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'Morning Fellas,
Well, last night I finally figured enough was enough and Im finally going to deal with this whole inaccessible-hood-release-because-of-the-rhino-transplant problem. If you've ever transplanted a rhino grill onto a former razor grill rig, maybe youve had the same problem, where your big, fat fingers could no longer access the hood release handle, because the space between the hood lip and the top of the rhino is MAYBE 1/2" on a good day. (Ive never intentionally closed the hood the whole way down, but some hard descents down in my field have caused it to seal shut from time to time.)
Up til now, everytime I had to get under the hood (and they have been frequent, trust me, as Im still in the late build stages), I had to grab for my 3' long flathead screwdriver and carefully pry the hood open using that 1/2" space.
Now, bonehead that I am, I tried overthinking the problem; blueprinting schematics that looked like Pee Wee Herman's breakfast making machine or some kind of holdover from the Manhatten Project.
All along, the solution (as they usually are) was down at the barn where I keep the J200 that I havent bothered with yet. So, I took a few snapshots of the old Gladiator setup and refit the 77 Chief in the same fashion.
See, the problem with the hood release on my 77 Chief is that it is forward facing, and the only way to access it is through the gap between the grill and the hood lip...so heres what I did:
(Since I know I tend to run long in the tooth, Im gonna skip the narration and let the pics do the talking, sorta like one of them ol' silent movies, so feel free to insert your own piano music.)
Removed it, rotated it 90 degrees and re-welded it to the bar.
Hood Closed...
Hood Released...
Hood Closed again...
Take THAT, Stacey David and your 5 minute rhino grill swap, once again the powers of the working man overcome the forces of engineered obsolescence!
Chuck Brown
Well, last night I finally figured enough was enough and Im finally going to deal with this whole inaccessible-hood-release-because-of-the-rhino-transplant problem. If you've ever transplanted a rhino grill onto a former razor grill rig, maybe youve had the same problem, where your big, fat fingers could no longer access the hood release handle, because the space between the hood lip and the top of the rhino is MAYBE 1/2" on a good day. (Ive never intentionally closed the hood the whole way down, but some hard descents down in my field have caused it to seal shut from time to time.)
Up til now, everytime I had to get under the hood (and they have been frequent, trust me, as Im still in the late build stages), I had to grab for my 3' long flathead screwdriver and carefully pry the hood open using that 1/2" space.
Now, bonehead that I am, I tried overthinking the problem; blueprinting schematics that looked like Pee Wee Herman's breakfast making machine or some kind of holdover from the Manhatten Project.
All along, the solution (as they usually are) was down at the barn where I keep the J200 that I havent bothered with yet. So, I took a few snapshots of the old Gladiator setup and refit the 77 Chief in the same fashion.
See, the problem with the hood release on my 77 Chief is that it is forward facing, and the only way to access it is through the gap between the grill and the hood lip...so heres what I did:
(Since I know I tend to run long in the tooth, Im gonna skip the narration and let the pics do the talking, sorta like one of them ol' silent movies, so feel free to insert your own piano music.)
Removed it, rotated it 90 degrees and re-welded it to the bar.
Hood Closed...
Hood Released...
Hood Closed again...
Take THAT, Stacey David and your 5 minute rhino grill swap, once again the powers of the working man overcome the forces of engineered obsolescence!
Chuck Brown
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