1928 Tudor hood

[jrd-28]

Ok. I'm continuing to make progress on my '28 Tudor. Finally to the dreaded stage of getting the hood lined up

I did an initial test fit of the radiator and shell, and installed all the webbing. Started trying to set up the hood panels.

First problem: The (replacement) top hinge rod, in the top center of the hood, seems to be too long, by at least 1/4". Even if I adjust the mounting rods for the radiator all the way out, it still doesn't fit. Is it common for that thing to need to be trimmed?

I put that aside, and started measuring clearances. The center of the hood is 28" long; with the rods about in the middle of their travel there's about 28-1/8 between the edges on the radiator shell and tank, so that seems ok.

But second problem: With the radiator in that position, the top of the fan hangs up on the radiator inlet. I have to move it in about 1/4" to avoid it hanging up.

Last (not sure whether it's a) problem: With the radiator rods in the middle of their travel, the radiator is not square to the frame. It leans forward a bit. Oddly, the firewall does seem to be square to the frame. And the rest of the clearances seem in the ballpark. So maybe that's the way it's supposed to be?

Anyway, newbie model a assembler here. Any wisdom appreciated.

[KenBolton]

Have you had your frame trued up? Most need it.

[jrd-28]

No. It's probably a bit late for that, given how much of the car is together. How do I tell if that's what's wrong?

[jrd-28]

I did some more horsing around with the various parts. The main problem seems to be that the (new manufacture) radiator shell is slightly off w/r/t the placement of the mounting holes. I've made up some little brackets to move the bottom end of shell forward by about 3/4 inch, and that fixes the bulk of my alignment problems.

Next question: What sort of gap should I see between the bottom edge of the hood and the fender/frame? With the components the way I have them, I've got about 3/4 inch, which seems excessive. I'm not sure I'm even going to be able to get the latches pulled up enough, unless I put blocks under them. What should I expect there?

I took a look at my buddy's (original!) 1930 tudor, and he also has a noticable gap at the bottom of the hood, about 1/2 inch. So maybe the problem is that I need different latches.

Wisdom appreciated.

[Bob C]

Do you have the hood shelves installed?

[Keith True]

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Do you have the hood shelves in place? They have wood blocks under them where the latches mount.If you're compare it to your buddy's 30,they are not the same.The 30-31 does not use hood shelves.

[Keith True]

I see Bob C and I had brainstorms at the exact same time. 9.55.

[jrd-28]

Hah. Learn something new every day.

I didn't even realize this car was supposed to have the hood shelves. They were missing when I got it, and I seem to have missed that detail on other similar cars I've looked at.

That would certainly explain the gap. Many thanks!

[Gene F]

Photos will help (with a yeardstick in place).