I was at the Big Bear Lake car show this past weekend and saw this truck with a really well-designed/constructed frontend tilt system. After I took these photos he offered to close the frontend to show me how well it operated. This system was so smooth and quiet that I couldn't believe that it was actually operating...a real jaw-dropper for me. He said that the actuators came from Electric Life and have the motors integrated in to the actuator. I asked him about the hinges, he told me that they were made by a guy who ran a jewelry store and built these on the side...no further info about the source was available. What isn't shown in the photos are the alignment pins in the firewall and the running boards.
Thought that I would give those who are building one-piece frontends a little "food for thought".

 

Got a Zillion questions. Was it a Metal front end? Where did he cut the fenders or did he? Got anymore pictures?

 

Looks like he is using 4 actuators, two to move the doghouse forwards and two to lift it. Were the alignment pints horizontal or were the actuators coordinated some how?
BJ, looks like the doghouse moves fore-aft about 12" if the pins are horizontal like i suspect I'd expect the sequence would be on opening the doghouse moves forwards to clear cowl and bumper then tilts up., reverse on closing. I don't see any signs of the inner fenders tho or if there is an underhood panel to seal off the top of radiator when closed which could lead to cooling issues.

 

What model of truck was it Charlie

 

Whoa! guessing at which length actuators he's using the set would cost ~ 1600. not including wiring, relays and switches!

 

I agree Ax they are pretty pricey. But there are actuators that are cheaper but may not be as quiet. Not sure about pricing out relays and wiring.
Would love to get a better look at the hinges. I want to keep inner fenders and the seal of the radiator.

 

The truck was a 46 (I think) Chevy. The frontend was all metal. I believe that the owner/builder told me that the actuators (one on each side) were rated at 300 lbs each. The beauty of the design of the hinges is that there are no other actuators or mechanisms employed to move the frontend forward/back as opposed to up...it is all just one fluid motion. Since this is a Chevy truck, the back of the fenders sit on top of the running boards so that makes the fender/running board mating alot simpler.
I have more photos but they are just close-ups of the mechanism. I was ready to take some other photos but he dropped the frontend before I could take them. Other people were talking to him so I never got around to asking him to open the frontend again. Here is a link to the actuator website Electric Life - 98012 200LB LINEAR ACTUATOR WITH 12-INCH STROKE a 12 inch 200 lb unit is $225.
The engine bay is enclosed when the frontend is in place, the actuator/hinge mounting sits on top of the frame so the inner fenders are much more shallow than normal. If you look in the photo you can see the inner fenders up inside the doghouse. Here is a photo of a 46 Chevy truck, not the one at the show, one that came off the web. The one in my photos had a very nice extended cab and a super nice HOK candy apple red paint job with flames. I should have gotten more photos but I was more interested in the tilt mechanism than the rest of the truck.

 

I found a webpage with photos of the show: Photo: IMG_0129.JPG | Big Bear Fun Run album | Cruzzin with the "Lugnut " | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy.
Pics of this truck are numbers 127 through 130.

 

Charlie,
Isn't that the way it is. You get so wrapped up in looking at things you forget to take pictures. Old steel is old steel, I love em all even if I am stuck on Fords.

 

Looks like a great show. Thanks for sharing.

 

Man, that's quite a contraption! Looks a lot like my front end loader.
Clean looking work though.