Hi Folks,

Well, I was in the rod barn yesterday and checking-out the 40PU body part fits. Not too bad really, considering there are parts from about 4 or 5 trucks in there. This is the big "pre-fit, pre-assembly" before paint. The hood issue to ornament was pretty well figured-out when my buddy pushed-up on the hood from inside around the back of the ornament area while pushing-in on the nose area and the hood came right into alignment with the ornament curve. My friend is a little "heavier-handed" than myself. I usually "finesse" a little too much around my coveted elder Ford parts since they are so rare and decreped. I know the hood is low along the straight part where the SS strip goes, so, this would figure since the ornament is hitting in the mid-curve area and is at least 1/4" to 3/8" high where the SS strip would slide over. Since the support between the latch cross bar and the underside of the ornament at the fastener has about a 1/4"-3/8" space, it seemed that area of the hood would have to come down, but I guess that is not a really good indicator. Probably things will work out on that issue and after a little massaging things will fit. Unfortunately my hood metal is a little too pitted and thin to consider louvering which I had wanted to do to bolster that area and prevent "oil-canning". It also would remove some of the the heat from the engine compartment which seems to be a problem with 40s in general. I'll keep you posted on what is happening with the hood. If you are interested in what is happening with my door alignment problems you might check that out in this forum. Regards,

Elder Rodder