Reproduction 1930 31 Hood

gdmn852

gdmn852

Well-known member
Hello,has anyone bought and fitted a repro hood lately, ? looked at previous posts on them with majority of posts being favorable. Some said they don’t fit well on lower side to cowl areas .Thank you.
 
My experience (awhile ago!), the hood sides were a bit short. Getting the hood latches to engage was not easy; and a gap between fender and hood. Happened on both that I used.
Go original if you can …they’re out there.

Btw…these were Rootlieb. I’m not sure if anybody else is making them now
 
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Hello again, with summer flea market coming soon, I will hold off and look for a good original, one top panel in particular is rough , maybe make a good one out of a couple of originals. Again.
 
Original hoods will likely need body work to get it in "like new" condition, and to make it fit the car. I find that the beads on the side panels are usually worn through by the hood hooks. I also find that the top center-line hinge has bent tabs and sometime cracked tabs. The cost of restoring an original hood can far exceed the cost of preparing a reproduction hood.
 
I haven't bought a repo hood in 25 years and as I recall, the fit and quality were very good. The only problem I encountered versus original hoods was the clearance between the top panels and the hinges being too narrow. If you have primered the panels and painted with some kind of enamel, the top panels scrape the paint off the hinges when the hood is opened. On the other hand, lacquer is much thinner than enamel, so if you use lacquer on the hood, this might not be a problem. But depending upon where you live, lacquer may no longer be available. Plan accordingly.
While the hood was still disassembled from the manufacturer and the top panels were still separated, I used to draw a line on the top panels slightly towards the outboard side, leaving maybe 1/32nd or 1/64th of an inch of exposed metal on the inboard side where the hinge from the opposite side panel meets. Then I would take a small file and file away that exposed area to create a wider gap so that opening hood panel would not be scraped by the hinge with its thick enamel paint. The increased gap will not be noticeable. I tried spraying less paint in this area, with the predictable poor results. Since I exclusively spray PPG Concept (until it completely goes away), this is how I will continue to prepare any repo hoods that I am obliged to paint.
Marshall
 
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