Thanks for the info ,EMS told me they have sold 60 sets and no reviews or magazine articles I wonder why

 

If you look at the EMS product line you will see that the F100 hinges are a mere drop in the bucket for them. They are big into Mustangs and GM muscle cars. I don't think that there are too many magazines or authors who are willing to spend too much time promoting someone else's product. I have the hinges but my truck is not ready to install them yet. I know that Jim reported that MF won't guarantee them as a cure for the "hokey pokey" but from my experience I find it hard to believe that these hinges would have any wobble in them at all. We have our truck club show here in San Diego this weekend...there should be at least one 56 F100 there with the EMS hinges.

 

Raerjim you got it right for me I got the hokey pokey the hood gap is close to perfect and cowl is level with top of hood but the drivers side hinge comes down quicker than the pass side but what is nice it's always in the same location each time .To make it nice fitting we did a lead work on the cowl to make a nice gap I didn't want mud in that area

 

Still on EBay today for $570 no shipping charge. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1956-53-54-55-56-FORD-TRUCK-BILLET-HOOD-HINGES-POLISHED-MADE-IN-U-S-A-/230991039870?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35c8238d7e&vxp=mtr#ht_313wt_651

 

I got mine on eBay a month ago from sonnie24 black for 570.00 they do keep the hood up, shocks are nice

 

Where could a man get a set of those small shocks/struts at???

 

I would contact Eddie Motorsports directly about buying just the cylinders.

 

They have them for between 100.00-200.00 a pair depending upon strength. I was hoping someone here had seen something similar somewhere much cheaper.

 

Awhile back I was designing my own hinges and I found a place in the PNW that handled gas struts. I can't remember the exact name of the vendor but if you search on sites that deal with boats and RVs they all carry a broad line of struts. I know that the struts I bought were spec'd by length, travel, and PSI.

 

Charlie,

Do you have any of your original design material you would share??

I am about to start on mine. I am hoping i can do it and have most of it laser cut.

 

Here is where I stopped with my hinge design. Once EMS came out with their hinges I opted to move on and just go with their product. I don't have the machine tools necessary to do a good job on a prototype so this is the best I could do with the tools I have.
I basically took the pattern of the mounting plate for the OEM hinge and transferred it to a 1/2 aluminum plate. I copied the hinge arms lengths and pivot points so that I was assured that the motion of the hood would be correct, I believe that I used 1/4 inch aluminum for them. Once that was done I incorporated a gas strut that would give me the lift and range of motion needed. This particular strut was my first best guess for pressure, the range of motion was the easy part. I saw in the photos I had on file that the label on the strut was visible...I am including a closeup pic of it for your reference. I think that this design is workable...Sy at Midfifty was interested in it if I got it to a workable state. Have fun...

 

Are the stock lower arms supposed to be flat/straight. Mine have a slight bend in them just at the rivet, I am not sure if it has just bent over time or if it was like that from factory.

Also, wonder where a man could get those small bearings at?

 

One more thing, do the aftermarket hinges you have open the hood farther than the stock hinges?

 

The hinge arms are offset...take a look at where they attach to the hood. The OEM hinges do have a bend in them, my design has a collar that positions the arm correctly to mount to the hood and as a side benefit it moves the arm out of the way of the strut. There are many bearing manufacturers out there, try a web search. The EMS hinges have a stop built in to them to keep the hood from opening any further than the stock hinges...what is different about the EMS hinges is that the gas strut keeps the hinge opened to the max without sagging like most OEM hinges.

 

Hi buddy I am new at the forum, I am building a f100 1557 in Brazil is so hard to have any thing ship here, so I would like to know if you have the dimentions on those hinges and the drawings for it because i have a jet flow here and i want to construct them my self so plese if you have that or know some one that those i will apriciate you can sent me a e-mail marcelo@hotmail.com