Body / Glass: Hood lift struts.

[Michael J Hawk]

I'm thinking about installing some gas struts to prop the hood on a '61 Hawk. Wondering if anyone has tried this. They come in many different lengths and weight handling. That hood is a handful trying to hold while getting the prop rod in position. How heavy is the hood?
The only problem I see with the installation is where to install the brackets on the hood which has no stiffening or bracing.

[bezhawk]

You would have to add reinforcing to the edge. If you use a GT Hawk grill it would shave a bunch of weight. I have made them open from the front and that is fairly easy.

[48skyliner]

Whatever you decide to do, these guys will have what you need: http://www.liftsupportsdepot.com/

After testing and measuring with some hatch struts I had in my parts collection, I determined the length I needed and ordered some struts rated at 30 pounds. They seem to work perfectly for me. I did make a reinforcement piece that you may see in the photo, 3/16 steel plate around the curved section at the front of the hood,welded to the hood flange.

The hood latches are from a BMW coupe. The hooks engage a bracket we made on each side, and pull the hood down tight.

[PackardV8]

Yer on a slippery slope.

Yes, the Hawk hood opening and latch system is an abomination and the worst on any of the several different makes and models I've owned over fifty years. With the combination of weight and fragility, it never ever should have been approved for production.

No, it's not easy to add pneumatic struts to the existing system. Think about it. The combination of front overhang and low opening angle means there's already insufficient access. Add two struts barring the only open areas and it goes from nearly to impossible.

Maybe, since you're going custom, go the best way - front hinged opening. There have been several threads here showing how other members have accomplished it. It's the best thing I ever did to my custom Hawk.

jack vines

[Michael J Hawk]

I can see why a front hinge setup would solve a lot of problems. The paint is chipped along the front of the cowl and it took a bit of fiddling to find the right adjustment to clear there and still have the latch close properly so the hood wouldn't pop open while going down the road. I'll research and see what is involved.

[Noxnabaker]

If you're going for front-hanged hood I would sugest you look at cars that already have it, such as Volvo PV (the hunchback model) or Duett (looks the same in the front but is a wagon built on separate frame) or SAAB 2-stroke - preferably short-nosed ones, & Jaguar XJ sedans.
Hopefully you have some owners of these cars where you live or google car-clubs.
The Volvo's have really dead easy stuff & strong too, check it out!

[Michael J Hawk]

I had a '59 Thunderbird that opened that way and always found it made working on the engine more difficult. I don't think that would be a problem with the Hawk.
The setup in 48skyliner's pics look pretty slick. I'll check the other suggestions. Maybe I'll wind with a Volvobaker. My car was all stock when I bought it but I've already made enough changes to it to take me out of the points league.

[PackardV8]

I had a '59 Thunderbird that opened that way and always found it made working on the engine more difficult.

My experience was just the opposite, everything is better when the hood hinges at the front of a Hawk.

Having owned several Hawks which I cursed every time I had to open the hood, then there's the time the hood blew open going down the road and wrapped up over the roof, so nothing in the world one could to that misbegotten design could make working on the engine more difficult.

Finally, I hinged the hood at the front and all the problems went away. The hood is up out of the way and the engine compartment is wide open and the distributor is right there in plain sight and valve adjustment is cake. There's no weasle-biting latch hanging down to gouge the head. There's no possibility of the latch letting go and the hood flying up over the roof and completely blocking your sight line on a busy highway.

jack vines

[Michael J Hawk]

I like to see a picture of it if you have one.

[Quentin]

Ditto, Jack.
I too am sick of whacking my scone on the pointy hood latch (I have concluded this was designed by an evil genius to inflict pain). My Hawk is in the shed for a while, so I took the hood off and raised it up into the roof of the shed for now. Re-attaching will be a barrel of laughs, I am sure, but at least I can see what I am doing.
Any photos/how to procedure for a front hinged hood would be most welcome! Quentin

[stude dude]

All of these problems make a lot more sense when we consider the evolution of the C/K models from 1953 onwards....

The 1953-55 Hood/Trunk were both considerably lighter than the 1956-64 designs, especially the Hoods. But the hinge and torsion rod designs were carried over. Have you ever noticed how badly worn the hinges get on post 1955 models? When everything was new and perfectly adjusted it probably wasn't a huge concern, but half a century later its all a bit ordinary. I remember owners of low mileage and very original GT Hawks being able to 'drop' the hood, and it would latch perfectly every time. You are not likely to see a Hawk owner try that these days unless everything is N.O.S.

Chris.

[Deaf Mute]

All of these hood holding issues creates a lot of problems. It is still a little unhandy putting my hood supports under the grill makes it solid And there is no way the hood can go up or down (once opened).
Send an email to "millersigns1 at gmail.com" and I can send you a flyer (too big of a file to put here)

[Xcalibur]

YES, front hinges!!! Of course, the Avanti is front-hinged, so Stude did get a clue... and, it is superbly easy to add two gas struts to it's hood. So, why NOT the Hawk, too?????

[rodnutrandy]

My thoughts , if hood opens from front, I would not want struts on it, if it comes unlatched , it is more likely to shoot up , If hinged from front, it would be safer, due to wind wanting to hold it down, I know this isn't supposed to happen , but twice now my hood on my M series has came loose and caught by safety catch , I fear struts might had to safety .

[plwindish]

I'm sure many an unkind word has been yelled out when hitting your head or scraping your back working under a Hawk hood. A while back, I read something in the forum about a lift test required for older GH Hawk owners as a certain amount of strength is needed to lift that monster hood up and put the prop rod in position. Gas struts would be a big improvement as well moving the hinges to the front. How many points would that take off for authenticity? Really none as they could be considered a safety related improvement.