finally got all the drivetrain and exhaust all hooked up and am now looking at the front end sheet metal. have been thinking of the tilt front end and am not sure of the inner fender situation. does anybody have any suggestions on the whole ordeal. hope to get some pics. soon

wade

 

There is a nice one out of the Bay area. He cut the fenders and the inner fender wells at about a 45 degree. I seem to remember that there was a significant amount of trimming so pieces would clear as he opened the hood. It looked very trick, but also like a big job. Good luck, John

 

i have a full-tilt front end. if i had to do over i would put the original sheet metal
back on. it was a big pain in the butt. i finally got it done but it took a long time
figuring how to make it look good and work right. the latching was probably the
biggest headache. oh yeah and they dont fit very well on the cowl either. a lot of
work went into that to. plus i molded the rear section of the fender to the cab.
good luck either way

 

uk, saw pics. and hte to say it but think you went the right direction on the tilt front end looks killer .

 

Hey,

Did you do the entire original sheet metal or buy a kit for yours...I am thinking about doing the same thing...only I dont know if I want only the hood or the whole front end? Just trying to get an idea of how BAD it is going to cost me???

James

 

Since I don't have all my sheet metal back in place, I'm considering tilting just the hood opening fromt he rear instead of the front. I've seen those kits that use the original latch setups but I welded all these holes shut thinking I could use gas struts to tilt it and some sort of simple latches to hold it down. I saw this setup at a Rod Run in Lincoln Neb. a few years back. Anyone use anything like this?

 

Have you seen this article:
Reverse-tilt Hood Design For 53-56 Fords

 

You guys are too much, thanks again. To think I've toiled away at this project alone for the past few years and I could have had knowledgeable help..........duh! Like I mentioned in my earlier post, I saw one of these reverse tilt hood designs with gas struts to open it and hold it open. Now I wish I'd have taken pictures. I'm not sure how it latched but I do know he had welded the original front spring loaded latch pin holes shut. It looked very trick.
Onward.

 

I suggest you read all the tech articles in this site. I speak from experience when I say they will give you ideas and insight. Just click on "tech articles" on the upper right of the opening page. We are very fortunate to have so many that are willing to share so much for so little. (free) John

 

I bought my 56 Effie a year and a half ago. It was/is a daily driver and came with some stuff I really wanted, including a tilt-front hood. Since then I've seen many tilt-front hoods, almost all of them with the BMW style system shown in Kent Boomer's article, but only one other that was done like mine. My hood is simply pinned at the front corners between hood and fenders. Gas struts hold it up. An old cable-operated trunk latch at the firewall holds it down. A welded plate on the hood's rear transverse inner brace mounts a slotted plate and latch pin.

The other one like mine was even simpler. My setup uses heim-style bearings at the fenders and bolts/nuts thru hood and fender. The inner race of the heim bearing spaces the hood-fender gap. This other one just used a transverse rod thru the same hole locations with plastic bushings to reduce rattle and the bushing heads hold the space beteen hood and fender. The rod is longer than the span, enters one side, then slides over to enter the other with a welded tab on the rod being secured to the hood by one sheet metal screw. Very cool and it allows the easy removal of the hood (a great plan when working on the radiator/shroud).

I am looking at installing a tilt fiberglass front clip and found John Niolon's article most enlightening. My front sheet metal is in very good condition and I figure I should be able to just about come out even in part cost between the Fairlane front clip and the value of my old sheet metal.

Hope this helps. Good Luck!

 

Shouldn't that article be called a "forward tilt hood" and not a "reverse" tilt hood?

The way it is now written would mean a Stock hood would be called a "forward tilt hood" which doesn't make any sense.

Just curious; what a great article.

 

Randy Jack,
I have seen a few trucks done the way yours is and I think every one of them had the paint chipped on the corners of the hood from rotating too far forward and pinching between the fenders. If the gas strut is positioned correctly, you may be able to eliminate this problem.
pgayda,
I think you're right, it should be "forward tilt hood!" I guess when I put that together, all I had ever heard was "reverse tilt" so I followed the other lemmings off the cliff.
Hope the article helps and thanks for the kind words.
Good Luck,
Kent

 

Fatfords,
This hood setup has been on the truck for about 10 years and there isn't any paint chipping. The truck was outside for 4 winters in Nebraska, so the paint job and bed wood was generally pretty well hosed, but no paint damage to the the hood or fender front corners. I think the key here is that the spacer between hood and fender edge keeps the hood centered and keeps the surfaces from rubbing on each other. I have had the hood tilted full verticle to work on the engine and had no problem. Perhaps that is the good thing about the heim bearings used.

 

Randy Jack,
I think I mis-spoke earlier. The trucks I have seen were done with a rod and spacers, maybe not like yours. Maybe you can post some pics of the set-up in your gallery along with some pics of the entire truck?

 

Fatfords,
I would be glad to post pictures. I just have no idea how to. Could you (or anyone) tell me how? I don't have a "website". I do all of my browsing here from my computer at work. My home computer has an Earthlink account with dial-up modem.
I also have some serious customizing planned and would be glad to share the ideas and progress.