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Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
Hey Kevin, Happy Thanksgiving! Thought I'd wave as I went by. I just passed Winters on my way to Modesto.
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Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
Wow! Those seats turned out really nice, almost like they're supposed to be there.
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Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
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Your truck sure is looking good but one questions for ya. Did you get to keep the color matched guitar from the music video? That was just too cool! Kevin LFD Inc. |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
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Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
I sent him an e-mail Saturday and a PM but have not heard back on ether yet? The price was a steel if you could finish it your self. Just for a sounding board if I were to sell mine as is right now it would be in the $25-35k range with parts and time figured in. I know that seams like a lot but $ and hours don't lie.
Kevin LFD Inc. |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
PorterBuilts new hood hinge kit showed up tonight and I can't wait to give it a shot. I hope to have a chance to do the install and write up by mid next week if not sooner. I am so tired of having to lift the hood on and off by my self or asking for help. With my front tire size of 30.5" and being able to lay frame I did not have a lot of options. I even went as far as working up a new 4 link forward tilt set up but this will save so much time and frustration (better left to other projects) and will allow better working conditions as well.
Have you guys seen what comes in the kit? Quality cut and welded parts, machined bushings and a but load of SS nuts, bolts, flat washers and lock washers. Out of all the hardware the only things that are not SS are the two pivot bolt sets and I assume that is just because SS does not have a ware rate like Non SS does. Definitely well worth what the asking price is and then some. Thanks Nate for another Great product! Kevin LFD Inc. [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...n/DSC04166.jpg[/IMG] |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
That looks really nice.
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Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
they do look nice..maybe one day.. :)
i was lookin at my moms 96 explorer today and it looks like the hinge setup is similar..i just glanced at it. i didnt really look into it much but it looks like it folds into the firewall too. |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
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Kevin LFD Inc. |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
PorterBuilt's DropMember Hood Hinges How-To LFD style So I have been killing my self setting my hood on and off during my 72 Tahoe build. With a 30.5" tall front tire little things like hood hinges kind of get in the way. So my thoughts are that since Nate from PorterBuilt street rods is the reason I am so low and can not run a stock hinge that he should be the one to fix the problem as well! And now he has!! What Nate has come up with is a cowl mounted Hinge kit that really works. Not like the others that only let your hood open half way or the $1K scissor type that are hard to set up right then they still are not real stable (side to side) when they are up. This install took me about 4 hours to complete and the results are out standing. Easy to install with basic tools (plus a welder), the hood opens up 7" higher then stock hinges, way more solid and firm then any hoods I have dealt with. Also since these are a single pivot point style hinge un-like the factory hinges you will not have to push the rear of the hood down for it to close all the way. It will line up the same way every time you open or close the hood. Their were a few snags and we will get to that as they come up in the install. Lets get to it! Ok first thing to do is remove the hood, cowl and stock hood hinges. Then you need to find the center point of the front of the cowl area and put a piece of masking tape their that you can write on. Then from this center mark you will go left and right 23" each way so the hinges will be 46" from center to center. I used masking tape to make all my marks on so it is easy to change if you make a mistake and also it will help protect the paint for the painted guys. Ok so once you make your two hinge marks 46" apart from each other you are ready to make a templet so you can transfer the hinge mounting holes and center slot. So the first step is to mark the hinges for Passenger and Drivers side. Take the hinge box's and set them side by side so the top of the box's are touching like in the pic and not the bottoms. Once you have done this put a P on the left one for Passenger and a D on the right one for Drivers side. [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/2-5.jpg[/IMG] Take one of the hinges and place it face down on a piece of poster board and trace the out line of the hinge box, center slot and the 4 mounting holes. Now their is a P and a D to this templet as well so put a mark showing what is what. After I cut this out I placed the box back over it and used a transfer punch to get exact centers for the holes. [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/3-5.jpg[/IMG] Then take the templet and place it so the 46" marks you made are in the center of the slot you cut out and that the bottom of the templet is tight to the bottom of the wire gutter. I used 2 small magnets to holt it in place while I transferred the mounting holes with a center punch. and marked the slot with a pen. [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/4-6.jpg[/IMG] Then I drilled out the the 4 mounting holes with a 5/16" bit but I did not cut the slot out yet. First I set the Passenger side box over the area where it will go and marked out the area I needed to remove so it could slide into the cowl. Only remove as little as you have to so it will fit. Then slide it into place and install 4 bolts just to locate it in the correct spot. It should be sitting flat to the bottom of the cowl at this time. I then used a C clamp to hold it tight so I could mark and drill the 2 bottom holes that will go through the cowl in to the cabin. Note! At this point I chose to use regular hardware for all my mock up because SS is great but does not lend it self well for going in and out too much. So I will keep the SS in a bag and when I am ready for final assembly I will set it all with the regular hardware, tighten it all down and then when I am happy with it I will remove 1 bolt at a time and install the SS with a bit of anti-sieze. [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/6-3.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/7-3.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/8-4.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/9-3.jpg[/IMG] Then I marked for the (2) 3/8" holes for the center slot. The first one went at the bottom of the marked out slot but 1/4" up. The top hole will be for now right on the corner of the top of the cowl. After they are drilled I removed the tape and scribed 2 lines from top to bottom of each hole. I marked mine just inside the lines of where I thought it would end up then I cut out the section. I then clamped the box back in place using the bolts to align it once again. I then took a die grinder and gently remove the rest of the metal around the slot until it was just flush with the slot cut in the box. By doing it this way you end up with a very clean hole that just looks right. [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/10-2.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/11-2.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/12-2.jpg[/IMG] Kevin LFD Inc. |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
I then did the same for the drivers side but had to do a bit more trimming to get everything in place. After the face holes were drilled and the top of the cowl was cut to get the box inside I found that the holes did not line up. The box was tight against the left side of the opening in the cowl and as you can see in the pic it still has to go over a bit. So I trimmed more off the one side of the cowl until it lined up then I found I need to do a bit more for the bolt head to clear as well.
[IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/13-1.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/14-1.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/15-1.jpg[/IMG] Next it was time to install the hinge arm before bolting in the boxes! If you bolt the box in first you will not be able to slide the bolts into place to hold the arms. Now their is a P and a D to the arms as well. The angle on the end of the mounting plate of the arm will slope in towards the center of the cowl. So imagine a line going from the head light to the center of the cowl and the angle in the arm will follow this same line. Note If you are already painted or going to be driving it for some time you will want to paint these parts and seal up the bottom bolt holes with silicone. To do this put a large amount of silicone under the box around the two holes and then put some more in the holes before inserting the bolts. Yes this is a bit messy but better that then water or rust coming through later. So I assembled the arms on the boxes with everything setting in the cowl openings. Once the arms were bolted in I went ahead and started the 4 front bolts but before tightening them up I dropped the other 2 bolts in place going into the cabin. Then tighten them all up starting with the 4 in front and moving on to the 2 on the bottom. Now that the boxes are tight you can set the tension on the hinge arms. What I did was tighten them up just so the arm will stay up and require a very small amount of force to lower. What this does is makes everything nice and snug and does not allow any slop in the operation of the hinges. Next you will want to adjust the up travel of the hinge arms so they are even with each other like in the pic below. [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/18-1.jpg[/IMG] To do this you will take your die grinder or file and adjust the top of the slot so the arms will come up to the same point. You may want to sit the cowl back in place and see where the front edge is location to the top of the slot. You do not want the slot to go into the cowl panel so make a mark at the front edge and work towards that. [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/28-1.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/17-2.jpg[/IMG] Once you are happy with both sides you can bolt the cowl panel back in place and start on the hood. Note The very first thing you want to do is make sure all the bolts can be screwed all the way into the mounting plate. If you have any problems you should run a tap through the hole first. I had one that did not go and found out after it was welded in place. I have already spoke with Nate about this and he is fixing this so it will not even be a possible problem on later kits. Also note their is a passenger and a driver side to these plates as well. The angle on the plate will follow the angle on the hood brace. So find a good place to lay your hood up side down and grab your tape measure. You will once again want to find the center of the hood along the rear brace. Their is a factory hole that is almost exactly center but double check it before moving to the next step. Once you find center you will want to measure out 23" each way just like on the cowl. This again is the center of the hinge mounting plate but since these plates are 2 1/2" wide now measure to one side 1 1/4" so you have a good mark to line the edge of the plate up with. Put the plate down and trace around it withy a pen then remove the plate and clean all the paint off this area so you will get a good weld in a later step. Now re measure and place your marks one more time (don't forget the 1 1/4" offset line) and using a framing square you will want to make sure these plates are square with the rear of the hood and 1" in front of the back of the brace. This should also be about 2 1/2" from the very back edge of the hood. Once you have this I recommend just doing one tack weld per piece first. After both sides are tacked re-check your 46" number to make sure it is correct then finish welding. I only did about a 1" weld in each corner and I feel that is more than enough to secure the hood for good. [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/19-2.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/20-1.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/21-1.jpg[/IMG] Kevin LFD Inc. |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
Now just bolt the hood on a drive, well almost. With the hood up (helps with 2 guys) I started all the bolts (do not use the SS bolts for this step yet) and once they were snug I adjusted the hood so that the mounting plate for the hood was about 1/4" in front of the plate on the arm. This gave some extra clearance for the cowl on the first shutting but still be careful that the hood does not contact the cowl. I did mine this way and when it was said and done I only had the hood slid out about 1/16" past the plate on the arm.
Now my hood was 1/8" lower than the cowl and needed to come up. I had some spacers that were 1/8" so I loosened one side at a time and slid in the shims and re-tightened the bolts. This put the hood perfectly flush with the cowl and the hood to fender gap was great as well. I have Talked with Nate and he will be suppling (2) 1/8" and (2) 1/16" shims with the next kits. [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/27-2.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/26-2.jpg[/IMG] No worries about chipping paint with these hinges, once they are set correctly. [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/23-1.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/25-1.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/24-2.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/31-2.jpg[/IMG] How is this for a hood opening! I checked on low buck and had an opening of 39" (blue hood) between the hood latch and latch pin and on the Tahoe ( white hood) with Nate's kit I had 46"! A total gain of 7"! [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/22-2.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/30-2.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/29-2.jpg[/IMG] So now you can be this low, rolling on 30" tires and still take your hood with you all for about 4 hours work. [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b20/rokcrln/32-1.jpg[/IMG] Kevin LFD Inc. |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
Now for the changes I would like to see Nate make or do and after talking with him tonight it looks like he will be doing all of them.
