How to: Ruin a perfectly good Blazer...

[gringoloco]

As-is, but my powder guy blasts everything beforehand- I have never had adhesion problems with his work. I even 'clearanced' my LCAs after powder with a 6lb sledge and didn't lose a even a flake of coating. I'll be sure and go check it tonight though so I can rest better...

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Gringo, did you have your DM powder-coated as is or did you debur the edges a little?

I did on mine 'cause I was worried about the powder 'lifting' off the sharp edges like it did on my ECE hidden-hitch.

Sorry to hear about your hitch, mine was like a work of art when it showed up! You need to call up Stan and let him know about the problem you had because that is not like them to let somthing pass like that. Even a sharp edge should not lift unless the powder coater just missed somthing.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Sorry to hear about your hitch, mine was like a work of art when it showed up! You need to call up Stan and let him know about the problem you had because that is not like them to let somthing pass like that. Even a sharp edge should not lift unless the powder coater just missed somthing.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

Looks like it wasn't blasted. I just feathered back the peeling stuff & used my readily available Krylon semi-flat black.

[gringoloco]

More hood progress today. I did not get to spend much time in the garage due to an extended nap after work...

I got the core support mounts pretty much done. Finish welded them and used barrel nuts inside the square tube to accept the attachment bolts. This will also serve to keep the tube from collapsing due to over tightening or from the weight of the hood.

Since the Buicks are a little narrower than our trucks, I needed to merge two hinge assemblies together. I simply cut them to fit and slipped in a 6" piece of threaded rod. I drilled two holes to plug weld and then stitched the seam. I'll grind/sand it smooth and paint after everything is fitted.

Rokcrln had trouble clearing the radiator mounts on the inside when he did this setup and ended up trimming them to fit. Mine just barely clears. This may change when the radiator is installed. I don't know if he was maybe using the 4 core mounts or if my setup is a 1/4" different or what, but I'm glad it worked out so nicely.

[BACKYARD88]

Good progress. I love these hinges, I even got a set myself

[72BlckButy]

I haven't caught your thread in a while... things are really coming together. It looks good!

[gringoloco]

Hood is ON TILT! Clearance is a little tight when opening/closing at the rear of the hood and fenders, but it works pretty well. Just have to be careful to not chip the paint. This should be alleviated when I get the rear sliders in. They are designed to raise the hood up a little for clearance, then it kinda 'drops' into place at the end of its travel.

The hood hinge supports are simply 2x2 angle, cut and bent to fit the shape of the hood, bolted in the stock hinge holes at the rear and welded at the front. They will hardly be noticeable with a coat of paint on 'em, and even if you do see 'em they don't look out of place.

[Spray-Bomb]

Sweeeeet !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[babyblueoval]

Originally Posted by Spray-Bomb

Sweeeeet !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I see a reference to a car your hood hinge came off of. What car?
How will you latch it in the rear and keep it from "wobbling" side to side when driving? Is that something you haven't figured out yet?

[babyblueoval]

[QUOTE=babyblueoval;2546032]I see a reference to a car your hood hinge came off of. What car?QUOTE]

Oops. nm I see the link to the how to thread.

[Rokcrln]

Looking good! Is that all the way open, what is stopping it from opening more if anything? Mine almost opens 90*, that might be what the 3/4" dimention is you were asking about. I need to check mine but it is burried in my project lot right now so it is kind of hard to get to.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[jkade]

How low is the front since you cut the fenders? I like the hood job BTW.
Thanks, Kade

[Frizzle Fry]

Hell Ya!

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Looking good! Is that all the way open, what is stopping it from opening more if anything? Mine almost opens 90*, that might be what the 3/4" dimention is you were asking about. I need to check mine but it is burried in my project lot right now so it is kind of hard to get to.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

It will open further, but this is where it rests with the springs in place. After looking at the pics of yours, it appears to lean further forward than mine. The angle of the hinge arms is different than mine when all the way open. Did you do anything to the bumpstops on the hinges? That's the only way I see that I could get it to rest open any further.

Originally Posted by jkade

How low is the front since you cut the fenders? I like the hood job BTW.
Thanks, Kade

The hood pics above are aired-out. Frame is about 2" off the ground. This will change when the drop spindles go in...

[Frizzle Fry]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

The hood pics above are aired-out. Frame is about 2" off the ground. This will change when the drop spindles go in...

Looks like you'll have to cut more from the fenders when the drop spindles go on, ya?

