There are some after-market billet hinges, but they're pricy.

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Hood Hinge, Custom, Alum Lift, Polished - Ford F-100 Parts

 

I've posted several times how to make sure that OEM and repop hinges work properly, most don't.

 

A new pair of hinges arrived today. Ax: I need to read your paper on their proper installation

 

There is a hidden pivot that is usually frozen, even on the repops. Do and advanced search on my user name and hood hinges. There are also pix in my "extras" gallery on how to disassemble and where the pivot is located. They need to be greased, not WD40'd or oiled. The alignment procedure is a different post.

 

okay, I am getting to know my new reproduction hinges better. They are very, very stiff. I intend to remove the springs, grease the joints, and work them until the arms move easily. I see now how worn and bent my old original hinges are. One of the two itermediate links between the arms is rubbing against a spring. Quick dumb question: what exactly do the two rods in the hood do? Are they intended to affect the arc along the side of the hood, or do they take a "twist" out of a hood (where a line drawn from a point to a corresponding opposite point at the front of the hood is not parallel with a line drawn between points at the rear of the hood)? And another dumb question: the wavy washers go between the hinge arms and the bolt, right? For what it's worth, I started with gaps and misalignments that measured in inches. I have adjusted and readjusted three of four times now. And, I've dealt with the lousy fabrication of the fender to cowl bolt holes in the reproduction fender. At the moment my gaps are between 1/2" and 1/8". This is all to say that the task of aligning the front sheet metal is moving in the right direction. Ax: I have read through most of the many posts I found doing a "hood hinge" and AXracer advanced search. It looks like you got alot of your 12,000-plus post count just responding to hood hinge questions...

 

I just noticed that my truck's radiator core support (horse collar) does not have the diagonal bracing that I see in many of the respresentations in the after-market parts catalogs. I'm wondering how crucial this is for good front sheet metal alignment. It would seem like an easy thing to fabricate myself. Do the factory braces come with any sort of tension adjustment? It seems to me that when the front hood locking panel is screwed down, the front end is a pretty rigid assembly even without the diagonal bracing.

 

I've never seen a '53 with the cross braces on the radiator horseshoe. I'm not sure how important they are on the newer models. My front sheet metal has always aligned well. My donor '53 also aligned well.

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Ford must have seen a need for them as the 54 models have them. If you want the cross braces you will need 54 or 55 air deflectors to allow room for the braces.

 

Ford began putting the cross braces on the horse shoe in 54. They are riveted on, therefore are not adjustable. I think they mainly take the strain off the radiator flanges. Like abe said, you could use a 54-55 horse shoe and air deflectors. To tell you the truth, I have never had the need to adjust the under the hood rods.

 

I've spent the last few evenings trying to loosen up the new hinges I got. The upside of spending so much time with these hinges is that I actually understand now how they work so that the one spring can keep the hood up and open as well as snug it down when it's closed. If it's important that the shouldered hinge bolts are just lightly snugged for proper operation, then I assume that the four moving parts in each hinge should be able to rotate smoothly without any binding or stiffness.

I'm glad to know that I don't need those radiator core support cross braces. That's one less thing to worry about.

And, years ago I had done some work on my hood, and the tension on the hood brace rods was probably uneven. When I put my hood down on my assembled front sheet metal without any hinges, it sat even with the fender noses at the front, but was about 3/4" high at the back passenger side. I noticed that when I added tension to the rod on the driver's side, I was able to take the "twist" out of the hood so that it lays even at both the front and the back.

 

It took quite a while messing with my stiff new hinges in the evenings, but I finally got them so that all the links move from open to closed and back again smoothly and easily. I finally resorted to valve lapping compound as a way to "loosen them up". I pity the person who might install hinges as stiff as these new reproductions were. Now, I relocate the welded on nuts on the reproduction fender so that they line up with the bolt holes at the side of the cab. Then, it all gets reassembled for a fourth time. If it doesn't get too cold to work in my unheated garage, I might know if the hood closes properly by the end of next weekend.