[QUOTE=48 Steel;12932791]Your tilt hardware looks great. You will like how much room you will have to work in the engine compartment. Thanks for mentioning my tilt.

48 Steel, I am very glad that you did yours and then shared the pictures! The first time I actually opened the hood on the truck I knew I wanted to figure out something else. They don't open very far at all and I think my hinges and springs needed to be replaced or redone anyway.
I am coming along, I still don't have the right geometry but am working on it. I hope to get it figured out this coming week between doing my real work. I am going to try and incorporate gas shocks/lifts to make it even easier.

 

Ok, finally! Got the hood on with the reverse tilt. I made the upper valance tilt with a pivot and attached the hood to it. I will get better pics later, but wanted to get these posted. I still need to make a latch on the cowl and hopefully gas lifts. Right now I have a nice stick to hold it up

 

Man thats cool I haven't seen any others like that, I've only seen the "full tilt" front ends. Great job!

 

48Steel did one but I just couldn't get the hardware right the way he did it. I decided to tilt the upper valance instead. Thanks!

 

There is always another way to skin a cat. Great job and looks awesome.

 

Thanks! I never would have even tried it if I hadn't seen yours.

 

I like what you did, nice design! I also would like to see more pictures and discussion of your pivot design. Thanks for posting.

 

Looking good , I do like the pivoting valance design. It's a bummer that you never hit the right geometry for your first system. I would have loved to copy that design for Jon's truck because the pivoting valance is not an option for his.

Waiting to see the latch and strut installation.

 

I really hope you don't have to wait too long. I am at a loss for the strut so far, but I do have some ideas for the latch. One thing that I have found out is that my hood is somewhat warped - one side doesn't fit very well. I still haven't tightened the bolts on the fenders because I was waiting for the last coat of paint and I want to put the welting in after. And I don't have the running board on that side attached yet, so I am hoping the major part of the problem is because that (fiberglass) fender is sagging some.

 

Of course I didn't take pictures of the actual pivot - I really wasn't sure that it was even going to work at all. By the time I figured that it would work I was on a roll and didn't think to take pics. I had some rigid steel tube that has an ID of 5/8" laying around. I took the upper valance off and used the front most bolt hole (between the fender and the valance) to locate the tube. I cut the tube about 1/8" shy of the actual measurement and clamped it together to make is slightly smaller so that it would pivot without scraping. It lined up exactly with the two metal braces in the valance. After welding it in at both ends, I drilled holes for bolts and bolted the tube to the two braces. These bolts became stops for two 5/8" x 2" compression springs I got at the hardware store. I cut some 5/8' shaft long enough to hit the spring and stick out past the valance ends about 3/4". The shafts can be pushed in flush, but will spring back out. I made two plates out of 1/4" plate roughly the shape of the flat part of the fender that connects to the valance, allowing space so that it would fit inside. The hardest part was to fit those as you have to take the wheels off and contort yourself into the space, with a light, and fit it. I would suggest that you have someone help you, but I managed to fit it tight on each side and then mark the hole where the pivot is going to go. At this point it is still a hole for a 5/16" bolt. After marking it, I took it back out and drilled a 5/16" hole there and then bolted them back in temporarily with a bolt and washer/nut. With the plates back in place I drilled 4 small pilot holes where I wanted to install bolts to hold the plate. I took the plates back out, drilled a hole for a 5/16" tap and tapped the 4 holes in each plate. I put a bolt in each with a nut and then welded the nuts to the back of the plate for a little better bite (maybe overkill). In the fender I drilled out the pilot holes bigger and then used a bevel bit to be able to use a flat head bolt for a flusher fit (these are fiberglass fenders so they are thick enough to do this). Then, where the pivot hole needed to be I drilled the hole in the plate out to 5/8". To make the receptacle for the shaft, I took a piece of the rod with a good clean cut and bolted it with a piece of threaded rod (or a long 5/8 bolt) through the 5/8 hole and welded it to the backside of the plate to make the receptacle for the shaft. I then cut the tube off to about 3/4" and welded a washer to the back side to keep the shaft from going through. Also the washer leaves a hole that you can press the shaft back out to remove the valance (and hood) if needed. After the welding was done I drilled the receptacle with the 5/8 bit to make sure there were no burrs. Then bolt the plates into the inside of the fenders. I had to chuck the shaft into my drill press to sand it smooth and slightly smaller, bevel the ends a little, and then push in the shafts against the springs and install the valance. I removed the original hood latch mechanism, including the plate, the safety latch, and the spring. Once the valance was in place and pivoted nicely, I place the hood on, lined it up, made a big washer with a 7/16" x 2 1/2" fine thread bolt, I screwed it into the hole for the spring. Then, with the hood lined up, I drilled holes on each side through the top of the valance and the bottom of the nose of the hood. I then bolted it together and the hood works.
I am going to take it back off to clean it up and paint the parts and will then get some pictures. Hope this helps.

 

I've really enjoyed following along on the hood project. I guess we all build stuff that doesn't seem to work like we had hoped or turns out to be way more work than we had expected. The tilting valance was something I probably wouldn't have thought of.

Good job!! By the way.....Like the custom hood prop. I've got one that looks kinda like it.

 

The hood prop is a piece of solid Cherry! I could have left the hood alone with the original hinges but I would have kicked myself forever for not trying to reverse it. It took way too long to do, most just trying to figure it out. And I still have to figure out a latch and the gas lifts. And I still have a lot of other things to finish on the truck. One step at a time...

 

Thanks for the thorough description. You really came up with a great elegantly simple design that certainly will work well for the 51-52 trucks. Even though the apron piece is the same (I believe) from 48-52, unfortunately as indicated by Gary I do not think the design will work on the 48-50 trucks like my 49 and Jon's 50 due to the grill differences.

 

I have finally bled my brakes which work beautifully now, but I do have a question. I installed a CPP firewall mounted dual cyl brake with booster and now finally have it working. My question is that when the brake pedal is pushed down hard (so far haven't run the engine yet to get the power assist) the firewall slightly flexes. I am guessing that when the power boost is on that I wont have to push as hard and it will be fine, but is this a common problem or am I worrying too much?

 

I've always wondered if firewall flex is a problem with hung pedals. I don't know if it's too late to put in a doubler on the firewall, and add a brace to the dash? On my O/T car which is designed for hung pedals, putting in a heavier clutch frequently causes firewall cracking.