Technical Help With My Hood Please

So the time has come to order a one piece hood from Rootlieb for my project car and I need some advice. I followed the instructions provided by them and measured the cutout of the radiator fill to the cowl at 33". Note: this is not a stock 34 ford, it is a Speed 33 body, Rootlieb has a cowl from the boys at ASC to mock up against and a 34 grille so this isn't rocket science...except I am not NASA and don't have their pockets...that and there is a hole in the middle of the hood. This needs to be one and done. Rookie alert, I have not done this before.
I measured the spacing at 33" which is the stock opening from cowl to filler recess. Difficult, as there are 3 carbs in my way.


Please correct me if you think this is wrong, my feelings won't be hurt as bad as my wallet if I mess this up.
I taped up the gap as instructed,

I used some butcher paper provided by the Butcher Boys in the 'couve, excellent meat if you are in the neighborhood, by the way. I recommend the buffalo pepperoni sticks, had a couple on my way home tonight. Haven't started to buck yet.

I am not 100% certain if I have that right where the hood meets the cowl at the bottom? Please chime in.
From the 3/4 side;

from the front;

from birds eye view, I cut this hole 14" x 6" now that I see this picture I think I need more length, suggestions needed. May be the camera perspective.

grille/filler peak;

Cowl view, is this where the hood comes down to??

This aint a cheap purchase, all input will be appreciated greatly. I plan to run a row and a half of louvers on either side (see below). This is a huge element to this car so please advise me...other than remove the Stromberg's and run a Holley under the hood, that ship has sailed (no ***anic jokes).

This is the look I am after thanks to Vespaholic's postings and ***istance.

I welcome all input, I will order next week so I have the weekend to make this right and tight.
Thanks everyone.

 

I'd pull the carbs and get a good flat layout, measurements with paper.

If you have hinges, use some light plywood or luan to mock up the flat top portion of your hood and verify carb cutout and clearance as the hood swings up. You don't want to get interference once it's in steel.

I'm not familiar with Rootleib, do they build from the paper template?

 

On the back of the Hood at the cowl ,you need to have your paper raised up so it meets the line of cowl edge ,or you are going to have your bead too high,if that makes any sense.

 

It may be the angle of the pics. Or it may be that your motor isn't centered exactly in the frame. But to me from looking at the pics, it doesn't look like ya got the cutout exactly centered side to side and front to back.
Did ya strike a centerline down the paper hood and split the measurements side to side for the cutout? And are you centering the cutout front to back based on the carbs or the aircleaners?
Just my thoughts. Good luck!

 

I suggest you get some card stock and make a hood that fits EXACTLY from that. It will probably take about a half dozen attempts, but it is needed to have a precise product. The card stock (basically single thickness cardboard that isn't corrugated) will be stiff enough and probably hold some shape after you "bend" it. You can make your first rough attempts by taping/stapling sections together, say you make a really great fit around the grille, then staple it to a really great fitting section around the carbs. It should also be sandable to fine tune the edges. Then after you have got the shape down, trace it to a new single sheet and cut that sheet perfectly. Roll it up and ship it to Rootlieb.

Card stock is way cheaper than buying another hood from Rootlieb. Find an art supply store and get it there.

 

It might be cheaper in the long run to haul it to Centralia and have Swedberg make it for you.
Swedberg Custom Metal
2446 Salzer Valley Rd,
Centralia, WA 98531

(360) 736-6548

 

Hi, woke up a bit under the weather today so it took me some time to respond.
indyjps, yes, right on their website they say they have been building hoods off butcher paper for years with no issues.
Rod1, I understand and I will see if I can pull that up to get an accurate measure.
Pat59, the motor is centered in the frame and I did strike a center line. I pieced so many pieces of paper together that it does make it look off center.
Alchemy, I like that idea. the paper is hard to trim accurately.
Johnboy34, I am only an hour south of Centralia, I don't know Swedeberg. I'll call and check him out. Thank you.

These are all great suggestions, and exactly what I requested.

 

No suggestions here but your car is goin look awesome . on another thread the other day there was a picture of louvers that had a peak to them and would look great on that hood. Sorry ,can't remember ***le of thread.

 

Billy
You won't get better advice than what @Johnboy34 gave here.
Don't know how long you have lived in the area, but Al has had quite a following of his craftsmanship for many years.
At the very least, it may be worth a drive just to ask Al how you might go about this even if you have Rootlieb do the work.
I found out how easy it is to not get what you ordered with custom stuff like this.
Don't get me wrong, Rootlieb is an extremely capable and reputable vendor, but somehow when I ordered a hood from them for my roadster (one inch longer than stock and with a catalog part number), it somehow was off from fitting right, so things do happen.
Rootlieb stepped up and made a new one (no charge) and shipped it no charge, and it fit perfectly. They didn't even want the other hood back, I sold it at the Portland Swap Meet.

 

Thanks again Denny. When I called Rootlieb before the holidays they said they have a cowl that American Speed gave them to build hoods off of and a stock grille so my paper template didn't have to be correct at the cowl or the radiator but the hole on the middle made me nervous last night, thus the posting.

