Customs Ladies & Gentlemen... Latch Your Hoods!

A buddy with a heavily modified '65 Satellite was doing last minute prep before taking it to a large MoPar show in the state. After thoroughly cleaning the engine compartment, he decided to take it for a quick trip around the block before doing the final cleaning of the car before the show (which he was leaving for the next day). As he shifted into second, he noticed the hood flutter and realized that he had forgotten to replace the two hood pins that held the hood shut. As he hit the brakes, the hood popped up and the corner hit the top of the driver's fender, denting the fender and spiderwebbing the paint in the corner of the hood. Needless to say, he was pretty upset. There was no time to properly repair the fender and limited time to fix the hood, but we did what we could to get things looking as good as possible. The hood was touched up but we didn't have the time to fix the fender. What to do! It was me that came up with the solution... we took a stuffed Garfield and parked it right on top of the dent as soon as we arrived at the show and put the hood up! That old stuffed car sat there the entire show, through the judging and inspection by a few hundred spectators and no one ever knew. At the end of the day, he collected trophies for Best Modified and Best Of Show!

What happened to your Poncho definitely ****s..... glad to see the damage was limited to where it was and you were able to get stopped safely. I wouldn't bother looking for a Garfield to try to cover THAT damage, though!

 

Wholy ****! sorry about your ride glad you are ok,had one fly up on a vehicle I was hauling once felt like someone put the air brakes on.

 

had the hood fly up on my chopped chevy years ago.i too had a problem with it unlatching to the saftey but never all the way.tried every adjustment and new spring and latch.turns out the lower pan that the latch brace is bolted to was flexing because i had modified it when i moved the rad ahead.check the flex in the pan,sorry about your car.

 

ouch!!! that ****s

 

I think that will buff out.....

 

I had mine come up at about 20-25 mph. bent the corners... Sorry about your car man. that ****s major.

 

Fortunately I learned that lesson in a Honda, not a 50 Poncho... Sorry bout your luck, Im sure you'll get her fixed up.

 

I would have been scared ****less before the hood opened going that fast in a VW !!!

 

Ouch, thats worse than a slap in the face from a pretty woman

 

Only thing worse is it could have happened on the way back from polishing. Glad you were o.k.

 

I had that happen with my Dads 60 Chevy truck. It is very scary. We rebuilt the truck after that. It was a fun project.

 

Got a new hood on it, just need a windshield now

 

Will you be going with a one piece? I personally like the split window.
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One piece is cheaper, more desired, and custom....... but i prefer the split too, so i will be going back with the two-piece again ... you just dont see cars with a split windshield anymore!!

Do you have any suggestions for good gl*** places in reno that can deal with the 50s cars?

 

I always ran a chain and padlock on my car hoods after losing a battery one winter night to a thief. I did have a hood pop once on my '65 Belair, but not all the way. I was glad I had the chain in place, real cheap insurance although an inconvenience when you want to open the hood quickly.

Bob

 

Good! Especially with the trim on the Pontiac, which is so center dominate.
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YES! Eric's in Sparks... I will try try to find you a link.
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Okay cool man, thank you!!

 

Okay, he does not have his own website, but you need to take a visit to him at:
Eric's Mobile Gl*** 715 Bergin Way Sparks, NV 89431 (775) 849-1233
This is off of McCarran, heading South from the freeway left onto Glendale (as if you were heading to Summit Racing) first left, and first left into an Industrial Park, on into the back, he is like the second to the last unit from the back on the right hand side. No Signage.
Awesome guy, knows his stuff, 30+ years in the business, and probably the lowest price you will find around. Give him a call, and then a visit.
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Awesome. I really appreciate it

 

I also had that happen to me...with a Pontiac too. Mine was a 55 and the hood actually came completely off the car, flew over into the median. I scored a good used hood in the same color. Some good samitarian propped the hood up and I saw it a few days later but it was too bent up to mess with.

 

That really ****s, she looked like a real beauty.

Im just glad my hood gets buckled on with leather straps, its hard to miss one of 'em not being done.

 

Note to self,.... Double check hood latch

 

Oh, and when you're down there, ask him about the Studebaker that his Buddy is building up in the the shop right across from his...

 

Never, never trust the secondary latch...

Take a piece of plastic-wrapped cable, fasten loops in both ends with those smashable lead closures. Take a couple of old Chevy U-joint brackets-the one's with the half inch nuts on them, bolt one to the bottom side of the hood, then slip the cable loop around the bottom one, bolt it to the pan or frame...then close the hood allowing room for your arms and hands, slip a padlock into the upper u-joint and the other loop on the cable, close the padlock and close the hood...you'll never have to worry about the secondary latch again...and seldom worry about someone strange opening the hood of your car...

R-

 

Yow! I've worried about that with my '47 Willys because when I'm going down the highway, I can tell by the bulge in the hood that there is a terrific amount of air pressure under there. The force being generated is evident in your pictures. Sorry for your mishap, Streamliner, but I'm glad that you and your car will live to ride again There could have been a much more tragic ending to this story. I may do something similar to what 40StudeDude is saying... can't hurt

 

Dude this ****s. I am glad you were not seriously injured.

I have a bad feeling this could happen to the 51 ford I just purchased. The latch is problematic.

Some one mentioned that this has come up before and that several latches as replacement has been suggested. I have done a search on this topic and have not found anything yet. The search results were extensive. Would some one be kind enough to point this beginner to a build that describes this replacement process or the list of suggested replacement latches? I really do appreciate it.

 

That is a really good idea, and could be modified a bit more to accommodate a lock if one wanted to get really anti-theft and such.

 

Mine blew open on the highway a few days ago. I've been pretty bummed about it, so I might as well spill it too. I'm pretty sure I latched mine. It's the round spring kind. I don't have a secondary safety latch but I want one now. It stopped short of hitting the gl*** but my hinges need to be readjusted and what really bums me out is I see a spot on the p***enger side hinge where the fender is bent up a bit. Also put a three inch scratch on the top of the p***enger side fender. You really wouldn't notice that the hood is kinda up in the back but it's up at least an inch. I'm still sick about it. I can get it all fixed but if I had just added even a chain as a secondary this would not have happened.

 

That ****s. Nice car. That has happened to me a few times. But then I have a 57 Ford. Now if I were going in reverse too fast........

 

I still need to add something because I'm afraid of doing this again sometime in the next 20 years that I plan to drive this car around.

I'm thinking I'd use something like a carabineer and a short plastic-coated cable.

From McMaster Carr:


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