custom body work question

people who can weld a 50 chevy hood together and be metal finished both inside and out need to have a great deal of experience. look under the hood of 100 cars with this modification done to them and you might find one. I always look if the hood is open.

I'll first tell you how not to do it. don't make one inch welds every 5 inches and fill it all up with bondogl***. as shop owner I know actually did it this way for a paying customer. pretty sad. garanteed to crack or your money back.

I like the seam on my car, so I've never done it. if I were to do it first thing I'd do is media blast the seam to get it all squeaky clean.

I don't know if this next step would even matter, but I think I'd drill some holes in the flange underneath and plug weld the two halves together. maybe at 5" intervals.

up top I'd do it one tack at a time starting at opposite ends. keep your tacks as far apart as possible. go slow. I'd have something else to do at the same time so you are not in a hurry to get to the next tack. it is very important to let the tacks cool, especially as you progress and there are hot spots all along the seam. if you can not comfotably touch it with your bare hand it is still too hot to tack nearby.

I'd tack the whole thing one tack at a time until it is solid before grinding. did I mention to take your time and go slow? heat is the enemy.

once it is all tacked together I like to use the edge of a disc on my 3" die grinder to grind down the weld. this way you grind only the weld and not the surrounding sheetmetal. this keeps things cooler as well as not thinnning the sheetmetal. again... do it in small increments. grinding can generate as much heat as the welder and warp your hood just the same.

I like to stack 2 or 3 thin discs together to give a little more width to my grinding area. it could also be done with the edge of your 4" electric grinder if you don't have the little air one. I like the small air one since you have better control.

did I mention heat is the enemy and touch it with your hand before moving to a new spot? thought so.

once the weld is ground down close to flush then use like 80 grit on your sander to refine it some more until it is all level. be sure to watch the heat and move around from onend of the hood to the next.

for the hood emblem holes cut out a metal plug to fit and weld that in and grind flush like the rest of the hood. same with the hood ornament holes. your hood latch is rivited on with 2 of the rivets under the hood emblem. I replaced the rivets with correct size bolts welded in before I filled the holes. if you don't know what I'm talking about you will see it when you remove the emblem

it would be best to do it on the car if you can.

that's what I'd do. your mileage may vary.

 

HEY!! I just noticed you're in the bay area. What are you doing this weekend?? j/k

 

Happy Hoppy's method will work just fine unless you're trying to build a show-winning car. And you're right - only '53 and '54 Chevies have that ridge in the front. With '49-52 you can just weld and fill.
And MIG welding can be just fine IF you take your time and let it cool between welds until you can touch it with a bare hand. An extra couple hours welding can save you a LOT of hours spent fixing whatever happens when you rush.
I did my '53 Chevy hood off the car, but the next one (a '51) I'll do on the car. It'll hurt my back more, but I won't have to worry about anything moving out of position while welding.

 

John Kelly is a god. a metal shaping god.

 

I'll be at p-ton, we've got a booth in one of the buildings.

 

So wouldn't the old school way to do it be to just lead the whole thing up?

These hoods do have a lot of flex in them, I was rather surprised with mine, you can bend it enough it won't latch without hurting anything. Mine does have a bit of the front brace nibbled out by some past owner for radiator clearance, but still it seems awful floppy - especially compared to say, the same year Pontiac hood, which has that depression down the middle for the stainless Silver Streak trim.

 

I love threads like this.

I love hearing how everyone would approach this project.I also like when the person who asked the question pays it back by photographing his progress and then showing it to the group. Nice job.

For me I would have bolted the hood all together hinges and latches.Then I would have even gaped the hood to my liking.I usually use a paint stick with three layers of masking tape around it to gauge my gap.

I would have left the the under flange on the hood all bolted up.To help hold the hood in it's proper shape.Then with the hood latched,I would have tacked it every inch.Starting from the center working outward,alternating sides with each tack.With one large tack on the bottom front of the hood.

Then I would work on removing the lip on the front of the hood.I would do this in two pieces.I would want to leave the large tack on the bottom attached to the very end,after I completed this patch including the bottom.When I say completed I just mean tacked every inch for right now.

Now that I have the whole hood tacked in place,my next step would be to cut out the inner flange with a cut off wheel.I will need that removed so I can metal finish my weld.

My first step would be to grind the proud of the weld on all of the tacks.Then using the dolly on method I would re-stretch each tack.It will only take a few light taps with your body hammer.When I say dolly on,what I mean is place your dolly right under the weld.Dolly on stretches,dolly off shrinks.

Then I would start in the center of the hood,fill in the inch of weld between the tacks.After every series of inch welds,I will grind down the proud of the weld and re-stretch the haz of the weld.(Haz) heat affected zone,the blue area.Again using the dolly on method.

This is just how I would approach it.Welding low crown panels such as hoods are a ***** so I like to keep up with it as I go.

Again great thread and your hood came out kick ***.You should be very proud.Plus you saved yourself a grand.

Take care

 

Hey,

I like Joe & David's ways the best, but here's how I do mine: First I remove the battery from the engine compartment if it lives there. I cover the card with the air cleaner and than make sure the front sheetmetal has panel gaps I can live with. I may, in the end, have to do alittle Porta-Power or pogo jack work after all is welded up, but this next step saves me alot of work. I add pieces of round stock all around the hood to fenders and cowl, jus' small tacks between the round stock and panels. This keeps any major heat build up, always a problem when welding large, low crowned panels, from causing major panel gap alignment problems. "Rockstar" tin alignment wasn't ever anything to write home to moma 'bout to begin with so why add to the problem! Next with the trim already removed, I grind a strip down the center of the hood 'bout 3''-4'' wide with a new 24 grit open coat grinding disc on a 9'' grinder. I don't grind sheetmetal with a 4'' grinder disc because they generate to much heat, and they are marketed primarly for women and bed wettin' momma's boys! Always grind low crowned sheetmetal with a new, sharp disc. Old, dull discs generate heat, and thus warpage! I next scribe a 1'' wide strip down the center of the hood, exactly centered over the seam. Rather than cut the panel completely in two with a cut-off wheel, I start at the back of the hood and remove a 2' section of the 1'' wide strip. I like handling these low crowned panels as a series of patch strips, rather than cut the panel completely in two because I can use the original flange and surrounding metal to help control warpage and alignment. I cut a strip of 18 ga. steel 1''X2' and add a crown with a hammer and dolly if the hood shape calls for it. I trim the piece to fit like a glove, I'm not a fan of large gaps in patches! Clamp and tack at 12''-6''-3''-1'' with .023 wire, not the larger wire, as larger wire takes more amps, thus more heat & chance of warpage. I don't finish weld before moving down to the next patch, but come close. After all the patcher are in and welded I remove the round stock and do any "repair" from welding and any shrinking necessary after all welds have been hammered are shrunk with a torch, I'd suggest you go with one of John's shrinking discs. Don't use alot of filler in any hood as they expand and contract a good deal.

S****ey Devils C.C.
"Spending A Nation Into Generational Debt Is Not An Act Of Comp***ion!"

 

that's the way to do it...

 

I was welding mine, went slow, got just about done and it popped. I used 5/16 round rod and a mig. Guess I'm impatient.

 

Happy,

I'm actually a metal shaping dog : )

John www.ghiaspecialties.com

 

damn dyslexia!