I have checked as much as I can into this but it seems that it is very difficult if not impossible to get factory hinges to close properly I am quite particular about hood , door closing and gaps and I need to buy hinges anyways so I guess the question is should I waste time and money on factory hinges that I will not be happy with or just go to a front tilt and if so which one ?

 

EBEAR

either fitting up those gaps or installing full tilt is a lot of work... this might help in your decision

http://jniolon.classicpickup.com/til...gfulltilt.html

just food for thought

john

 

The forward tilt hood is an easy install, I used the MMB kit on my panel and built my own for my pickup copying the one I bought..

 

Here's another option: HOOD HINGES 53-56 FORD F100 TRUCK MS149-90 | Eddie Motorsports

 

I'm not worried about the amount of work to get hinges to align ( 35 years in autobody ) it's just that some say its simply not possible to get them perfect and I need to purchase anyway so I guess the real question is can the stock hinges be made really good or is money and time spent on them wasted . The tilt is a little more than twice the money and yes the Eddie hinges are beautiful but $1000 for me and that's way more than I'm willing to spend

 

Where did you come up with the $1,000 number. Summit carries them for $550 https://www.summitracing.com/parts/EMS-MS149-90FM and there may be other vendors who do even better on the price. Be aware when you are aligning the hood (since you stated that you are OCD about gaps) the rear lip to cowl gap is considerably larger than the sides.

 

$ 550 American is $ 770 Cad + shipping +as much as $100 duty ( depending entirely how they feel at the time ) + 13% taxes so I'm probably low at $ 1000 if I double the American price it's usually real close . I can live with the gaps being a little different as long as they are even but some have mentioned that they will not " sit " on their own with out having to be pushed down and that I don't think I'd be ok with that . It sounds to me your saying that the stock hinges can be made to work well with enough patience ?

 

Wow, it's tough being Canadian. EMS hinges are not stock hinges, so no I am not saying anything about OEM hinges. That said, there are some dedicated bodymen who have made them work...the major issue is that the alignment procedure is counter-intuitive. I will look for the write-up that describes the procedure in detail. With the EMS hinge you have a gas strut instead of a clock spring. The clockspring has it's peak force at it's closed position...hood down. The gas strut is just the opposite, peak force when extended.

 

Yes I believe the EMS hinges also allow a higher hood lift which would be great as factory sucks which puts me inline for a hood tilt kit but I don't really care for the idea of having to lean on the fender to access the engine ( do you see my problem ? ) I'm cheep , I want great access to the engine , and I want it to close perfectly , did I mention I'm cheep . But in the whole scheme of things I already have $ 20,000 + into it and not 1/2 done so another $ 1000 for something that is a bit of a sticky point with me is probably not the worst money I've spent

 

Just another example of the luxury of being Canadian Charlie, I priced a box at Midfifty, $1600 +$1590 shipping, brokerage would be at least a couple hundred bucks + the 13 % tax and on top of all that there is the exchange rate of approximately 36 %. Needless to say they got to keep their box...lol

 

Wow, I had no idea. The ex-wife's family is in Vancouver, I was up there in 1982 and about all I remember was Stanley Park, butter tarts, and codeine meds being sold over the counter. I had a great time. I have a timeshare in Palm Springs and every year that we are there there are always Canadians visiting. Very gracious folks. I guess it all boils down to big government ain't cheap.

 

Sad thing is we wouldn't get any more for our trucks if we sold them even though it cost damn near twice as much, good thing we like what we're doing...lol

 

Does anyone know for sure if the EMS hinges lift the hood higher ?

 

Your question is a little vague but given that your user profile indicates that you have a 53 F100 I will assume that you are asking if the EMS hinges will lift the hood higher than your stock 53 hinges. Next question is where are you measuring the height of the hood...at the cowl or at the front? 53-55 slant cabs all have the same slope to the windshield. However, the 56 windshield is more vertical and the slope is steeper than on the slant cabs. How this is relevant to the hood hinges is that the geometry of the arms on the hinge is different for the 56. This is necessary to keep the rear edge of the hood away from the windshield as the hood is lifted. The 56 arms are longer which causes the path of the hood to change and thus lifts the back edge of the hood higher. The 56 hinge parks the hood in exactly the same position as the slant cab when closed. All this discussion about the differences in the 53-55 and the 56 hood hinges does have a point...the point is that the EMS hinge uses the 56 geometry. This means that if you mount the EMS hinge on your 53 then you will lift the back of the hood a bit higher than it would have lifted with the stock 53 hinges. There are stops built into the EMS hinge to limit the lift so you don't have that weak stopping point as you do with the OEM hinge. I know that many of us have lifted the hood, stuck our heads into the engine bay and then pulled out only to find that the hood sagged and caught us in the back of the head. Gas struts eliminate this "undocumented feature" of the clockspring design. Hope this helps...

 

Yes Charlie thanks my bad I should have been more specific "1953" the stock hinges don't lift the front much ie engine access and being the truck will be much lower than stock I was just wondering if the ems hinges give any more lift at the front they are a lot of money and quite a bit more than a tilt which is a lot more than new stock .I don't have access to a properly working stock setup so I must purchase something and I'm just trying to eliminate multiple purchases . PS did I mention I'm cheap