Original rumble hinges

mrtexas

mrtexas

Well-known member
I have what I believe are two sets of original rumble hinges although if I were sure they were original I wouldn't be posting here. I base this on the Ford part number cast into the hinges. One hinge of each pair has a Ford number A 52... on it that is hard to read. One pair fits and the other doesn't.

1st pair fits that came with the 29 roadster:
RumbleHingeFit.jpg


A second pair of original hinges has a Ford number on them as well but the hinges don't fit my lid and that I bought from a reliable source that advertised them as original.

RumbleHingeNoFit.jpg


The 29 roadster came with a set of homemade brackets to attach the hinges. The second pair came with the correct bracket and bolts. On the pair that fits and I am using, the pivot bolt holes are different sizes for each side. In fact I took one of the bolts to a machine shop this week to enlarge the head of the bolt. Out of the 4 hinges, 3 have the small pivot bolt head and one has a larger bolt head.

Can someone explain all this?

RumbleHinges.jpg
 
Last edited:
Some of the repro hinges have a thick raised part where it joins the part that screws to the lid. They kind of look like the two struts are laid on the lid mounting part. Original Ford hinges kind of meld into the arc part. I have seen a lot of repro hinges floating around and they probably don't fit well. I couldn't see from your pictures the part that joins the arced part so I can't tell for sure if you have a repro as one of your hinges. I suspect the yellow one is a repro. I was luck to find a matched pair some years ago. You know Ford made parts will fit OK. Maybe some repro's look like original Ford hinges, but, like I said, I have seen a lot that have the raised area on the arc.
 
Repro hinges are shrunk in every direction. You can only get one or two screws to fit if you fit it to an original lid.
The repro hinges also do not fit onto the lid well. If you take an original hinge and place it on the depression of the lid it fits like a glove and the hinges will be at the correct place. The repro hinges do not lay flat into the pockets and rock some. The repro hinges may not be wide enough when installed to meet the hinge mount points. Do not try to put side force on the repro hinge as the cast iron is brittle and will break very easy.

The yellow one you show is original. There were two types of original hinges. The cast ones and the cast V with a stamped screw flange.

It may be possible that the blind nuts in your lid were made to fit repro hinges as the holes look like they have shorter distance between them.

If you have an original lid use original hinges if you want to stay sane!!!
I have warned you!!!!

If you have an original lid with holes made for repro hinges then I would change the holes to be correct for the original hinges. That will be the least amount of work in the end.
 
wrndln said:
Some of the repro hinges have a thick raised part where it joins the part that screws to the lid. They kind of look like the two struts are laid on the lid mounting part. Original Ford hinges kind of meld into the arc part. I have seen a lot of repro hinges floating around and they probably don't fit well. I couldn't see from your pictures the part that joins the arced part so I can't tell for sure if you have a repro as one of your hinges. I suspect the yellow one is a repro. I was luck to find a matched pair some years ago. You know Ford made parts will fit OK. Maybe some repro's look like original Ford hinges, but, like I said, I have seen a lot that have the raised area on the arc.
Click to expand...

A couple more pictures. After looking at these, I think the yellow ones are repro!

bottom
RumbleHingesSide.jpg


side
RumbleHingesBottom.jpg
 
I've got an unknown lid and unknown hinges.

Kevin in NJ said:
Repro hinges are shrunk in every direction. You can only get one or two screws to fit if you fit it to an original lid.
The repro hinges also do not fit onto the lid well. If you take an original hinge and place it on the depression of the lid it fits like a glove and the hinges will be at the correct place. The repro hinges do not lay flat into the pockets and rock some. The repro hinges may not be wide enough when installed to meet the hinge mount points. Do not try to put side force on the repro hinge as the cast iron is brittle and will break very easy.

The yellow one you show is original. There were two types of original hinges. The cast ones and the cast V with a stamped screw flange.

It may be possible that the blind nuts in your lid were made to fit repro hinges as the holes look like they have shorter distance between them.

If you have an original lid use original hinges if you want to stay sane!!!
I have warned you!!!!

If you have an original lid with holes made for repro hinges then I would change the holes to be correct for the original hinges. That will be the least amount of work in the end.
Click to expand...
 
deck_hinge.jpg


There were two types or hinges. The early type (1928) were two piece with the hinge section made of forged steel as yours appear. I always assumed the later type as I have were also forged but with what I know now I suspect they are cast malleable iron.

I don't have enough experience with reproductions to offer much but both pairs you show appear to be original. I don't know why one doesn't fit. The original hinge bolt was a hex head shoulder bolt. The counterbore in the hinge was just large enough to get a socket in there. I don't have enough experience to know if they had variations on the counterbore diameter.
 
My rumble lid contacts the bottom rt side panel when closing, chipping it.
My prior post on the issue revealed that repro hinges just don't remedy the problem. Original lids from the factory were bent to clear the panel.
My only fix now is to push up on the lid when closing.
 
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