Hood repair and modifying

mrsbojigger

Just a hint of a "how to" on making a patch panel for the hood of my '51 Hudson which has a 2001 5.3 litre Vortec engine. Notice in second pic that I am using 4 curve gages to keep both sides in symmetry and retain the contours of the hood. I'm having to do both sides and for two reasons. It started out that I was angry at myself for raising up and putting a big dent in my head from the sharp corners of the hood. Tennis balls were used for temporary fix. I was tired of it so....... I decided to round the corners of the hood. This brought another BIG problem to light. The whole front edge of the hood was practically rusted away so much that you could press your finger thru the thin metal. I have already made both sides and have them welded in place. (not in this photo) More to come when project is finished. Notice! I am building car on my porch so I have little protection from the elements.
Peace,
Chaz

bent metal

I take it the gauge that reads "inner, Hood, outer" goes on the face of the part through the lines drawn on the part. Where do the wavey rulers come in?

mrsbojigger

Hey Bent,
Nice to hear from you. Yes, The small template with "inner" and "outer" fits on the 2 diagonal lines so I can have control on the curvature as it matches with the rest of the hood. The wavey template stands up and fits right on the edge that looks straight. Here is a pic of my using it. I will need to stretch the welded area to the left in the pic a small amount to raise metal to match the template. When finished both sides contours will match perfectly.
Peace,
Chaz

bent metal

Very nice, as always. I'll be looking forward to seeing how you make the gap even. That's a challenge for me.:)

mrsbojigger

Using the Dolly On Method will compress the metal making it slightly thinner thereby producing more area horizontally which in turn will cause it to raise since the metal has to go somewhere. Actually, you will remember that anytime you weld steel you get shrinkage. This Dolly On Method is really just getting it back to normal since I took great care in cutting and trimming my pieces of metal for a butt weld with basically no filler rod.
As a side note, all my welding here is oxy/acet since I can no longer use my TIG welder due to me now having a pacemaker. The gas welding is all new to me but I like it a lot.

bent metal

Not the gap in the weld area, the gap between the hood and fender.:)

mrsbojigger

Not a problem! I plan to just make a pie cut piece and weld to the fender allowing a slight gap between the new piece and the new hood piece. This piece will be a permanent part of the fender and will fit to the upper grill trim piece just as the fender fits to the grill trim piece.
Peace,
Chaz

[Deleted User]

Chaz:
Have you used the Henrob(Cobra) torch to gas weld with? We havent tried it, but will soon, maybe. Uses low pressure, less gas. Bob

mrsbojigger

Hi Bob,
That's what I am using. I love it. It's so ergonomic! Since I had never done any welding like this, there was/is a slight learning curve. The key to the Henrob is to get the correct gas pressure settings. There are some excellent videos on setting the torch from Henrob Jim and from a company in Australia. Keep in touch with me on this.
Peace,
Chaz

P.S. How do you like my new avatar?

hoggyrubber

looks good. my hood has rust there too. i may have to copy your idea.

mrsbojigger

Of course you can copy the idea. We are all here to help each other. This will also work on a hood where you want to keep the corners. In fact, that would be easier repairing a stock hood because you can make a template of the outer edge easily enough. Just hold a piece of cardboard to the side edge and copy the curve with a pencil.
Peace,
Chaz

mrsbojigger

More on hood patch panels. Both sides had metal fatigue cracks along the edges that had to be taken care of.
I started with getting the bend by using my body hammer and flat anvil surface then cut to fit and welded in.
Peace,
Chaz

[Deleted User]

Chaz:
Looks like your an expert at welding the sheetmetal, nice job.
I have the video, watched it several times, and met Jim at the last metal meet we talked about. Need to buy some low pressure gauges, mine are the regular gauges for the large torches. Cant get the pressure adjustment to suit me. Thanks for the info, later, Bob P.

mrsbojigger

Bob,
Try this site for some additional information.
http://www.welddownunder.com/index.htm
Peace,
Chaz

SuperDave

I have the same torches and have only tried to use it on stainless trim. Bad results, but only because of the same problem Bob has. My regulators are very unstable at those low settings. I did buy a smaller tip than what came with the torch kit. My next purchase will be the regulators. I have managed to join two light pieces of stainless trim only to end up burning through because the regulators were not "regulating".:) Any one have a "cheap" source for them?

mrsbojigger

Hi Dave,
"Cheap" is relative. I guess you have to weigh the cost vs the results you want. I still do my adjusting the method shown in the videos since my gages are 30 years old. Either way you need to get that elusive 4 lbs. on both acetylene and oxygen. The Henrob torch is an excellent tool.
Peace,
Chaz

[Deleted User]

Chaz:
Like your avatar, but too small to see it well. How about posting it as a picture for us to see, may give us new ideas for ours.
checked the Austrian web site for the torch stuff, didnt see any gauges/regulators, but no problem, I'll probably get them in the USA anyway. thanks, Bob P

mrsbojigger

Bob,
The Australian site shows how to set your pressures without accurate gages. Henrob Jims video also shows how to do it. Once you set your pressures just mark your gages so you can go back to those marks when using them.
The avatar is a painting I did of my Hudson when I first started working on it in Oregon before shipping it to Texas. We were airing up the tires and making sure the doors would latch correctly. The painting was not finished when photo was taken. Notice the rust along the front edge of the hood and rusted grill trim.
Peace,
Chaz

Browniepetersen

Nice work Bob!! My wife keeps telling me that she will do a painting of my car but it just does not happen. Oh well? The current calendar (I am "Mis" May) that the HET Club has for sale has an ink drawing (from the photo I use as my Avatar) of my car. I was able to buy the original from the Artist (Fred Mertlich of Park City, Utah.) I consider myself lucky. By the way, if you do not have your copy of the calendar you need to get a hold of Mike Cherry. They will not be on sale after the First of January.

mrsbojigger

Hi Brownie,
It's Chaz, not Bob.
Check out my web site.
www.themodernartist.com
Peace,
Chaz