Hood

The Era of The Square Body Racing Comets
fair67
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Hood

Post by fair67 »

We got our Crites hood the other day and my Daughter is pretty excited. Any tips from anyone who has put one on. I had the hinge holes drilled and tapped at Crites.
Thanks
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poboyjo65
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Re: Hood

Post by poboyjo65 »

Take the springs off your hinges. they are too strong for the fiberglass hood & will create a bow & possibly break the hood. I saw an easy way to get them off a while back. I'm not certain it can be done on comets but it should. the guy cut lots of thin chips of wood & with the springs in the open-hood position & springs stretched out he wedged the pieces of wood in the springs between the coils. then when he pushed the hinge down with a lever the springs basically just fell off. this way seemed a lot safer to me.

Hood pins are a good idea also.
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Johno

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SASSY
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Re: Hood

Post by SASSY »

Seems to me someone said there are light springs available for that install.
Hood pins and a stick are used by people too.
Jo aren't the springs relaxed with the hood open, stretched when closed,,,
Fred
I'd rather do it myself if it's done right or not,,,isn't that what hotrodding is all about

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popscomet
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Re: Hood

Post by popscomet »

I have a crites tear drop hood on my 64 and is perfect after 20 plus years,,,,I removed the springs ,my son built a very nice SS prop rod,I use the factory latch,,as I did not want hood pins,,,I have driven my old red ride many miles and the hood is just as good today as it was when it was put on,,,,I took the comet and the hood to a man that rebuilds corvettes ,,he was a whiz when working with 'GLASS,,he fitted it and installed it,,in fact he painted it also.....to remove the springs I think I cut them off as the hinges were already off for me to bead blast them and repaint,,I replaced the rubber hood bumpers and made sure all was adjusted to get the slack out so it wouldn't go down the road bounching....thank you and good luck....... :D POP
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poboyjo65
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Re: Hood

Post by poboyjo65 »

SASSY wrote:Seems to me someone said there are light springs available for that install.
Hood pins and a stick are used by people too.
Jo aren't the springs relaxed with the hood open, stretched when closed,,,
Fred
Well I got that part mixed up Fred,they are stretched with the hood shut but I think with the hood off it wouldnt matter, you could get to them at any position to put the wood in. But if you're not going to reuse them cutting them like pop said would be easier.
& with any springs ,light duty or not it is still trying to push the hood up every second that the hood is closed, & in the sun ,well it's no wonder they bow up in the center. So no springs for me, like Pop I made a prop rod from 1/2'' stainless.
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SASSY
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Re: Hood

Post by SASSY »

Ya a prop rod sounds like a good idea to me too.
Seems to me last time I had a spring off the hinges
I just pulled it off with a plier.
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I'd rather do it myself if it's done right or not,,,isn't that what hotrodding is all about

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popscomet
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Re: Hood

Post by popscomet »

in fact we use a SS prop rod on GLENDA'S 56 ford,,,it has so many louvers punched in it,and you have to remove all the cross braceing to punch it,it makes the hood kinda flimsy,,,so A prop rod is the best.......pop
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vicegrip
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Re: Hood

Post by vicegrip »

My hood fit good as is on the sides and back but was a little off in the fender extension area. It did take some work to straighten out the top but it wasn't terrible. If your hood was made recently,I would suggest laying it out in the sun for a couple weeks to evaporate out solvents so there is less shrinking problems later. Unless Crites changed their mold,the metal for the latch pin is molded in at the wrong angle.If you drill and tap perpendicular to that metal,the pin will be at the wrong angle to enter the latch correctly. That was a while back. Might be different now.

fair67
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Re: Hood

Post by fair67 »

I want to thank everyone for the help. This is great info to get started and try to figure it out. I appreciate all the tips.
Thanks

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Jims65cyclone
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Re: Hood

Post by Jims65cyclone »

When I removed my hood, I raised the metal hood as high as it would go and put a wooden "prop rod" in to keep it there. The spring coils were almost completely collapsed. Then I used a heavy screwdriver to pry the bottom hooks off the hinges. They rebounded maybe 1/4", but the top hooks remained connected to the hinges and the springs just hung there until I removed them by hand. I left them off when I installed my hood. It's an original 65 prototype hood that the PO took off and replaced with a steel hood to "save it so it wouldn't get damaged" (think Aunt Gladys and those clear plastic slip covers she had on her living room furniture :roll: ). It does show some tiny stress cracks in the gel coat on both sides just in front of the hinges due to its former installation with hood springs. I'm using a hood prop I made from a piece of 1/2" sched 40 PVC pipe with a rounded cap on the top. It's mounted to the engine side of the rad support on the passenger side, folds down to store between the top of the rad tank and rad support, and hooks under the rad support on the driver's side. I painted it satin black so it's fairly subdued. I may replace it with a metal rod later, but it serves the purpose for now.
Jim
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fair67
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Re: Hood

Post by fair67 »

Thanks Jim I appreciate it. I have a few other things to iron out first before I tackle the hood. My tail lights are a train wreck.

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fairlaniac
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Re: Hood

Post by fairlaniac »

To remove springs open the hood, take a handful of 2-1/2" - 3" nails. Put about 5 or 6 nails between the spring coils and then lower the hood slightly. The coils will pinch the nails and not allow them to coil bind. The springs should all but fall out. Reach in and grab them.
Doug Bender
1964 Comet Caliente
1966 Fairlane 427/4 Spd
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fair67
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Re: Hood

Post by fair67 »

Thanks Fairlaniac I appreciate it. It will be a little bit before I try it but need to do a few things first.
Thanks

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poboyjo65
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Re: Hood

Post by poboyjo65 »

Your daughter may not be planning to race or even go fast but I thought it was worth mentioning that Roy had his afx hood separate,,I think he said it ''ballooned'' at the strip. after that I think he may have got a new hood, but he said he put hood pins on & he said he poured epoxy down in the hood & kept turning the hood to let it run into all the crevices to help better glue the top to the bottom. His son Doug posted this pic on FB & said this was when it happened,you can see the edges up & center is down.
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Hood pins are probably overkill for most cases but I had a hood blow back on a truck @ 80-90 mph@ night,during a flogging . I thought I had crashed it was so loud & everything got black (color of hood) . when I heard the motor winding down & noticed the yellow lines out the side window I realized I hadn't crashed & was able to get it to a stop. after that I am leery of hoods.
Last edited by poboyjo65 on Sun Sep 16, 2018 1:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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fair67
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Re: Hood

Post by fair67 »

This is definately a concern about the hood my question is where would be the best strongest place to put the hood pins . I was thinking of in the middle between the outer edge of the hood and the outer edge of the scoop on each side. Poybojo65 I am having trouble seeing any hood pins in the light blue car looks like may of used the hood latch somehow.(or I cant see them with my old eyes) I do not really see an easy way to use my original hood latch with this hood any help on that and hood pin location appreciated.
Thanks

In my opinion that hood looks great on there.

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