my stock hinges are siezed solid and we all know the problem with these hinges anyway. I`m looking for a set of hinges or ideas on how to build a set, i don`t really want to resort to building a reverse tilt hood for this truck seems like everybody has one these days, and to me looks better with the lid opened the stock way instead of being reversed.

 

I am building a set of aluminum hinges with a gas actuators for my 56. I have bugged every aftermarket vendor I could find about building these hinges but to date none of them has done it. I did not take pictures of my setup but the process is simple...duplicate the mounting plate with 1/2 inch aluminum plate and fabricate the mounting arms with 1-1/4 inch aluminum bar stock. You will need to space the lower arm out about an inch, this will give you the clearance needed for the gas actuator to mount to the upper arm. I found a source for gas actuators on ebay...he has a RV/boat specialty supply house in the PNW. I built a mockup out of wood before I went to the aluminum, I still need to mount the hood and dial in the gas pressure on the actuator.

 

One of the members referred me to a guy that will rebuild your hinges,though I can't remember who it was.I was quoted about 250.00.That might seem a bit spendy, but they're going to last you another 30 or 40 years till you have to do it again.I'd rather pay that up front, forget about it, and let the next owner worry about it when I'm dead.Here's a couple places to try:


Home

SMS-Auto

 

http://www.sachserodshop.com/web_body.pdf
Here's some cool looking ones. They are hard to mount but I did a truck years ago that the owner had mounted them to use with his hood. Not my first choice, but they ended up working ok. I'm a flip-front kinda guy, personally. Easier to setup and your hood lines always stay the same.

 

Thanks guys!!, Charlie do you have some movivational pictures of your hinges??

 

I am in the process of moving my shop so everything is packed up right now...hopefully I can post some pics soon. The ebay vendor where I bought the gas struts is named "rv-trader".

 

if your interested in stock hinges, mid fifty sells the reproductions for 69.00 each, the springs come with them

 

hinges can be fun here's a link to mine
Yfrog Video : yfrog.com/3wml2z - Uploaded by keith5463

 

If watching that video doesn't put a grin on your face then you're in the wrong hobby!

 

definately an awesome video!! now i just have to figure out how to build them! do you have any inspirational pictures of your hinges???

 

that video is cool

 

I found the box that I had packed the hinge parts in and took a couple of pics. This one shows pretty much everything you need to see. The main plate still needs to be cut along the marked lines but the mounting holes are drilled so that it will bolt up in the stock location. I still need to machine the mounting holes/bolts for the arms. The gas strut is in place and as shown is fully extended, when bolted to the hood the upper arm will not be rotated up so far. I started with 80 lb struts but may have to adjust up or down based on how they perform with the weight of the hood on them. Hope this helps...

BTW, the major problem with the OEM, and oftermarket repops, is the binding in the coiled spring mechanism. I believe that my design will eliminate this binding.

 

I have tried alot of hinge types the problem you have to solve is
not only does the hinge have to tilt it has to lift at the same time
or lift first and then tilt ...charlie your going to need a lift on those.

 

thanks for going through all that trouble of finding and taking pictures of your hinge!!!! greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks for the tip Keith, I made up a hinge with wood just to get the correct dimensions and then went to this prototype so that I would have something that would support the weight of the hood. I knew that clearance at the cowl could be an issue and I have measured both the slant cabs and the 56s to see how they varied and how much room existed between the edge of the hood and the cowl. I think that before it is all said and done that I will have to cut up an old hood to use as a template, something that I can use to gauge the clearances without having to fight the weight of the whole hood.

As someone else mentioned in this post, Sachse makes some nice hinges...I bought both sizes but neither will work in this application. Sachse did a nice one-off hinge on an F100 that was featured in a truck magazine some time ago where the hinge was located behind the kick panel inside the cab and extended through the cowl to the hood...very slick but they told me that that design was never offered as a "for sale" product. I did find some nice bear claw latches on their website that I bought and intend to use as hood latches.