I had to dig out my hood to help me ensure I was mounting my grill shell at the correct height by matching up the body line. Good thing I did otherwise it would have been about an inch too high. But after a little more work it was dead on the money. Even though I had no intention of using my hood I wanted to make sure I built it to fit just in case one day I want to change it up. Since I had the hood out I got the crazy idea to try and do my own louvres. Back when I was a teenager circa 2005 and I had to take a hood for my boss to a guy in downtown Phoenix to get louvred and seeing his work and setup had me hooked on needing something with louvres someday. After a very short search on YouTube I found a great hour long video on making your own louvre stamp and die and his results looked impressive. So after a few hours with my band saw, belt sander, and a file, I had my tooling. I did a few test stamps on an old sign blank and seemed to work fairly well. Then it took a few hours to make my grid for the layout. Got to spend a couple hours on Thanksgiving doing the first side, but working off the ground I could only be hunched over for so long. I got out yesterday and finished off the other side. Still need to debur the edges and make a few small tweaks to a couple. They are far from perfect but I’m still proud of em. Fun little project! Thanks for checking it out
Nice bit of Handywork there @Tat2Neil...Theres been two Hambers here at least that made there own Louver Punches with admirable results...I know there were others but these two did Tech Threads...All Good careful with the sanding... Did you use a cut off saw to slot before punching? Maybe the Youtube you saw was Jerry I think he's on there...
Now that is traditional hot rodding. Making and doing things yourself. I do have a question though, how did you line up the stamp and die to punch the louver?
Jerry did the Cyclone Racer and I think the Rootbeer Colored Deuce 5 Window with his Handmade Hammer style punch...But the Die was a different profile...The principal of making it was similar...He cuts slots before Hammering and I suspect this Hamber did too he just didn't show it...
As you should be........this kind of work was the essence of early hot rodding. Maybe don't dress them up too much so that they retain the homegrown look rather than the professional perfect look..........and get a big smile on your face every time someone asks you who did them. Oh, forgot....you aren't going to actually use the hood......Are you?
Thankyou! Thank you much! I knew I wouldn’t have the capacity or space for a full size press, so I was very excited to see someone get such respectable results with a stamp and die, and I’m guilty of thinking if I can do about anything I set my mind too. And yessir I would cut a slot first then line up the stamp/die and bring the hammer down. Thank you Thank you! It was actually pretty fun, especially when you get results that you are pleased with makes it all the better! I used a 10# sledge hammer I picked up from Home Depot. Lemme tell ya, after picking that thing up 100+ times and hammering each louvre 4-5 times, my right arm was useless last night ha!
Appreciate that! Thanks! And first I would cut a slot with the thinnest cut off wheel I could get. Then I have a center line mark on my die, and the back side of the stamp, so I would line those up with the center line mark in my grid and hammer away. Then slide the hood down cut the next slot and re Many thanks! I only want to straighten out a couple to appease my perfectionist side, but the whole truck is pretty rough around the edges so it fits the aesthetic as is. And yea stogy nailed it, I like it too much now to just hang it on the wall, it’ll probably get used more often than not. Plus the louvres solved one of the main reasons I didn’t want to use the hood because it cast a big shadow over my beautiful hemi, but now they letplenty of light in so it still highlights the crown jewel of my build.
Perfectly imperfect. Really works and looks like it's been there forever. I hope that's the finished look. Chris
I dig it, great work man. Love home made simple things like this where you do it yourself.... Two Thumbs UP!!!!
Looks good and another great example to show that we don’t have to have fancy tools to do most of this stuff. Thanks for sharing.
I sure hope so haha! Thank you Thank you Nailed it, I want the ch***is and drivetrain to look like clean and new, but then have the body be old and crusty and left rough around the edges, hopefully driving peoples attention to the motor as it’s the star of the show. It makes me think of the possibilities of different shapes and sizes that could be made, but this simple clean look is my favorite I’m definitely working with very basic tools but it’s getting the job done! like the old saying, necessity breeds creativity! Much appreciated!
CrustyChevy beat me too it, that’s the video I watched definitely will be running this hood! It was just some cheapo’s from Amazon but I noticed they were a tad bit thinner than most, I can check the brand when I get home tonight.
The Jalopy Journal
