53 Coupe secondary hood latch

[petercalaguiro]

I am looking for a good secondary hood latch for my 53 coupe. If any one has a spare or can tell me where to get one I would appreciate it.
Thanks,
Peter

02G0200

[Nelsen Motorsports]

Can you show me a picture of what you are talking about? I may have an extra.


Alex Nelsen
1954 Champion Coupe
Lizella, GA

[barnlark]

SASCO? They had a ton of shiny ones. Not sure of that year.

[candbstudebakers]

A piece of 3/8' chain about 4' long with a pair of holes in the hood and lock on the bottom, don't loose the key.

Bob Peterson / C & B Studebakers

Castro Valley, CA

[sals54]

I use a bolt (with the head removed) which is screwed into the hood support structure at the front, which penetrates the front of the grill near the hood release. The bolt is drilled to accept a clevis pin. The only time in 30 years I forgot to put the pin in, the hood popped open at speed. You should see what happens to a 53 hood when it "pops" open at 60 mph. It ain't pretty, I can tell you that. I had to use a piece of concrete that I found on the side of the road to hit the hood from the bottom, cuz it had bent in half. Can you imagine how difficult it is to be standing on the front bumper, holding a jagged 5 pound piece of concrete, swinging it in an upward motion, trying to bang the crease out of a once perfect 53 hood, all the while, cussing at the moon and stars for being so stupid as to have forgotten to check the secondary hood safety ? ? ? ? ? ? ? It took me about 20 minutes to calm down enough just to take a call from my wife who was wondering where the heck I was. I always check the safety pin...... NOW ! ! ! ! ! The only saving grace about the story was that I had a spare hood at home. I changed it out the next morning. This is the time where its good to have a hotrod in black primer. It looked good as new in about a half an hour. Now I only have one spare hood left.

sals54

[petercalaguiro]

Thanks to all, "chain man" included. I will try Sasco first.
Peter

02G0200

[Lark Parker]

I removed the forehead grab hook -- it doesn't work well anyway.

Installed a GT Hawk hood latch with a cable pull. Right behind the existing "spring mounting" on the tube in the hood, I added a hook for the GT's built-in safety latch to grab.
No additional holes required. Has worked well for 19 years.
Can take a picture if interested.

This should be allowable for a show car (my opinion) as it is for safety.

LP

[blackhawk61]

The best solution !


1961 Hawk 4BC,4-SPEED,TT

Ken Byrd
Lewisville,NC

[candbstudebakers]

The chain way is used on a lot of chevy and fords as their hoods are easy to come by, I was just kidding on the use of a 53-54 c/k hood they are just to hard to find a good one now days , good luck and keep the hood down...Bob

Bob Peterson / C & B Studebakers

Castro Valley, CA

[petercalaguiro]

I like this idea. Thanks,
Peter

quote:Originally posted by blackhawk61

The best solution !


1961 Hawk 4BC,4-SPEED,TT

Ken Byrd
Lewisville,NC

02G0200

[blackhawk61]

Works VERY well Peter.


Tractor Supply 3/16" Lynch pins

1961 Hawk 4BC,4-SPEED,TT

Ken Byrd
Lewisville,NC

[R3 challenger]

Cousin Bob Palma can tell this better than I since he was there, but back in the 1960s, he was riding with Uncle Jerry in Jerry's supercharged 1963 GT Hawk. They were on a straight, clear road in central Indiana at a speed somewhere North of 110 mph when the hood came up. (Jerry was what you might call an enthusiastic driver). Fortunately, the window was open, so Jerry brought the beast to a halt while looking out the driver's side window. Bob escaped with a bump on the head. The roof of the Hawk was never quite the same, but it was repaired.

From that day on, neither Bob nor I will move a Hawk without some kind of hold-down device. My '58 Golden Hawk has an 8" chain that was installed by former owner Asa Hall. The link at the top end is welded to the support where the large spring is mounted. A separate link is welded to the lower front of the hood latch support and a padlock is used to hold things together. When the hood is open, the chain can be placed on top of the spring support and is barely noticeable. Thanks, Asa.

BTW, I sure like the linchpin idea. Thanks.

George

george krem

[barnlark]

Originally posted by R3 challenger
Bob escaped with a bump on the head.

Well, that explains everything. You sure he actually escaped?

[petercalaguiro]

I run an air dam below the bumper when I am racing, but even without it, you would have to be a contorionist to get at that ring. Perhaps it is easier with a Hawk hood?

quote:Originally posted by petercalaguiro

I like this idea. Thanks,
Peter

quote:Originally posted by blackhawk61

The best solution !


1961 Hawk 4BC,4-SPEED,TT

Ken Byrd
Lewisville,NC

02G0200

02G0200

[R3 challenger]

[quote]Originally posted by barnlark

Originally posted by R3 challenger
Bob escaped with a bump on the head.

Well, that explains everything. You sure he actually escaped?

Well, we're both alive and equally sane. Hmmmmmmmm....



george krem