon and get a better look.

so i've cleco'ed and rivited hinges to aluminum angle, it making a pretty firm start to the structure......

i decided to build a skeleton first and then skin over it, don't know if this is a good idea or not.

 

Built my hood, used .063 aluminum. Rolled it around a oxygen cylinder with a piece of wood to keep it straight. Bending was tough by hand with .063. A friend built his racecar body out of .050 aluminum around a pickup step/nerf bar.

 

Denny, always great talking to you..... i like the "brainstorming". Here's some pictures of the aluminum with holes in it i have. I'm 99% sure the one piece is going to be used for the 32 grill.

Koz, I think i'll be making it your way a few time times this summer. i wanna see your new hotrod.

 

I like the center filler strip.

 

It ending up being shaped like that because i wanted the side hinges parallel to each other.
I also tried to make the center section the most structure part, i made a pretty good way to mount it. underside view shows i might have alittle over built.....





I thinking of different ways to secure the hood side down. I like the idea of using canvas or leather.

i'm thinking of using something like these; 2 on each side. don't someone make something similiar but with a spring?

any other ideas for latches etc..... appreciated

 

Yeah, you can barely see the spring part at the bottom of this pic:


I think I have 'em bookmarked somewhere, I'll look and see.

 

little progress.......

 

So far its looking really good. We've done the center as a filler strip a few times before with good results. I really feel like I can't give you any advice because as you're progressing its looking great. Just keep heading in that direction. I like the latches on that I6 car a few posts back, I think they'll match the rest of your car.

 

Looks good so far. I'll be watching this one.

 

'53 f3,The springs and other parts you need are at Restoration stuff .com.The hardware and springs,leather, buckles etc. ....Jobob