Can someone please educate me on '32 hoods? I see there are 20 & 25 louver hoods. And some of the 25 louver hoods have a few closed louvers, while others don't. Is this a 4 cyl. vs. 8 cyl. thing or what? I see original 25 louver hoods bringing big money, is there a good reason why? Are the Rootlieb hoods of good quality, or should I pursue an original? Thanks for your help! Evil Clown
The original 25 vent hoods have the wider openings and longer vents ... Original 25 vent 32 Ford hood ... 20 vent hood ... On August the 18th 1932 ... Henry Ford came out with the 25 vent hood. It was to be installed on V8 equipped 32's going to warm climates. The 25 vent repros ... are no where near close enough to p***. If they are worth the $$$ difference ... Only you and your pocket book can determeine that ... I have original 25 vent hoods on both of my 32's ... The current stupid money prices on original 25 vent hoods could go a LONG WAY ... on getting a 32 on the road ... I just glad I got mine before they went real stupid $$$ wise
Deuce Roadster, Thanks for the help! For my purpose and budget, I'll probably end up with a Rootlieb . . . unless I get lucky!
There are still some very decent deal's out there on the 20 louver hood's, even here on the HAMB. I bought one off another HAMBer last year for 400, top and both side's in near mint condition....might not be a bad idea to throw a post in the wanted section for a bit just to test the waters.. Although, buying new sure is easier Good luck no matter what ya do. Tony
From what I can tell the Rootlieb hood is spot on the same as an original. I don't understand but suspect some people are paying stupid money for what they think are originals for repops. Yes, the first and last louvers on originals and repopped twenty-five louver hoods are blocked off. I've thought about burying a repop for six months then put in on ebay with a $1000 reserve but won't but bet someone has.........
the repop 25 louver hood all louvers are the same size, on the original 25 louver hood 2 louvers are shorter on the end.
The way I see it : The 20 Vent hood is the 1 to use . Because :The guys who dezigned the`32 Ford did an EXCELLENT job !! They tried out a 18 vent-hood , then they tried out a 22 vent , but ended up with a 20 vent because it looked just right ! The 25 Vent-hoods where late production stuff that ignored the original dezign , They where added in hope to keep the boiler cool. ( as HotRodFreak said ! ) Klaz
TRUE ... SORT OF ... Original 20 vent hood ... all the same length Repro 25 vent hood ... just a 20 vent with a few more vents ... New style repro hood ... with the two front vents shorter. ( above ) The newer repro still does not have the vents as open as much as a original hood. As you can see in the above photo ... the original 25 vents are opened up a LOT ... more like the 33 - 34 Ford hoods. I have done some " Southern Man country style testing " and the 25 vent hood helps the underhood ambient temperature by as much as 30 degrees. It is almost like running no hood sides at all ... temperature wise. Or this is true in the Hot, Humid muggy South ...
I talked to Rootlieb about 6 months ago and they said they were going to be producing a "stock" 25 louver hood this comming year.
I've been to the Rootlieb factory / plant. They make a 25 louver that is exactly the same as Henry's 25, it isn't difficult to reproduce flat panels as long as you make the tooling the same. You decide if you want to spend $3000 on a hood or not.
These images were taken from the Rootlieb site ... Close but no cigar. The Rootlieb has the first vent OPEN ... and we all know the first vent is closed on a original 25 vent hood. But they ( Rootlieb ) are very nice hoods ... and for the money ... you get the added cooling benefits of a 25 vent hood without the expense of buying a original and THEN straightening it good enough to use ... after 75 years of use.
I just sold a very nice orriginal 20 louver on Ebay for 561.00, just for your info. But I have seen them up twards the 1000.00 area before on the same site as well....
so what your saying is that most all 4 cylinders had the 20 louver hood? if so how close are the rootleib 20 louver hoods? just incase someone might be building a 4 banger 32 eventually
I gotta go along with Randy on this one,,,,I have an original 25 louver hood on my truck and a Rootlib 25 louver hood on my 4 door and they ain't nothing alike,,,granted the Rootlib hood has 25 louvers but the simularity stops there,,,, Henrys hood has the front and rear louver blank,,,not cut out,,,,and Henrys louvers are much more open,,enough to stick your fingers. HRP
Only V8 equipped vehicles going to WARM CLIMATES got the 25 vent hood ... and that's after August the 18th 1932. As with anything Ford ... there is not a hard line absolute rule. All of the 400 or so 1932 Ford sedan delveries ( which were all made in October 1932 ) came with the 25 vent hoods. I know of a original 35 thousand mile 1932 Fordor ... 4 cylinder that has been in the same family since new ... it has a 25 vent hood. The owners SAY it has never been changed ... But who ... really ... knows ?? Maybe Henry was out of 20 vent hoods and a 25 got installed ... the Fordor mentioned does have a late production, high serial number ... so it COULD have happened that way ... I just do not know. As far as a 20 Vent Rootlieb ... they are nice ... But I have NEVER seen a repro part as nice as the stuff Henry made. Which is sort of funny ... because of all the new advances in manufacturing and metal working. .
thanks for the input gotta agree with you on this statement....if you can make it wrong...why cant you make it right? oh well.... thanks Zach
As close as you live to Carlisle and Hershey ... I would never consider a repro hood ... but that's just me. IF I was building a fibergl*** car ... or a repro Brookville car ... I would most definately buy a repro hood. What's the big deal the rest of the car is repro ... why not the hood also. If I was building a original Henry Ford steel car ... I would go to extreme measures to keep the sheet metal all Henry ... Sort of like the fit issues and early/late production problems I am fighting on my 32 3W ... I have been thru this stack ... trying to get a good one ( from Henry ) that fits great and will match the drivers side. The stack for the drivers side is even LARGER
A few tears ago, Bill Orourke at the Roadster Shop her in Illinois showed me a 25 louver henry hood that had much deeper louvers than the standard hood. He thought it was called a Denver hood. Henry had an overheating problem, which is why you'll see 4 cylinders with 25 louver hoods as someone said above.The relief on the louvers was about 5/16 deeper than a regular hood. You could see right thru the hood. He ran it on his 32 panel. Looked way cool, the only one I've ever seen.
All Henry Ford 25-louvers have a deeper louver that you can see through. NONE of the repros do. If you care, you can tell. If you don't care, there's no helping you.
A heads up for anyone looking to buy a new hood - I just ordered a new style 25 louver Rootlieb hood from Yogi's in Iowa. They are on sale (only until yearend) for $427.50! With shipping it was just under $440 to my door! It might not be an exact reproduction, but for the price it'll work for me. Thanks to everyone that shared information here! Thanks, Evil Clown
Alchemy, the hood i described was a rare henry hood with louvers deeper than a regular 25 louver factory hood.You can see thru a 25 at an angle, this one was visible looking almost staight from the side. We measured the depth of the louver and its deeper than henrys 25.Keep your eyes out for one.
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