guys, im gonna start sunday on trying to figure out how to flip my front end. for the guys that have done it what can you tell me about bracing the sheet metal and anything. what am i getting myself into? by the way its a '49 f-1.
thanks for all the help thus far too.

 

There are several considerations to flipping a steel front end. First you must bolt the hood to the fenders in such a way as to preserve the gap so that it fits correctly. Second, you'll need a substantial hinge and way to attach it to the front end that will support the weight of the fenders in both the open and closed position since you'll no longer have the cowl attachment and support rods to keep everything in alignment and prevent sagging. Third You'll need to cut the inner fenders to clear the cowl and the outer fenders to leave the rear sections attached to the cowl, so there's no turning back without replacing or repairing the cut parts. It's possible to leave the outer fenders one piece, but then it will require two people to guide the ends of the fenders to keep from scraping the cowl. You'll also need to fabricate some sort of guide and/or latch system to keep the 2 halves of the fenders aligned or to keep the one piece fenders from moving and scraping the cowl while your driving. The biggest consideration tho is the weight of all that heavy metal. Are you going to be able to physically lift it up to the tilt position, and how stable is it going to be once it's up there, and what about letting it down again? Most tilt front ends are done with fiberglass replicas, not with steel parts. The PO I bought my panel from had the flip front end done by the owner before him undone and the hood rehinged with stock hinges because he found the steel flip front too unweildy to deal with safely. Fortunately for me they hadn't cut the pristine front fenders, unfortunately they had cut the inner fenders. The chrome front hinges are still in place at the present moment.

 

John Niolon has a good bunch of info on this:

http://www.clubfte.com/users/jniolon...gfulltilt.html

I bookmarked it a while back.
Norb

 

Actually the front end is not that heavy. I have a 1950 Ford F1 that I got with the front end already unbolted. It still has the entire grill there and the headlights. Steve and I lifted it off today boy it made the backing plates and hubs easy to remove and it was not bad at all. I bet it does not weigh 100 lbs maybe 75? What do you thing Steve? I think it would be interesting. I would have to put together a good system so I could slide the front end out then tilt it forward. Maybe put a slot in the frame for a few pieces of flat steel to slide in that are attached the front end. Get a piece of strap steel bent to the shape of the slot for a wider sliding area. Put Teflon around the bolt to allow it to slide easy. Maybe use a bushing that would roll on the bolt in the slot. The weld a couple of pieces of angle iron to the inside channel of the frame for the steel to slide in also. Kind of like how an old drawer slide. Then line the angle iron with teflon for easy sliding also. I think it would be a very sturdy and reliable sliding system.

 

Some one at the super nationals last spring had built a tilt front end on an F-1
that slid forward to clear the cowl using some heavy duty drawer glides. I've been toying with a flip hood using garage door rollers and track as guides and that probably could be adapted to a tilt front end. Don

 

I've often thought of using a large version of one of those glass door latches that you click, and then they "pop" out to support the ends of the fenders. You could use a solenoid, like one of those door popper maybe? With a skid on it so it supports the in-tact fender as it passes the cowl maybe?

Also, what about a bumper that is filled with lead to counter balance the weight of a steel front end? Or springs to pull it over center?

Just goofy ideas... I've never built one, but I have thought about ways to improve one on a friends' '53.

Sam.

 

The garage door track idea has merit I think. Angle the front end of the track so the roller drops down maybe an inch to act as a positive stop/rotation point, or maybe just cut a notch in the bottom of the track that a portion of the roller would drop into, kinda like a wheel chock so the front end would pivot back down before sliding back. You could start with a small notch and keep enlarging it until you got just the right amount of resistance. I wonder just how far forward it needs to go to clear the cowl. Would still need some sort of latch at the bottom of the fenders to keep them from flapping in the breeze? One feature of the roll forward kits I've seen is the kinda poorly engineered look of the guide for the back end of the assembly as it moves away from the cowl. Most use some sort of track in the area of the stock hinges. I'd want something less obvious. depending on how long a forward distance is needed, two ideas come to mind: a horizontal rod on each side under the rear edge of the fender that slid into a receiver tube in the cowl (a similar but shorter one could also be used at the bottom of the fender to hold it in place.) all that you readily see is a small hole in the cowl on eack side, or a roller at the bottom of the inner fender that rolled on the frame or a plate or channel on top the frame.

 

Sam I beleave the guys at the s/nats uses some sort of screw drive arrangement on a motor mounted in a short piece of fender which remained attached to cowl. That would also act as a positve lock withthe hood down.
I see the drawin board coming back out.
axracer, Lets just say that I were to loose my mind and decide to do a steel front hood filp, I'd be forced to take the fenders to a metal fab shop and have then roll a piece to add along the cut on both sides,as support it and to add strength.

 

go fiberglass

 

i personally tried to use the original metal body pieces and it was just to heavy to work with so i bought the fiberglass front end from us body for my 78 f250. its came alittle more ruff straight from the mold than i would have liked but o well. the hinges they send with it are junk so i made my own the work great from an old set of spring hangers and a set of drop shackels i got from a lowering kit straight from pep boys

 

one problem i seem to run into in the core support for the radiator

 

As a teenager in the 60's I owned a 53 Henry J with a tilt front that I drove on the street and occasionally at the strip. I guess I have been heavily influenced by the gassers of the 60's and I really enjoyed the tilt front when it came to working on the engine.

My 55 F100 has a fairlane one piece front end. Hopefully when I'm finished it will open and close without scraping off paint and remain aligned. I've tried to build some adjustability into it so that misalignments can be take care of. I like axracer's ideas on alignment methods when it closes. Still haven't decided how I will open and close it. I've looked at electric actuators, I already have a convertible top hydraulic system, or I may just go with good old manual opening.






I didn't want any kind of support rods for the rad support, so I welded up a cradle for the radiator to sit in. I fabricated a stainless surround that bolts to the cradle and holds the radiator in position. I used rubber cushions inside the surround to isolate the radiator from direct contact with any metal.



I've still got a lot of details to work out, but it all seems minor, considering that I've changed so many things on my truck that there's not much left that's original. Moving farther to the Darkside you know.

 

<a href="http://s720.photobucket.com/albums/ww209/wheelnbronco/?action=view&current=Picture1_043.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i720.photobucket.com/albums/ww209/wheelnbronco/Picture1_043.jpg" border="0" alt="custom hinge"></a>

 

it was just made from the rear spring hanger, some 1in square stock, one u bolt plate and a drop hanger from a lowering kit. with some welding thats what i came up with.

 

Drewski, Welcome. That's some nice work!