My hood knows it is quail season!
 

This has probably been asked many times, but has anyone had a quick release quail radiator cap that didn't molest their hood? What is the trick?? Mine hits on both sides. It looks like it has been doing so for many years, so I'm not that worried about it, but it would be nice to pop open the hood without contacting the cap. It is a 29 Phaeton incidently as that will probably impact the responses.....oh, and with humility, I ask my FB friends (since I've never had one until this car) how do I open the quail cap? :(

Thanks as always, in advance Tom

Re: My hood knows it is quail season!
 

No, while my quail seems to have INCONTINENCE at high speeds, her tail feathers don't hit my hood.
To open, I rotate her tail feathers towards the passenger (pigeon) side, and hold the bottom ring if resistance is felt.
I check my coolant level often.

Re: My hood knows it is quail season!
 

Mine is a 31, no interferance. Simply twist counter clockwise, and lift, hinged at the rear.
Paul in CT

Re: My hood knows it is quail season!
 

Even with the quail turned, the hood on my '28 fordor will slightly touch it. You might look at the hood fit in relation to the shell/radiator. You may be able to make a slight adjustment to the radiator support rods to gain a slight increase if it does not affect the hood alinement.

Re: My hood knows it is quail season!
 

Tom,

Steve Ciccalone's response is referring to his beautiful, low mileage, unrestored '28 Fordor, which hasn't had any changes from the factory. My '29 Fordor, same condition, very low miles, never molested or restored, has the same problem. When I install an original quail, the tail just touches the hood, either side, when being opened. I was able to adjust the radiator support rods to give clearance, but that moved the radiator shell just a tad out from the hood. For me, that was quite noticable, but we're talking about 3/16" or so, at most. I would guess that back in the day, the dealers or owners would make this simple adjustment and be done with it, not caring about the slight increase in the hood to radiator shell gap.

Dave Lopes

Re: My hood knows it is quail season!
 

I'm surprised! I was thinking that if you prop the side panel on the radiator lacing on the 30-31's or hang it in the hook on the upper tank on the 28-29's (don't let it flop over and bend the hinges) that the tail wouldn't be wide enough to touch the hood...learned somthing...fwiw,jm

Re: My hood knows it is quail season!
 

I have 3/8" clearance from my hood to the bird's tail feather.

Re: My hood knows it is quail season!
 

Same problem here. After spending considerable effort to get the cowl, hood, and radiator lined up to satisfy me, I experienced the same problem with a repop quail. I didn't like the look when I positioned the radiator forward to allow clearance.

My solution was to clip the tail feathers of the quail with my dremel. Three years now and the quail seems as healthy as ever and no more rubbing on the hood.

Re: My hood knows it is quail season!
 

I don't think they did that when they were new. Sounds to me like an alignment problem with the hood or radiator.

Re: My hood knows it is quail season!
 

Hi all, Thanks for the replies. I'll have to look again, but for me it is the hinge area that is rubbing...the hood kinda hangs up where the cap hindges. I guess I could turn it to the side easily enough, just seems like it should clear. I'll check with my radiator alignment, but it seems to visually be about right. Thanks again!