VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 Hood hinge

The top halves of my hood are riveted on the hinge and also the side halves are riveted to the top part. I see SS hood hinges and the center divider chrome strip on the internet , so every one of those rivets has to be drilled out and replaced with somekind of screw/washer/nut. What type is the best? Hexhead ,phillipshead or what?

None of the above. Get a friend and pull the hood off. Loosen the back of the center strip from under the dash and remove the front support screws. It all comes off as a unit. The halfs slide off of the hinge. No drilling required. There may be a way to remove one half without removing the whole unit but I'm not aware of it.

Steve, are you wanting to replace just the center chrome strip or the steel other parts of the hinge that are riveted to the hood, or all three parts? Follow Tiny's directions to get the entire assembly off the car, then pull off the chrome strip. The best way to change out the strips riveted on is drill out the rivets and rivit the new parts back on. Not too hard to do!

I'm not happy with the alignment of the hood gaps. I think the hinge is either bent or warped. I think the hinge needs replacing.

http://www.aaaparts.cwmax.com/chevyhd.htm

SS for $50 plus shipping.

Like I was asking Tiny , what type screws would go back in ,after the rivets are drilled out? I'd like to do all the drilling and scratching everything up before I try to paint it someday. (maybe never). The side panels of the hood are also riveted in place. My ole car must have over 100 rivets in it.Somebody at GM in 1938 got a great deal in rivets !! I guess if the hinge part has to be drilled out I might as well replace ALL the rivets with the matching screws. Thanks for the information.

BTW. After 35 years working for the government I'm convinced that if you stand back and throw enough money at it,at some point it will work.

Steve, the answer is the same, none of the above. No drilling required. The hinge IS the center strip. The hood halfs slide on and off of it. Don't tell me you're related to my wife and it's in your DNA to make everything harder than it needs to be.

I don't know your wife ,but I like her already.

http://www.aaaparts.cwmax.com/chevyhd.htm
1938 chevrolet
Center hood strip...C-16632-E ea $275


Hood hinge..stainless steel. C16633-ESS $50 ea ( this is the part that attaches to the hood and slides into the chrome strip) quotation from the website.

Are you saying these are not seperate parts?

I thought the hinge was inside the center strip.

You may have doubled my IQ..I'm getting dizzy.

Steve, yes that part of the hinge IS riveted...but rather than bolt it back I've gotten identical rivets to the originals and the tool that you can manually buck the rivets with from Hansen Rivets in California..same type of rivets that are used to hold the anti-squeak material for the inner front fender panels where they meet the chassis...Billu38

Thanks, that might be the way to go. I'll check it out.

Dunno, maybe they're referring to the part of the hood that slides over the hinge???? That would have to be really worn before it would need replaced. If it were me I'd pull it off & see what needs replaced before buying anything. As for gaps I don't think "fit & finish" were a high priority back then. I don't think I have a uniform gap anywhere on my car.

A photo is worth a thousand words.



The hood is RIVETED to the HINGE. It's impossible to remove the hood without removing the center chrome section. Both halves of the hood will SLIDE off the center section while still riveted to the hinge. If you want to replace the hinge,you'll need to replace the rivets holding the hood to the hinge.

The new hinge has holes already in it to accept the new screws/rivets.

You're right about not buying anything until I get it apart and see exactly which part or number of parts are messed up.

Everyone is interested in points as far as their car being orginal. If I were a judge the body fit (gaps) would be the first thing I looked at. No matter how nice the car is, if the gaps are bad ,it will always look awful.

If the rivets were replaced with screws you could remove the hood half and still have the center section in place. A much better idea, I think. Chevrolet liked rivets in 1938.

http://www.aaaparts.cwmax.com/chevyhd.htm

Notice the holes in the hinge

I think someone removed the hood from the center section and got rough or careless and bent/warped the hinge. The hinge cannot support the heavy hood halves because it's a piece of sheetmetal. If the hinge is supported by the center section ,then it could be handled without doing much damage.

If I remove the hood (with help) I would never lay it flat down on the floor , I would stand it up on it's end and THEN remove the center section carefully. Most photos of 38s show gaps that really look bad, including mine.

PotAYto, PotAHto, if the folks at AAA want to call the hood the hinge so be it but the center strip IS the hinge. The picture is a bit out of focus and I can't see anything wrong that would warrant a lot of effort. Forgive the dirt but below is the same area on mine. Other than the color and amount of dirt I don't see much difference. You have a lot of forward to aft movement on a brand new hinge & hood.

Mine has the forward to aft movement also, about 3/8ths of an inch. I've tried to figure out some way of setting it right and making it stay in that postion. If you engineer something that works. I'd like to know. The movement causes paint chips and is a pain to deal with.(not that my paint is that nice anyway?...grin)