I called and left Swedeberg a VM, I am looking forward to hearing back from him. I'm all for working local if possible.

Denny, whay do you think about the carb hole and louvers? Too much, or can be cool if done right?

 

i like the carb hole but i think i would open it up to give more room for engine movement. plus if it is not exactly centered it won't show as bad........

 

I went out and re-checked the mounts side to side and they are spot on. Could be the blower or the carb adapter, there are a lot of pieces in between the air scoops and the mounts. But I do agree that a bigger hole would make the issue less notable and give me room to hinge it.

Hinges are a whole other matter.

 

Update:
I took the advice and council from Johnboy34 and DDDenny above and hauled the roadster to Centralia last week to get my hood made. Swedberg had it for a just under a week and built an incredible hood for my car. To say it fits tight and right is an incredible understatement.

We didn't louver it yet, I left a bit of "say so" to the artist and he didn't think it needed them. Easy to add but not so easy to take away, he suggested staring at it for a while. Swedberg also said that if I needed them it would be a different story. But since my car has no side panels and a gaping hole in the center, the louvers serve no purpose and he doesn't like doing things like louvers that serve no purpose. Jury is still out so ill welcome you opinions.

Here's a couple of pics I did last night after getting the car home and squirting some gibbs on the bare steel.
Its hard to see from these angles but the carb cutout and scoop area is raised in the front and lower in the rear.
Very tight around the grille and cowl.

body line matches the car perfectly. These speed 33 bodies have a slightly larger belt line so the hood needed the same treatment, the line still tapers like the stock one but is a bit more pronounced if you are paying close attention. For a fender-less car, it is elegant with the hood.

3 97's all in a row and out in the fresh air. The hood is a lift off for now until I can create an appealing way to hinge it from one side. At that point I will likely put some small velocity stacks on it to clear the hood easier. For now this look is crazy.

That is some sweet metal work. Raised, rolled, ridiculous. Without the HAMB I would not have known of Swedberg's talents. Thanks guys!

Louvers? No Louvers?

 

No Louvers is my vote

 

no louvers

that is some nice work

 

36-3window, the guy is uber talented. I already have a couple of local buddies contacting him to hire him out on their hot rods. Without the HAMB I would have never known and he was just 80 miles away from me.

 

I agree on no louvers. I think louvers would detract from that beautifully done metalwork.

Mick

 

Very cool!

 

I am sensing a trend here. I'm glad he ignored me and left the louvers out. Thank you for your reply's!

 

I agree with the above "no louver" opinions as they would surely distract from the center of attractions....those three carb tops.

 

Louvers? No Louvers?[/QUOTE]

Normally, I'd be the first guy to say "louver it", and suggest you spend the wedge to ship it down to me, and let me take care of it for you..... But, if ya showed up at my place and asked me to louver it for you, I'd probably suggest you don't.

The metal work is Gorgeous! Everything fits, the cut out and raised section around the carbs is perfect, and even better and harder to do, fits the carbs to a "T".

Sometimes the hardest part in the search for perfection is know when to say "enough". If you were lacking the cut out, I'd say, ya. lets louver the hell out of it.... But where it is right now is just right. let the cut out, that *****in' little roll around carbs, and rest of the workmanship make the statement.

Job done, and more than done well!

 

Dude, now that's an endor*****t ^^^^!

 

I have to go with no louvers too. The hood (and the rest of the car too) is beautiful.

 

I'm happy for you, I knew if you went this route you would get more than you thought you would. I also have to agree " no louvers are needed " .

 

Looks like you got a very nice hood. I have to agree with no louvers. He is right, with no hood sides you aren't going to need them. This is a case where less is more. The raised section around the hole is a very nice detail, and with unnecessary louvers around it, it would be too much and take away from that nice detail.

 

Okay now I read it all, goin' delete, some of my ramble,
and you will meet a great new friend, now that you met ALYN.. He really loves this type of work and so good at it. He also does hinges well.

he wants to retire,, but first we have to clone him...

 

Actually, if I had known that you needed a hood, I could have done the job also. In saying that, I know you chose your Craftsman well and, knowing Al as I do, you got a quality job. By the way, the Rootlieb louver die is a flat, eighties looking thing, not a traditional domed style unit. My pal Bruce Geisler ordered a Rootlieb unit with louvers for his 34 3W and was not in love with it. I fixed his stock but damaged/mudded hood and put 48 Trad 3" louvers in it. (Thanks to Zapato, also) Much Better. Look forward to seeing your car at some local events. It looks like a beauty.....

 

Kiwi, I didn't know you did that. We should meet, I have a lot of car buddies in town looking for a good metal guy. One of my best buddies, Tim, owns the MAACO in the 'couve and he is looking at having some fenders bobbed for his dad's 30 5 window. PM me your contact information and I will hook you up with him. he is a good person to know.

Ill have this car in paint this winter and get Dave to sew the interior, driving it next summer is the plan.

Great comments, I appreciate the responses. My affiliation with you guys and this forum have had a major impact in my design of this car and of course the build of the blown flathead. I am glad I found you guys.

 

Just wait'll you get paint on it. You will revel in the restraint you demonstrated.