1) Is to enlarge the holes in the hood mounting plate about 3/32" to avoid any problem screwing the bolts in. 2) To provide the template needed for marking out the cowl bolts and slots on the face. You will still be on your own for the 2 bottom bolts in to the cabin and the opening of the cowl top to fit the boxes. 3) Pre mark all the pieces with a P (passenger side) or a D (driver side) just so their is less of a chance to make a mistake as you are rushing to get this done. 4) Provide (4) shims with the kit for hood adjustment (2) 1/8" and (2) 1/16" same shape as the mounting plate but with larger holes. 5) Maybe include some mock up hardware so you can save the SS for final assembly. This one he does not know about yet but it would be great at least for the hood to arm connection because this is the easiest part to mess up a SS bolt and ruin the threaded plate causing some big nightmares. ;) Just to clarify none of these changes are needed but knowing how anal Nate is with his quality I knew he would want my feed back to make it even better of a kit (if that is even possible)! So if you have any questions or need other pics just ask! Kevin LFD Inc. |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
Wow, that's really cool Kevin!
Won't the hood to cowl weatherstripping piece bump the front of the cowl up some? |
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Kevin LFD Inc. |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
Subscribed! And awesome write up on the hood hinge install. Looks great.
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Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
ya I didn't think the explorer ones would work, i just thought it was funny they work the same way. cool write up, those hinges look great
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Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
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Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
Is it just the slot in the cowl area that limits the opening of the hood. I could see this leading to some chipped paint and or a bent slot.
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But good call! Kevin LFD Inc. |
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Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
Not yet but it is in design I have been told.
Kevin LFD Inc. |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
Sounds good Kevin. You do great work!!
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I just went out and opened the hood and over opened it to see what would happen and here is what I found. The hinge arms will contact the cowl but only right were the top of the slot is and not up on the top corner of the cowl. When I pushed up harder to see what would happen the hood brace were the mounts weld to flexed a small amount but the cowl did not. So I think if you were to really cram the hood open it may chip paint on the lower edge of were the cowl bolts down to the cab. Also I noticed that in the pic where I measure the opening of the hood, that was not all the way up but just as far as my hood prop would hold. So it pushes up another 2-3" more so I really thing it would not become an issue unless it was being abused. Kevin LFD Inc. |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
Kevin,
I was not at all try to find fault with your work or the design of Nate's product. I was just making an observation. But thanks for checking and clearing it up for the many folks who I'm sure will be jumping on the Hinges!!! |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
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Kevin LFD Inc. |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
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You got a link to these parts for ordering? |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
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Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
Good work Kevin. Your wright up was very good.
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Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
Kevin,
I was looking at the install pics on Nates site. Just wondering if the cab has multiple layers of sheetmetal or do you think a backing plate would help keep metal fatigue from happening where the mount bolts go inside the cab. It might distribute the load? Just a thought. And maybe we won't be opening the hood that often to cause damage. Anyway, he has them for $200 that seems like a steal! mount bolts here: http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...34-300x225.jpg |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
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Kevin LFD Inc. |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
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Your right with it mounting to the firewall and through the cab....it shouldn't be a problem unless you have to check your oil every day. Looks like a very sturdy design, props to Porterbuilt. |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
very nice build as usual...... Would not expect anything less.....
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Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
Here is the first part of my rear door hinges. I am going with the lift gate but I cut down the barn doors to half doors and I want them to open 180*. The only real 180* hinges that I have found are the super singles and they are fairly bulky for how small and light the doors are. So I am taking 2 sets of 90* hidden hinges and blending them together to get 180's. The body side will be welded in and the door side will have adjustable mounting tabs for in/out up/down and left/right. I may try one out Thursday if I have time.
Kevin LFD Inc. Closed [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...n/DSC04265.jpg[/IMG] Open 90* [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...n/DSC04266.jpg[/IMG] Open 180* [IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...n/DSC04267.jpg[/IMG] |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
Nice! You'll probably want to at least spring-load the door side in the closed position so that the cab side swings to full open before the door side moves. Mine have a complicated cam-over mutual lock-out set-up so that only one half can move at a time.
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Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
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Kevin LFD Inc. |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
So, it's going to be kinda like an Astro van
http://www.universalimports.co.uk/stock/3/SH101171.JPG Took me forever to find a pic with the doors open |
Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
except open 180 ;)
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Re: LFD's 4dr Tahoe Build
Yes but with out visible hinges when the doors are closed!
Kevin LFD Inc. |
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http://image.trucktrend.com/f/pre-ow...-rear-view.jpg |
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