[jkade]

The hood pics above are aired-out. Frame is about 2" off the ground. This will change when the drop spindles go in...[/QUOTE]

OIC you ain't got no drop spindles Just wondering why you went this route on the hood instead of mounting the hinges to the firewall? I think what you are doing looks good but I have to ask since I will have to do something similar Looks like the 67 may be gone so I may get back to work on the blazer but I will never catch up with you Keep up the good work.

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by jkade

Just wondering why you went this route on the hood instead of mounting the hinges to the firewall?

Simple because he can! It is alot easier to mount new hinges to the fire wall but that is just what they expect. When you have a front tilt it looks stock when shut and as you open it the first 6" of movment looks totaly stock then the hood starts sliding forward and finally comes to rest flipped in front of the grill. It just does'nt get any better


loco~ The only thing I can think of is I have the 3/4" stand off on my hood mount and that will give more leverage when open. I did not do anything to my stops but I can not remember if I have the rubbers in their or not. I will find out Sunday because I will be setting my front end on my Blazer. I have alot of cleaning up to do around here since my Dump runner has been down for a face lift

Kevin
LFD inc.

[jkade]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Simple because he can! It is alot easier to mount new hinges to the fire wall but that is just what they expect. When you have a front tilt it looks stock when shut and as you open it the first 6" of movment looks totaly stock then the hood starts sliding forward and finally comes to rest flipped in front of the grill. It just does'nt get any better


loco~ The only thing I can think of is I have the 3/4" stand off on my hood mount and that will give more leverage when open. I did not do anything to my stops but I can not remember if I have the rubbers in their or not. I will find out Sunday because I will be setting my front end on my Blazer. I have alot of cleaning up to do around here since my Dump runner has been down for a face lift

Kevin
LFD inc.

I wasn't saying that I thought it was a crappy way to go about making the hood open I like being differnet and doing things a different way so I was just being curious.
Thanks

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by jkade

I wasn't saying that I thought it was a crappy way to go about making the hood open I like being differnet and doing things a different way so I was just being curious.
Thanks

I never thought you were saying it was a crappy way to go! What gave you that idea?? I Just gave the reason why I did mine and what I tell people when they ask why!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[SactoJim]

Damn cool!

[jkade]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

I never thought you were saying it was a crappy way to go! What gave you that idea?? I Just gave the reason why I did mine and what I tell people when they ask why!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[QUOTE=Rokcrln;2547357] Simple because he can!

That is what threw me off track, no big deal and I may have to go that route too That is why I was asking, and no harm no foul

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

Looks like you'll have to cut more from the fenders when the drop spindles go on, ya?

Yeah, but I'll still probably set the bumpstops to stop it somewhere around this height so I can still roll aired-out(either accidentally or on purpose.)

Originally Posted by jkade

Just wondering why you went this route on the hood instead of mounting the hinges to the firewall?

I haven't seen any firewall mounted hinges that I like. They all look kinda out of place to me. I like the way Rok's version of this just looks like it 'belongs'.

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

I can not remember if I have the rubbers in their or not. I will find out Sunday because I will be setting my front end on my Blazer.

I appreciate you checking for me. It's a mystery to me at this point. Even at its current angle, I'm still very happy with the results.

Originally Posted by SactoJim

Damn cool!

Thanks! Your truck is killer! I wish my pickup was half as nice...

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

I'm still very happy with the results.

...

And you should be it looks great!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Dinos63]

gringo . nice work ,truck looks killer

[Rokcrln]

Well I had a friend come over and give me a hand cleaning thigs up a bit. I am still waiting to do a dump run once LowBuck is finished up.
Here are a few pics from today (yep you get all 5 or none) of the tilt front end on my 70. We pulled off the stock front end as one piece now I just need to pull it apart and store the good stuff and toss the bad. I did remove the stock hood bumpers on the tilt front end but will put some back in before paint or anything so that may give me an extra bit of an opening. Also I noticed my hinge spreader bar sits on the radiator support as it touches the bump stop locations. I also included a few pics of other stuff we moved around. The 51 F1 is a future street rod project so I can play around with chopping, chaneling, sectioning, shortening and a few other mods. It is a factory V8 flathead truck that only has 48K on the ticker. It was a friends dads truck that he put in a barn in the 60's and pulled out last year when I bought it from him. I know it's not a Chevy but will be one bad @ss truck when done all the same.

Kevin
LFD Inc.