Hood Flew Open - Brackets now bent

[Seemer]

Cruising along and approaching 50 mph and all the sudden the hood flies open. Long story short, the bracket/brace that seats right up against the underside of the hood now has a 2" + gap on one side and 1" + gap on the other. Both basically inverted in. The hood will not close. I'M SCREWED!! It's true right....I need a new hood and brackets...yes? I can't imagine trying to bend everything back... UGH.

[Wayne]

New hood and brackets would be easist.

[Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81]

Got and pics of the damage?

[Seemer]

Pics below

The top of the hinges bolt onto brackets/braces that fit the underside contour of the hood. You can see that when the hood flew open, the pressure completely separated and then bent in/inverted the brackets.


Left side (looking from grill towards windshield
http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/7738407...name/hood2.jpg

Right side
http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/7738407...name/hood1.jpg

[myndcrym]

Is that you Tommy boy?? Sorry......Had too!!!

[JeepMods]

Dude that sucks!...

[threepiece188]

Those brackets are part of the hood assembly.

[leostevo]

When you are ready for them, I have the hinges pulled and ready for shipping. Also have the latch bar and springed pins.

PM me when you get to that point.

[Frank]

I've an '88 Wag hood and all the fixin's if you're interested. Straight and clean and works like a charm. Just let me know...

[Seemer]

Thanks guys. I do have access to an 87 with all the necessary parts. Here's my question though....there are a series of components that connect the hood to the car:

1. hinges, which are bolted into the firewall sheet metal
2. the top of the hinges bolt into these corner brackets (the ones that are bent inward) which are attached to the hood.
3. the two corner brackets are connected to eachother via a metal support that spans from one side to the other...at the very back end of the hood. This piece also separated from the hood by ~1/4 to 1/2".
4. then there are connecting rods that run at an angle to the front of the hood.

I know the hinges can be swapped out, but are these corner brackets welded into the underside of the hood? Meaning I need a new hood with the brackets attached? Or, can I rob those brackets from another hood and swap them out? I have not gotten too deep into yet, but intial look suggests those brackets are not comming off. The hood itself is not damaged at all and it was recently repainted so I would like to keep it if possible.

Thanks.

[threepiece188]

Originally Posted by Seemer

Thanks guys. I do have access to an 87 with all the necessary parts. Here's my question though....there are a series of components that connect the hood to the car:

1. hinges, which are bolted into the firewall sheet metal
2. the top of the hinges bolt into these corner brackets (the ones that are bent inward) which are attached to the hood.
3. the two corner brackets are connected to eachother via a metal support that spans from one side to the other...at the very back end of the hood. This piece also separated from the hood by ~1/4 to 1/2".
4. then there are connecting rods that run at an angle to the front of the hood.

I know the hinges can be swapped out, but are these corner brackets welded into the underside of the hood? Meaning I need a new hood with the brackets attached? Or, can I rob those brackets from another hood and swap them out? I have not gotten too deep into yet, but intial look suggests those brackets are not comming off. The hood itself is not damaged at all and it was recently repainted so I would like to keep it if possible.

Thanks.

The answer to both of your questions is both yes and no. Those brackets are welded to the hood as part of the assembly. You could detach and swap the brackets but I would only consider this if the doner hood was otherwise damaged and there was no other hood available.
I suspect you are trying to get out of painting the hood but cutting out four brackets and welding them in would be a considerable amount of work and you would likely end up having to paint afterward anyways.
Dan

[710 Burner]

I'm just trying to figure out why the meathook didn't stop it. You musta bent it with your head.

[joe]

On the bright side keep the old hood for winter. I had the same mishap hitting some RR tracks too fast and had the hood fold up on the roof on a 49 Ford. Destroyed the roof and windshield but the hood made a great sled, Only rule was "you ride it down, you help pull back up"

[Seemer]

Quick update. I took the hood off, jumped (literally) on each of the brackets and bent them back most of the way. I then robbed one hinge from another FSJ. I noticed that the firewall was also bent (where the hinge bolts in), so I grabbed a bunch of washers to fill the gap so to speak. Put everything back together and the hood is working. Still not lined up completely, but with some tinkering I think I'll be able to get it darn close.

Thanks for the help.