Arrgh! I destroyed the hood on my '53 Coupe

[JDP]

Crap, I feel your pain having watched a Studebaker hood fold up on me once and it was "latched". The few milliseconds it takes as you see it lift the first inch or two seems like a lifetime.

JDP/Maryland
64 Daytona HT/R2 clone
64 GT R2
63 GT R2
63 Lark 2 door
58 Starlight
52 & 53 Starliner
51 Commander

[JDP]

Crap, I feel your pain having watched a Studebaker hood fold up on me once and it was "latched". The few milliseconds it takes as you see it lift the first inch or two seems like a lifetime.

JDP/Maryland
64 Daytona HT/R2 clone
64 GT R2
63 GT R2
63 Lark 2 door
58 Starlight
52 & 53 Starliner
51 Commander

[Dick Steinkamp]

That is a bummer . Hoods are still available...but it may take a while to find one. I bought that near perfect one from Kent that he had advertised for weeks here on the forum prior to the international meet for $300. Picked it up in South Bend. It is for a buddy building a '53 hot rod.

I didn't latch the hood on my Starliner once and drove about 25 miles on the freeway before I noticed it. Stopped and shut the hood. If the safety latch has a good strong spring and connects properly with the hole it fits into in the panel, it should hold the hood no problem if the hood isn't latched or if the latch fails.

[Dick Steinkamp]

That is a bummer . Hoods are still available...but it may take a while to find one. I bought that near perfect one from Kent that he had advertised for weeks here on the forum prior to the international meet for $300. Picked it up in South Bend. It is for a buddy building a '53 hot rod.

I didn't latch the hood on my Starliner once and drove about 25 miles on the freeway before I noticed it. Stopped and shut the hood. If the safety latch has a good strong spring and connects properly with the hole it fits into in the panel, it should hold the hood no problem if the hood isn't latched or if the latch fails.

[Flat Ernie]

Yes, this time I will make sure the safety latch works. When I bought the car last Nov, there was a short piece of rope to tie the hood shut as a safety latch. Apparently, the nose of the car was pushed back just enough from the bumper that the hood would latch, but the safety latch wouldn't line up. This will be fixed before a new hood goes on!

Daddy always said, if yer gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough & I'm one tough sumbitch!

[Flat Ernie]

Yes, this time I will make sure the safety latch works. When I bought the car last Nov, there was a short piece of rope to tie the hood shut as a safety latch. Apparently, the nose of the car was pushed back just enough from the bumper that the hood would latch, but the safety latch wouldn't line up. This will be fixed before a new hood goes on!

Daddy always said, if yer gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough & I'm one tough sumbitch!

[Flat Ernie]

Arrgh! I destroyed the hood on my '53 Coupe


I'm so pissed at myself & I'm sick.

Last week I decided to drive my '53 Stude to work, so popped the hood in anticipation of checking the oil & other stuff since it's been a couple weeks since I drove it.

Something else came up & I had to shuffle my cars around the yard/driveway, so I closed the hood, but didn't latch it because I knew I needed to check the oil, etc. Got busy rebuilding a distributor for another car that if I got it fixed, I was going to drive it to work instead of the Stude - got close, but ran out of daylight. I thought nothing of it because the Stude always runs pretty well.

Had to go to work very early - 5am - which meant it was still dark outside, so I didn't notice that my hood wasn't latched. As I pulled onto I-40 & accelerated down the on-ramp, I saw the hood bobble once & hit the brakes, but it was too late - hood came flying up at 50mph & destroyed it. Bent it over backwards on the roof - two dents in the roof & major gouges in the tops of the fenders to boot. I was just sick. Found some rope & tied it down (won't even come close to latching now)

So I'm on the hunt for a hood because I think I'm better off starting with another one. Got a wanted ad in several places, but no luck so far, so if anyone has got any leads, lemme know there (or pm me).

...I feel "tougher"[xx(]


Daddy always said, if yer gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough & I'm one tough sumbitch!

[JeffDeWitt]

That stinks... I had the same thing happen on my Champ, which is when I learned that at least the standard cab Champs didn't even HAVE a safety catch!

Needless to say it will have one when it's put back together.

Jeff DeWitt

[JeffDeWitt]

That stinks... I had the same thing happen on my Champ, which is when I learned that at least the standard cab Champs didn't even HAVE a safety catch!

Needless to say it will have one when it's put back together.

Jeff DeWitt

[studegary]

It has been many years since I sold my last good used '53-'54 C/K hood. There are some still out there and it is getting hard to locate them. Sometimes you have to buy a whole junker to get the parts that you want. I would suggest using one of the available fiberglass hoods until you locate a steel one. If all the rodders, especially those that cut large holes in the hood, would use fiberglass, there wouldn't be such a shortage of steel hoods.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

1959 DeLuxe pickup (restomod)

[studegary]

It has been many years since I sold my last good used '53-'54 C/K hood. There are some still out there and it is getting hard to locate them. Sometimes you have to buy a whole junker to get the parts that you want. I would suggest using one of the available fiberglass hoods until you locate a steel one. If all the rodders, especially those that cut large holes in the hood, would use fiberglass, there wouldn't be such a shortage of steel hoods.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

1959 DeLuxe pickup (restomod)

[41 Frank]

Sedan and coupe hoods are different

[41 Frank]

Sedan and coupe hoods are different

[sbca96]

I saw a hood open up on a Hawk some years ago, I ended up modifying
mine to open reverse - like a Jag. A little harder to do on a '53,
but you have a bent hood to use for fabrication. I would suggest you
try and bend it back, use the opening on the car as your guide. Once
you get it close .. a body shop can do the rest, OR just take it to
a body shop and let them have at it. A good shop can do miracles, it
might be cheaper than a "new" hood (that might have already had the
same thing happen and been "repaired")! The Sedan is not the same as
the Coupes.

Tom

'63 Avanti, zinc plated drilled & slotted 03 Mustang Cobra 13" front disc/98 GT rear brakes, 03 Cobra 17" wheels, GM alt, 97 Z28 leather seats, soon: 97 Z28 T-56 6-spd, Ported heads w/SST full flow valves, 'R3' 276 cam, Edelbrock AFB Carb, GM HEI distributor, 8.8mm plug wires

[sbca96]

I saw a hood open up on a Hawk some years ago, I ended up modifying
mine to open reverse - like a Jag. A little harder to do on a '53,
but you have a bent hood to use for fabrication. I would suggest you
try and bend it back, use the opening on the car as your guide. Once
you get it close .. a body shop can do the rest, OR just take it to
a body shop and let them have at it. A good shop can do miracles, it
might be cheaper than a "new" hood (that might have already had the
same thing happen and been "repaired")! The Sedan is not the same as
the Coupes.

Tom

'63 Avanti, zinc plated drilled & slotted 03 Mustang Cobra 13" front disc/98 GT rear brakes, 03 Cobra 17" wheels, GM alt, 97 Z28 leather seats, soon: 97 Z28 T-56 6-spd, Ported heads w/SST full flow valves, 'R3' 276 cam, Edelbrock AFB Carb, GM HEI distributor, 8.8mm plug wires