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Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Nose Job Hardware

Time to re-attach the nose to the body:

After some final finagling to ensure everything was aligned as closely as possible, the hinges were welded to the steel frame and bolted to the fiberglass.  Only then was I able to tell if it would actually work as expected.  I had to make a few minor modifications to the braces that are within the drainage channel.  I also had to cut the flaps just in front of the doors so that their curvature does not interfere with the rotation of the braces on the sides of the hood.  This is what it looks like in place and operational:





The hinge connections are working properly.  However, there is enough rotational force on the hood that the stop braces (which keep the nose from flipping completely over and smacking on the floor) were twisting under the force.  So I added reinforcing in two directions. . .



That kept the braces from bending, but now it was twisting the frame to which they were attached. 

Time for Plan B.  An angle welded to the hinge itself prevents them from turning too far.  This approach required a little trial and error to get just the right length on the angles so that they stop the hood at the desired location and both sides are aligned, but it is a much simpler, elegant, and reliable solution.


Next dilemma: how to secure the hood when closed?

I took a field trip to the local pick-and-pull yard and found two Honda Civic donors with trunk latches that looked like they would do nicely.  They are both relatively compact, and will fit between the outer and inner bodies just above and beyond the top door hinges.    I had to remove a small bend in each, and trim them a bit to fit the desired locations.  Here's what they look like installed.


Passenger                                                                                                                                               Driver

The original hood release pull was missing - so I made my own.  Not bad, I think.  


The original was mounted way at the back of the firewall.  The new location is just inside the driver side door.  I still need to figure out the final connection of the cables to the pull before it is operational.  I will also need to glass in wood mounts to the hood for the hook side of the latches.

The original configuration of the hood included baffles in front of the wheels to keep dirt and water off of the headlights when they are in the down position.  I wanted to maintain that functionality, but the rotation of the hood now rotates the bottom face of the cowling through that plane.  I needed a solution that utilized a flexible membrane similar to a "mud flap".  A pair of cheap black rubber floor mats from the auto parts store worked nicely after trimming back the bottom of the original steel baffles.
                                                                                   
Wheel Side
Headlight Side
Note in the photo above (left) that I had to drill holes through the new baffles for the wiring for the front end lights.  The holes are just above the hinge point, so even though the hood rotates +/- 90 degrees, there is little movement of the wires themselves.



Monday, December 1, 2014

Nose Job - Second Surgery

The reinforcing fiberglass work is done!



It may not look like much, but the photo above represents about 14 hours of work.  The fiberglass did not want to cooperate for much of the work.  It kept forming bubbles and/or edges that would peel up, requiring hours of supervision to force all the defects back into shape until the final "set" of the epoxy.  Each of the ribs got three layers of fiberglass.  I also added a layer over the lip between the original "hood" and the nose to lock it in permanently.  With the ribs completed, the nose can now fully support itself.

This is what it looks like back on the car:



As you can see by the photos below, the vertical position is not quite right at the rear corners.  However, there is enough flexibility still in the nose that these can be forced into correct alignment with minimal pressure.  I will need to figure out how to install hood catches such that it holds the corners down and in alignment when latched. As mentioned earlier, the passenger side gap is optimal, but the driver side gap is very large, and will need to be adjusted later.

All in all, I am very pleased with the results!  The process was nerve-wracking as I had no way of knowing if the final shape would be correct until the final batch of fiberglass had set!  I also did not know if the final shape of the ribs would clear all the important bits.  Most of the clearances are not exacting, but there are a few corners where there is only a 1/4" or so clearance on each side of one of the ribs to the face of the windshield drainage channels.


While I was waiting for resin to cure, I also added a new chrome plated support plate and pneumatic struts to the rear hatch window.  For my model vehicle, originally, there was only a manual support rod on one side to hold the glass open when in use.  As the glass is quite heavy, this was less than convenient.  As you can see, the new struts easily support the weight of the window.  The bottom end of the struts have studs that are threaded into newly drilled and tapped holes in the roll bar.