Latch Panel Fix

This is yet another fix that the PO neglected until he slammed the hood so many times it messed up each side of the hood where it was coming into contact with the fenders.

Finally got around to fabing a latch panel top and bottom for the truck. I had been putting it off because it just seemed like so much work and trouble. It was a good bit of work I'll admit. I searched on here and found a few mentions of converting the latch system to modern but there weren't any complete how to's that I found. So I hope this will help anyone else that wants to do a similar project. As with all projects I learned a lot as I went. Here is my write up.

I started out at the junk yard. I love junk yards...lol. I looked thru most of the vehicles out there until I found what I wanted. There are a couple main things I wanted. I wanted the safety latch lever to be a small lever with a low profile and sticking out straight forward. The other is the upper latching bar. I wanted one that bolted on and was pretty thick. After looking I decided on one from a 2003 Ford Explorer. I got everything related to the hood latch and release. This included the inside lever that was on the kick panel, the lower latch itself and all bolts and speed nuts, the cable connecting these two, and the upper latch bar and attaching hardware. I think I paid $20 total.

Lower panel first.
I figured out that the safety release lever had to be almost flush with the lower panel so it wouldn't contact the upper panel. I knew there would be some room in between because of hood bumpers. The depth of the upper latch bar into the CLOSED latch would also set the final hood height. All that was proly the toughest part. It's hard to measure and mark with the hood almost closed which is where it has to be to get an accurate fit.....to me anyway.

I had a sheet of 12 ga steel on hand which is overkill but man is it solid! I used my pattern and an always important sharpie and cut the panel out with a jig saw. Next I marked and drilled the panel mounting holes and checked the fit. I had to go to the college I used to teach at and use the enormous hydraulic metal brake to bend a stiffening flange on the upper and lower panels. That's some thick stuff.

After this was done I could get on to mounting the latch. I marked and cut a rectangle in the lower panel that would accept the latch. After lots of figuring (how to not screw it up) I cut a plate to mount the latch on. This was welded to the panel on a 90.000001 degree angle I also had to figure on the upper latch bar coming “thru” the lower panel and into the latch so I clearanced the lower latch panel and the vertical latch mounting plate.

Next was the adjustable hood bumpers. I had several sets of these still in the bag from a previous experiment with my mustang. I cut a rectangle for each of the mounting nut assemblies and pressed them into place. The bumpers just screw in with a lock nut to set the height. Note...as of right now I'm not using these. Pain in the butt doing all that but they are just a bit too tall. I'll end up making some shorter ones that are also spring loaded. The hood latch is spring loaded but was never intended to pop such a heavy hood up. Maybe it's that heavy panel I bolted to the hood....lol. Anyway it sometimes needs a little help popping up. Most of the time it just eases right up.

Now some pics....

Basic shape done.




Basic shape done and test fitted.


Here I cut the hole for the latch to fit in.


I made a plate to bold the latch to and welded it to the main lower plate.








Latch test fitted to plate.





Hood bumpers.




The bumpers are adjustable to set the final hood gap.


Completed panel installed again for last test run.


Now for the upper panel. I first tried bolting the latch rod flush but this didn't work. So I had to sink it into the panel and shim it up until the hood latched at the right point. Once test fitted I could close the hood and see how it works. One bit of advice....CONNECT THE RELEASE CABLE. I didn't have this connected yet while I was doing all my fitting because things were moving around. Well once it's all done and latched it won't open!!!! I had to lay under the truck and put a very long socket extension thru the only hole I could find and press the release on the latch upward manually.....sheessshhhh.








Here we have the panels in the oven cooling off. I powder coated these a matte black color.


Well it's done. Both panels are in and adjusted.




Now I can just pop the release handle and the hood pops up.


Comments welcome!! Glad I'm done.

 

Nicely done!

Thanks for taking the time to document the process and share it with the rest of us. I'm sure a lot of people will take inspiration from it.

Bobby

 

Nicely done!

 

Wow that looks SWEET!

 

Nice Job. Nice pictures as well.

 

Very nice neat job

 

Thanks to all. I've gotten all sorts of help from you guys so I enjoy giving back. Plus I was bored....jk.

 

You do nice work when you are bored....LOL

It looks like you put a lot of thought into that. Again, a big round of frosty cold ones to you.

Bobby

 

Upper panel weight could be reduced by 1/2 by skeletonizing it (cutting out triangular shaped cutouts to leave x shaped webbing and edges)

 

I went to a bone yard and got this one out of a Dodge van.







__________________________________________________ _____
48 Ford F1 - Darkside
46 Ford Tudor - Street Rod

"If you ain't livin on the edge, you're taken up too much space"

 

Great job Wayne. Nice pictorial.

 

Excellent job! That's not going to pop open on you. What did you do (if anything) with the original release handle in the snout?

 

Nope I sure hope not. I left the handle alone for now. I'll end up getting one like the opposite side that's just trim.

AX.....good idea on the hole cutting to lighten the panel. I'm docking you 8.5 points for waiting till AFTER I powder coated it to suggest!!

 

Very well done. I wish I knew how to cut/weld/bend/paint/do things.

 

Latch looks great. Kinda similar to mine. I got my bumpers from McMaster-Carr. They are available in male or female thread.I just tapped the metal and screwed them in.<a href="http://s247.photobucket.com/user/Larry48fi/media/102_0701_zps8877277b.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg131/Larry48fi/102_0701_zps8877277b.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 102_0701_zps8877277b.jpg"/></a>