This may be a long shot but from what I've seen in here ya never know...The hood on my truck is the worst part. The PO didn't realize or care that the upper latch panel wasn't right so he kept smacking the hood down (standing on the bumper because I saw him do it once) until after years of the same it just wore out. The front of the hood was into a pole at some point. The rest of the hood is in super shape. Does anyone have a hood thats rusted out or no good in the back part? I would like to repair this one by grafting the nose and the stiffening angle that the rubber bumpers go on to my hood. Here is a pic....



It's like that on both sides so I'm planning on cutting out the bad part. The very front of the nose has damage that wasnt fixed so they just filled it. What do yall think?

Thanks,
Wayne

PS.....gonna give the truck a try tomorrow and hopefully I'll be driving!!

 

Have to strip it and see just what it needs first. Might be easier to repair what you have than to graft on a major section.

 

yeah stripping it would be best but I'm not in a position to keep spending large money on this thing. I saw how Larry did his hood and figured I could make me a plate and tie it in like that...while I'm at it I could just made one repair and weld one section on. There are a couple places on the truck that need minor repair but that would cause me to need a repaint. I absolutely can't do that right now. Honestly wouldn't fool with this except for the fact I can't drive down the road without the hood secured. After the last few weeks of tires, fuel pump, alternator, coil, fuel lines...etc....I'm kinda feeling the nerves of spending money I really shouldnt be spending. I actually stepped away from the thing for a few days just to think about stuff. Managed to just make me more depressed. Had to get out of house today and get some air. I tend to isolated during these times so not good. I would LOVE to have internet at home so I could read this board and all you guys threads when I want....Sorry I went OT.

 

I don't understand. Either way, you're going to have to do some stripping. If you want a front of a hood to use a patch panel you're going to have to strip the hood to weld the new piece on.
If it were me the first thing I would do is tweak the hood hinges and hood pin so that the hood closed properly. Step 2 would be to look at the hood and see how far the stress cracks go. Step 3, try to fix it.
Strip off a small area of paint around the cracked area and try your hand and welding it back together.

You'd have a lot more success fixing a few stress cracks and/or replacing the whole hood as opposed to welding on a new nose......just saying....

Bobby

 

For now, just adjust it so it isn't getting worse and let it ride.

 

What Bobby said. No matter what repair you do, including replacing the hood, it's going to require stripping and painting. You don't have to strip the entire hood, just the damaged area(s) until you get to solid metal to see just what metalwork is needed. A rattlecan or two can cover the repair work until you can get the hood properly repainted. If the paint is not a 2 part mix you can have a custom rattlecan made of the matching paint at most any automotive paint store, or if it is a 2 part have a small amount of a single part mixed to match the existing paint (they can use a special scanner to scan your truck to even match any weathering or fade) then use that to fill a rattlecan. The touchup will be mostly only noticable to you.

Trust me, replacing patches up to 12" x12" or even larger will be easier than grafting on an entire nose. Unless you can find a donor hood to cut up locally, the shipping cost would make it more sense to just find a complete good replacement hood that doesn't need body work.
Your hood doesn't have many compound curves so making your own patches isn't too bad a job. If you were closer I'd help you with it, it would be fun!

 

thanks for the response.... ok i didn't explain this good enough. My hood opens and closes perfectly. It's just been slammed enough that the upper latch panel had nothing to attach to. The bottom flange of the hood is gone. So i have no way to keep the hood secured while driving. As in the upper latch isn't there. The actual upper latch panel is also in good shape. I just have nothing to attach it to. Also i know I'll have to strip part of the hood. I just don't want to do the entire thing right now. The very front nose like i said is crumpled.....under the bondo.

 

Two words: bungee cords!!!

(Just trying to inject a bit of humour, please don't take offense)

 

Like I said the repair would be fun and not difficult.

 

none taken. ya know why? cause that's what's holding it now! lol!

 

I think I've got those sections of a hood in storage. But it might be a couple weeks before I could get to them.

 

Somebody on eBay just bought a whole batch of trucks and front clips in Clayton, NC for $3,250 (see attached). You might want to contact the buyer through eBay messaging and see if he would sell you a hood for a good price. I would think that he would rather do that than try hauling them away.

 

Thanks Pete!! I'll give it a shot.

edit.....I sent the seller a message to give my info to the buyer. Ebay hides the buyers info so I couldnt seem to get that info. We will see what happens. Thanks again.