34 pickup cowl lace/hood hinge bracket

[drfromnc]

On a 34 pickup, How does the cowl lace fit across the top of cowl where hood hinge bracket is located? Is it done in 1 or 2 pieces?

[Newc]

Mine is done with a left/right sections..Newc

[al's28/33]

two pieces..... it stops in the middle for the center hood bracket

[drfromnc]

Newc or Al, Could I get a picture?

[325w]

If you put the lace under the hood hinge bracket the hood will be to high.you can see on the top of the firewall where it goes.

[al's28/33]

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[al's28/33]

sorry that's the only one I have showing at the center top of the pic, when I had the hood off many years ago.

[drfromnc]

Ok gents, next question I have is about how well should the hood matches up with grille and cowl where the hood curves down the sides at the hood side hinges?

I have my lacing cut to fit on the grille and cowl, hood is installed in both front and rear brackets and I just completed fabrication of my hidden hood latches (not running hood sides) in all 4 corners of the hood but when hood is unlatched it looks like a pair of wings (see last picture)

How can a novice slightly bend the downward curve of the hood to match grille and cowl?

[al's28/33]

You might need to flatten the lacing itself on the shell side, mine is flat from age, your new one is very plump and round still. The shell flange that protrudes from underneath the lacing may need to be worked to allow your wings to sit closer to the shell too, that's what I can see ...... I can get more pics of my setup tomorrow in the daylight for you

[Newc]

The original spring loaded latches would pull a hood tight. Newc

[al's28/33]

[al's28/33]

[al's28/33]

[al's28/33]

[al's28/33]

Sorry I cannot load multiple pics into one post.

My hood "wings out" until I fasten the factory outside spring loaded latches. Perhaps the top panels have some tension to help aid a tight fit when secured.

I hope these all help.

[drfromnc]

Originally Posted by al's28/33

Sorry I cannot load multiple pics into one post.

My hood "wings out" until I fasten the factory outside spring loaded latches. Perhaps the top panels have some tension to help aid a tight fit when secured.

I hope these all help.

Yes, your last picture tells the story. Mine has same look before I latch it. It seems the tension is needed to allow it to latch tightly and hold shape.

I had planned on flattening the lacing before final install.

[drfromnc]

I just looked at all your pictures Al’s28/31 and I noticed that it looks like your cowl lacing is held in place by a combination of screws or bolts and split rivets.

My cowl kit came with 4 “J” hooks, 2 bolts (no nuts) and 8 split rivets. What fastener is used where?

My grille lace kit came with same hardware minus bolts. Do I use the split rivets to fasten lace to “J” hooks or buy small bolts?

How do I keep cut ends of lace from unraveling or fraying more? Clear fingernail polish or torch them lightly?

[drfromnc]

I got my grill shell lacing attached to grill shell using the split rivets to attach J hooks.

I have the cowl lacing fitted with J hooks on the bottom end of the cowl but I don’t have enough split rivets to attach lacing along the cowl. There 10 tiny holes (5 on each side) along the cowl and I have noticed some of them are “off center” if I were to draw a string from top hole next to hood hinge along the cowl down the side. Is this normal?

My real question is what fasteners work well as substitute for the split rivets?

From my kit I only have 4 rivets and 2 bolts leftover.

[Karl Wescott]

Ah Houston... we have a problem. There may be apples in the orange crate...

Most likely drfromnc has the incorrect lacing for his cowl due to different early/late lacing style and installation. Conclusion first... evidence next.

Our 1934 junker pickup cab in the reference library has a flat area where the hood lacing attaches with small (#4?) screws about every 9 inches or so (i did not measure). This is typical of how "H" type lacing is attached, and iirc 30 years ago there were remnants of "H" lacing on this cowl. The flat area continues from the top of the firewall around the corner to the bottom. Pix of the cowl and "H" lacing.

The pictures of Al's clearly shows a different arrangement. There is a definite up flange and what looks like a bit of a rib on the firewall in front of that. There is an indent in the corner where there is a screw holding the lacing. This is basically the strategy that Ford used on 1930-31, anchoring the lacing at the top and bottom (with a "j" hook in 1930-31) and using the screw in the recessed area to tension the lacing. This was used with the oval cord style lacing similar to what Al's is showing. The cord style lacing requires lateral anchors (the rib and flange in Al's). 1933-34 Passenger used the cord style lacing and was anchored by pan head screws (#10?) which is what looks to be going on with Al's.

The lacing kit drfromnc is describing seems like 1930-31. "J" hooks top and bottom with a 12-24 pan head screw to tension the works.

Concluding, the flange on Al's looks to be what I would expect to find on the cowl of a 1932. My best guess based on the photos I am seeing is the "early" version would be like Al's. Then there was a transition to the "H" style but with the cowl retaining the flanges. Evidence of this is drfromnc's reporting of the small holes, still with the flange and rib. Then a "late" version (which is what our cab is) that had slightly different cowl and firewall stampings and used the "H" style lacing.

[DavidG]

I agree with Karl. Unless there is a stamped-in or added lip to form a channel, the original hood lacing cross section was double beaded (or H or dumb bell shaped), not oval shaped in cross section. That's in contrast to the lacing on the cowl and radiator shell of the '32s where all of the lacing has an oval cross section and fits into a stamped-in channel.


If the intention was to make an improvement over the '32 hood lacing, they failed miserably.