project #3 from charger891 hood sectioning (pie cut)

here` a little post on my diy hood sectioning i did a while back, the truck is a `55 ford f100
I removed 1 1/2 at the front of the hood, its a relatively easy job that can be done in a day.
Tools needed:
-mig or tig welder
-butt weld panel clamps
-masking tape
-marker
-hammer and dolly
-grinder and cut off wheels

first thing with the hood removed there is an angle iron in the center of the hood which is spot welded to the hood hoop, these spot welds need to be removed, re-install the hood and lign it up to the cowl, make a mark with your marker at the center of the hood and on the cowl, do the same on each side of the hood, these serve as lign up marks which you will use later. tack weld a piece of scrap plate on each side of the hood and tack it to the cowl, this will hold your hood in place, i also ran an angle iron in the bottom center of the hood side to side and tacked into place
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_0505.jpg
at the back of the hood you want to measure and mark both sides of the hood equally upwards and put a mark where you want to do your cut.
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_0506.jpg
stole my wife`s cloth tape! you want to measure from the end of the hood to 3/4 of the way down the hood (or 41 shown on the tape) mark it and do this on both sides, this is only a reference point to measure up your hood.
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_0507.jpg
at this point lign up your tape with your last measurement and mark down 4 , 6, 8 inches, each side of the hood
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_0508.jpg
choose the amount you want to remove from the hood and get that width of masking tape, now run your masking tape from the back of the hood to the front using your rear mark and the 6 inch mark in the front, around the front to the other side.
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_0509.jpg
grab your grinder and cut off wheel and cut along the bottom of the tape all around the hood
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_0510.jpg

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_0511.jpg
remove the top of the hood, disconnect the hood tension rods, cut and remove the rear hood hoop support
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_0512.jpg
re-install the top part of the hood, ligning it up with the marks you did on your cowl, lower the front of the hood to your desired height making sure there even on both sides by using your marks (4in & 8 in) drill a hole through both hood skins at the front center and fasten them in place with a screw
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_0513.jpg
both parts of the hood slid into each other
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_0514.jpg
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_0515.jpg
with my but weld panel clamps i ligned up both skins up, made sure my measurements were good and tacked both skins together both sides
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_0516.jpg
keep doing this on both sides until its all tacked up, if both skins do not quite lign up you might have to do some vertical relief cuts as seen in the picture

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_0517.jpg
the front is done the same way but material must be removed when doing the vertical cuts in the front rounded sections (pie cut)
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...1/IMG_0518.jpg
after hood was completely tacked up into place, you want to keep tacking around and inch at a time leaving the hood cool off so it dosent warp, until the hood is completely welded up.re-install your rear hoop hood support and rods, reweld your rear hood support angle to the hoop, and this is the look you get..
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...IMG_0520-1.jpg
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...IMG_0521-1.jpg
before pic:
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/a...100_4193-1.jpg
Hope this helps someone else in the future, when i did this there was no info that i can find on how to do this

Wow that really changed the look of the truck, there is no way I would attempt something like that. Nice job thanks for all the detail on how to go about doing this.

I've seen trucks with it done but never knew how they did it... Thanks for posting that! Looks really nice

Thanks Guy`s

That is pretty cool. A "labor of love", no doubt. Do you prefer TIG or MIG for jobs like this?

If that's MIG, it looks like you got those tacks pretty well wetted in.

I TIG'ed body panels before on an old chevy van, and it was a lot of work (took me a pretty long time...), making a ton of little tack welds, and then a ton of little short stitch welds between the tacks. And the prep work was a lot of work too (I had the gaps set up much tighter than you are showing, so that nearly no light was shining through.) It was a rectangular section welded right in the middle of a large, flat side panel of the panel van, and it had reinforcing channel behind it so couldn't be formed completely if it did warp. So, I was trying pretty hard to minimize heat input and to keep it from warping. Even after all that, it did end up warping just a little bit. I know I got really good penetration though. ;)

Actually... that van just got done being painted, and I need to go check it out. Too bad I didn't take any pictures during the welding process of it.

this was all migged welded, i had issues with the tig at the time but thats all resolved so next mods i do will definately be tigged, its such a pain in the butt, stich welding sheetmetel without warping, i did have a bit of warpage at certain spots but a bit of hammer and dolly time solved that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 67cudafb

Wow that really changed the look of the truck, there is no way I would attempt something like that. Nice job thanks for all the detail on how to go about doing this.

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You kinda envision how it will look before doing work like this but i never thought it would change it so dramatically!! this job wasen`t as bad as chopping the roof of the truck, this was my first chop, it looks really scarry when you remove the complete roof off! get a sore feeling in your gut,worring is it going to all fit together when done?? my case it did!