Randy's 1950 Wagon Project

I'm waiting on parts so I started working on my hood again. It has a sag in the middle that is about 1/4 inch low in the middle of the center riser. With a straight edge laying on the center of the hood it touches in the front and back but in the middle it is low. If I move the straight edge to the outside of the hood top it is level.

Anyone else have this problem? If so, how did you resolve it?

Thanks, Randy

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Thanks Marcus, looks like I will be taking the hood back to bare metal and trying your technique and see if I can get it back to the correct shape.

Randy
 
RandyP said:
Thanks Marcus, looks like I will be taking the hood back to bare metal and trying your technique and see if I can get it back to the correct shape.

Randy
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What I was hoping you would do rather than use more filler than needed. Specially on the hood which flexes a lot.

If it doesn't work using your foot, you can also turn it upside down with the centre rib over a length of steel or hard timber, and use a wide brick layers bolster in the back side of the rib and hit it gently with a mallet working your way along. Start only where the worse of the bend is first before checking.
 
Gojeep said:
What I was hoping you would do rather than use more filler than needed. Specially on the hood which flexes a lot.

If it doesn't work using your foot, you can also turn it upside down with the centre rib over a length of steel or hard timber, and use a wide brick layers bolster in the back side of the rib and hit it gently with a mallet working your way along. Start only where the worse of the bend is first before checking.
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I would not have thought of that but it's probably what it will take to get the center rib back to where it should be so I can then raise the area beside it.
I figured you had a good idea on how to resolve the issue.
Thanks for your expertise!

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I don't have a chisel that wide so I ground down a piece of scrap metal to match the shape of the hood riser channel. Tried laying the hood on a 2x4 but the wood absorbed all the force, so I laid the hood on the concrete and that did the trick. I started at one end and proceeded down the entire channel several times hitting it lightly checking the progress as I went. The center of the hood raised up 1/4" or so to be perfectly level. Still need to do some additional work on the rest of the hood to get it level. Have ordered a heat shrinking disk and plan to give that a try. Thanks again Marcus!

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Today I used a shrinking disk for the first time on my hood. The disk came with some instructions on how to use it, but stated that it is not a "magic tool." They lied. It is magic! With the paint removed on the top and bottom of the hood, I used the disk to raise and lower the metal on both sides until I got it back in shape. Having never used one before, I'm amazed at what you do by shrinking the metal! By using a hammer, my foot, and the shrinking disk, the hood looks pretty good. It will still need some filler, but only a skim coat to fill the imperfections. A week ago, I was ready to give up on the hood and see if I could locate a better one.

Thanks for the help that this forum offers!!
 
Received some of the parts that I ordered, so I installed the front clip on the body so that I could install the brake booster, master cylinder and brake pedal assembly. I tried to get everything right, but with the booster mounted where I wanted it to go, the brake pedal was a little too short and too close to the gas pedal. The pedal has some adjustment on the mounting, but with it moved far to the driver's side, the mounting bolt and nut were visible and it was still a little too high. To resolve this issue, the brake arm needed to be lengthened and moved to the left about 3 inches so I made an extension out of aluminum first to get an idea and once I liked the position, one was made from steel and welded in. It's in a much better location now.

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RandyP said:
Today I used a shrinking disk for the first time on my hood. The disk came with some instructions on how to use it, but stated that it is not a "magic tool." They lied. It is magic! With the paint removed on the top and bottom of the hood, I used the disk to raise and lower the metal on both sides until I got it back in shape. Having never used one before, I'm amazed at what you do by shrinking the metal! By using a hammer, my foot, and the shrinking disk, the hood looks pretty good. It will still need some filler, but only a skim coat to fill the imperfections. A week ago, I was ready to give up on the hood and see if I could locate a better one.

Thanks for the help that this forum offers!!
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly. The shrinking disc is magic and this forum is the best.

So glad that your bodywork us coming along.

Duane

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
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RandyP said:
Today I used a shrinking disk for the first time on my hood. It is magic!
Click to expand...

Hi Randy. I've been thinking about buying a Shrinking Disk as well. I've heard many good words about them and I could use one! Would you post a link about your shrinking disk and where you ordered it? Thanks, Pivnic
 
Pivnic said:
Hi Randy. I've been thinking about buying a Shrinking Disk as well. I've heard many good words about them and I could use one! Would you post a link about your shrinking disk and where you ordered it? Thanks, Pivnic
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Sure, I don't know how to attach a link, but I bought it on ebay from Wolfesmetalfabrication. (SD9 kit) a 9"disk with backing pad for $78.0

Randy

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RandyP said:
Sure, I don't know how to attach a link, but I bought it on ebay from Wolfesmetalfabrication. (SD9 kit) a 9"disk with backing pad for $78.0 Randy Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
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Thanks for the Info Randy. Pivnic
 
I'm still working on getting the hood smooth enough to paint, but even though I got the metal where there isn't any oil canning, it is still more flexible than I want it to be. To provide some under hood support, I welded in some 7/16 solid rods from front to back and seam sealed them to the hood. This firmed up the sheet metal so that I can work with it.

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In between painting and sanding on the hood, I got the seat belts installed. Lap belts in the back and shoulder harness style in the front. Like others on the forum, I installed capture nuts in the B pillar for the upper mount and mounted the belt retracters just inside the door.

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RandyP said:
I'm still working on getting the hood smooth enough to paint, but even though I got the metal where there isn't any oil canning, it is still more flexible than I want it to be. To provide some under hood support, I welded in some 7/16 solid rods from front to back and seam sealed them to the hood. This firmed up the sheet metal so that I can work with it.

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I like it, problem solved. Thanks also for the shrinking disk info. Watched a lot of the videos on the metalshaper's channel on youtube. He had some nice camera close ups showing the shrinking process in action. Very cool.
 
Due to the cold and wet weather I have not been able to do any more paint and body work on the hood, but there is plenty of other stuff to do... I ordered an air conditioner condenser that would fit in front of the radiator and inside the grille housing. The Vintage Air unit that matched my measurements was for a 39/40 Ford. The mounting tabs had to be bent a little, but it fits nicely. Plan is to use some ABS plastic to seal above and below the condenser and around the tubing to prevent air from being pulled in from the top, bottom or sides.

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Once the condenser was mounted, I could finalize the mounting of the radiator and fan/shroud.

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My wagon did not have the firewall to grille shell support rods or the hood prop rod when I bought it. It was originally equipped with only one support rod, but I decided to revise that to two. The old mounting tab on the driver's side of the grille shell had to come off and new ones fabricated. There were five spot welds holding that tab.

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The mounting tab on the firewall was removed when I was revising it, so two new ones were made and installed. Before mounting these, I wanted to have the brake booster and A/C hose bulkhead fittings installed so they didn't conflict with each other.

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RandyP said:
I'm still working on getting the hood smooth enough to paint, but even though I got the metal where there isn't any oil canning, it is still more flexible than I want it to be. To provide some under hood support, I welded in some 7/16 solid rods from front to back and seam sealed them to the hood. This firmed up the sheet metal so that I can work with it.

View attachment 42361
Click to expand...

Next time you come across a loose panel, but not oil canning anymore, just keep repeating the shrinking swapping from side to side as needed. It just meant you had not yet shrunk it enough. I even sometimes use some well placed tacks with the mig if the shrinking disc is not doing enough. Also works as you are just after the concentrated heat from the tack weld.
Nothing wrong with the added supports though and glad it solved the problem. I might be adding some to mine because my bonnet will be much larger than stock and these are a bit under braced in the first place.
 
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