I'm looking for ideas to mount the top two pieces of the hood for my 37 pick up hood. I only want the top two pieces. I'm looking for hood props, and ways to tie it down also. Thanks for the post, Tony
etony58@hotmail.com

I really haven't gotten that far on my 37, but I figured I'd probably keep it real simple and use a DUTZ fastner in each corner.

The stock hood hinge won't let the hood half fold all the way over to touch the other half so I really hadn't been thinking about a prop rod.

Tony, that's a beautiful truck you got there.I'm wondering why don't you want to run the side pieces?

You can fabricate small hinges by the cowl and spring loaded latches like on big trucks just mini version or just use Dzus fasteners and make it simple since it's already painted.

BTW, if you or Mike have a spare 37 grille louvers ,let me know. I'm looking for a set for my truck.

DZUS fasteners would work. Or you could weld the hood into one piece and raise it like a grand piano or '50 Buick, which would raise on either side. That made getting at that looooooong engine easier. They had pins at all four corners and you could release one side to get the tilt you wanted or release two sides and with a friend take off the whole hood.
R.

Anyone have pictures of the hood hinge arrangement on a 50 Buick? I think those would work on my 48 Plymouth, since all the stuff from my car was rusted tight or rusted away.
I think I could fab them if I knew what they looked like. Gene

The hood was one piece. It had four rather hefty pins, one at each corner. They fit into four rather normal-looking latches. Each side had a pull knob in the car that opened both latches and I think a spring pushed the hood up. You'd go out and lift the hood the rest of the way and put up the prop rod. The latches on the other side were hinged with the hinge pin longitudinal, that is, pointed down the road. That way when you lift the hood the latches on the other side are free to rotate with the hood. The scary part on all of this is that the hood is mondo heavy and could take a finger off if the hood drops on it. One learns to be really careful.

I believe this started maybe even before the War and lasted until probably at least 1953, so there are several years to choose from.

R.

Thank you for the explanation.
Am I correct in understanding the latches themselves pivoted (acted like a hinge) and pins from the hood fit into them on both sides of the hood?

If that is correct, how much movement did the latches have? was there something that limited the amount of pivot the latch had? I'd bet it was a pita to be sure the pins and latches were in alignment every time a person closed the hood. I wonder if the current latch and pins like what my 90 Dakota had would have enough movement to act like a hinge, seems to me like 30-40 degrees of movement would do the trick. If I needed more then that, I could pull the hood off.

My Plymouth hood is pretty light, I can lift it off the car by myself, but that's not something I want to do every time I want to check the oil.

What do you guys think? Gene

Yes, the latches themselves pivoted, probably something like 45 degrees. The pins coming down from the hood were quite big and tapered, the tip was rounded and something like 5/8" diameter going bigger with a step for the latch to catch on. The holes in the top of the latches were sort of tapered, if the pin came down closer than a half-inch from center it'd go in. The entire hood was almost never taken off. That was just for major stuff like replacing a head or pulling an engine, that sort of thing. You could get to all the ignition stuff on the passenger side and all the carb stuff on the driver's side. I believe the generator was on the driver's side as well.

It was just an idea, wouldn't be too hard to make something that worked the same way but was a little less complicated.

R.

That really little picture is really hard for these old eyes to see.

I think I'm going to play around with this idea a little on my Plymouth, I think I have the jest of its operation.

To the OP, sorry about hijacking your thread.
Gene

I have a 37 Plymouth coupe, I used 37 desoto hood hindge's and made the hood open like a modern car. let me know if you want to see pics.

TONY i have seen several trucks like yours at street rod events,,,seems a lot of them use a spring loaded type tie down,hooked to the lower edge of the hood,going down to the frame some place to delete the side curtains,,i would think some supplier makes them for a certian model,,maybe even model A guys,, sorry i dont have a name of a maker,,,

would love to see and hear about your 37