hey all,
I have a 56 Panel truck. Does anyone have any pictures of a fiberglass(or steel) tilt frontend installation? Opinions on best place to cut(halfway or at the bottom)?, latches? any and all replies are greatly apprecitated,
Thanks ahead

 

james,

this might get you started

john

tilt article

 

That is a great article, I actually have it from one of the Classic truck magazines. I think I'm going to try the cut at the bottom where it curves under the cowl/cab area. I can always cut at top of cowl later if I don't like leaving the full fender. I'm hoping to see some ways to keep the fender up tight to the truck cab when it is lowered. Is there some sort of race or bracket I can use to make the fender slide onto or into as it lowers? I have the 4" actuators to use to raise and lower the frontend. John, do you have any more progress/ pictures of your truck since that article?
Thanks again,
HwyHog
(James)

 

James,

there have been others on here that have done a full tilt... and come up with some pretty good clamping ideas... the actuators will I think hold it down tight to the cowl... but something needs to be designed to keep the fenders from flapping in the breeze.. that's one reason I cut the fenders high. I plan on using some type 'pin/hole' arrangement on the lower fender piece and the hood to center it up when down and hold it in place.... no design yet. If you come up with something truly crafty/unique/beautiful... let me know and I'll steal your idea.. (please)


No new pics...in fact I've backed up about a year and I'm back at bare frame prepping for paint... hood is sitting on it's nose in the corner of the shop....work has been dead slow to full stop lately.. thought when I retired I'd set the world on fire with progress... well, ??? that didn't happen...back working now and have less time than ever

later
john

 

Yes, I DON'T want the fender "flap". That's what I DO like about the cut being higher, it seems much more solid. Right now I'm getting ready to install my gas tank and get the motor and tranny in to fire it up for the first time. It is a 460 and It's been done about 3 yrs., but never been fired up yet. This was supposed to be a reasonably quick deal.....a daily driver, but....."while I'm doing this part, I might as well do that one too.." Now 3 yrs. later it sits partially stripped to metal and NO wiring left....At least the IFS is in. Maybe by Christmas.......
thanks for the reply,
James
aka
Hwyhog

 

from what i found out about doing mine is that you do need a latch. i have the auto loc actuators, there is about a half inch play when its down. i cut my fenders high like john wants to do, then i molded the other part to the cab and smoothed it into the firewall.

 

Thanks UK. Looked at your album---NICE truck. The Flat "suede" look is exactly what I have in store for my Panel with the steelie rims....just a nice clean simple look. Seeing yours has me both envious and motivated to get it to that stage, which will be the finished look for me. Is your frontend steel or fiberglass? Did you 'glass the lower fender to the cab? I saw one cut at the bottom, but like John pointed out, it seemed very "flappy". If I can't devise some sort of guide or runner for the fender to "latch" to the cab as it closes, then I will make the cut higher as yours and John's both are. Did you guys use a cut-off wheel to cut it. Do you like the Fairlane unit? I saw John did body work and cut the cowl to get a perfect fit, but that kind of work is completely out of my range, so I hope I can do a little tweaking of the fiberglass.
Thanks,
James

 

mines a fiberglass unit from fairlane. if i could do it again i would of used the stock parts. been a pain in the butt from the get go. i used a thin cut of wheel to cut mine. then the lower fenders i first bolted them on them fiberglassed them smooth to get a one piece look.the way i latched mine is hard to explain but i;ll try then if ya have questions i will try to answer them.
i have an actuator on both sides. when it comes all the way down it slides back towards the cab about a quarter inch. i embedded small flat stock metal pieces in the hood sticking out about a quarter inch. i then cut two small slits one on each side of the cowl. when the hood shuts and slides back the small metal pieces slid into the slits. works good and so far noone has noticed them until i show em. you need two actuators wired to seperate switches. to guide em in. works good and no movement going down the road. hope this helps alittle. on the fit it did not follow the colw lines at all. i cut out the hood brace set the hood down in place and put a sandbag on each side of the hood to get the proper fit. then i crawled under the hood and refiberglassed the brace back in.

 

Shaun,

I typed a whole response and my browser crashed...lost it all... so I'll try to rebuild it...

hood moves back huh ??? never noticed mine doing that, but I'm usually watching for the cowl fit side to side and other than final gap never payed attention to the slide ? hmmmm...

We plan to do a similar drill on fit... first bend a stiffening tube (conduit, tubing, etc) to follow the shape of the cowl...strap down the hood to the cowl and glass in the tube to hold the hood in the correct shape... then glass in all the kerfs we cut and make it pretty.. I don't even know if I'll reinstall the underhood brace... it looks rough in there and I've seen trucks that were done up without it and slicked down inside to cover the glass hair and they looked sweet... we'll see.

both of my actuators are wired on one switch and pull in unison and well syncronized so I don't understand the reason for seperate switching ???

I agree again on the fit... it sucks. I actually got a call from the new owner of Fairlane... John Garshott. He had read my article and had some questions and asked permission to use it and the pics on his website (which I can't find yet) I was very honest with my disappointment and reservations with recommending Fairlane to anyone. He seems like a reputable guy who really wants to get it right and sell a good quality product... reworking molds... adding to install instructs etc... won't help you and me, but maybe some potential buyers

I like your idea on latching... any chance you'd share a couple pics of the glassed in tabs and the location of holes in the cowl ??? I would love to steal your genius from you...

James,... like Shaun I used a cutoff wheel and masking tape for a line...worked like a charm... but does pucker you up a bit when you lay that disc into that 1000 + dollar doghouse Mine is such a mess now it hardly resembles the original product... but I'm confident it will look great when my glass guru finishes... he's an artist.

keep on plugging and you'll have a beauty when you finish...

later
john

 

yeah maybe my measurements were off on the brackets because when they both come down there not real even. for the metal pieces to slide in the slits i do it slow and one at a time. i'll get the camera out tomorrow and get some pictures. theres a patent on the latch so money is required. www.jerryrig.com

 

Again, thanks for the responses. The only reason I'm considering the Fairlane "doghouse" is because my original (perfect I might add...no bondo, none needed)
Fenders, hood, grille were stolen. I have spoken with Mr. Gershott of Fairlane. He does seem very genuine, but as of yet, there have been no changes to his molds. It sounds like no matter what, I will have to improve on the fit. I think I understand that at the least, I will have to remove the brace near the cowl edge of the hood and hold it in place ( like the sandbags) and fiberglass it in place to fit tighter to cowl edges. I'm sure I will have a pucker factor, as I'm no body man, but I figure there's no harm I can do that can't be fixed.....with a handful of money . Maybe you could let me borrow your guru John.

Not sure what set up you guys have for charging system, but I'm trying to track down the most correct way to wire up my 460. It has an external regulator for the alternator. Items to be hooked up are battery, solonoid, regulator, ignition switch and alternator. I have a couple of diagrams from this site, but am open to more input to be sure before I put the juice to it.
Thanks again,
James (hwyhog)

ps. any pics of those metal tabs? and is the 1/4" movement part of the opening/closing actuator movement?