The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk How far do I disassemble the Hood?

I have a '52 AD 3100. I am going for complete disassembly but I am not sure how far to go on the hood. (meaning drilling out all of the rivets ect.)

1. Has anyone completly disassembled the hood?

2. Would you recommend it?

no and no.
i've read on different forums that the hood is hard to line back up.
tony

chev235,

My question to you would be why would you want to take the two halves apart? My vote is with old_blue...it doesn't seem like it would serve ANY purpose.


Stuart.

Stuart,
The reason would be that I restored my truck once and did a really crappy job. I prefer not to leave a spot of rust on the truck this time. I have found alot of rust residing between pieces that are riveted together.

From reading old_blues comments I am pretty sure that I am not going to completely disassemble the hood.

chev235,

Then I would do it...as you sit in the drivers seat you look out on the hood. You don't want to stare at a reminder of what you should have done.


Stuart.

chev235,
Wait a cotton-pickin minute. Rust in Arizona? No way it must be just a smudge. Mine came from Cincinatti. Now we're talkin RUST! But the hood ain't comin apart/ The body guy is very confident the the blaster will get it. I'll hold my breath.
I'm also doing a complete resto on a 52'. I'd really be curious about your game plan as to how close you'll go to original. Frolm body, color,wheels. suspension, driveline.
-jeff

I'm going to take mine apart, but I don't have much of a choice. GMC hoods aren't too easy to find, and the rear braces are completely rusted through (no idea how). A butchered '54 Chebby hood is donating the required parts.

I took the hood apart on the 6400 series I am now working on. It didn't seem to be much worse than a lot of other things I did to the truck. I think you will probably be sorry if you don't do it. There is almost certain to be some rust between the two halves, and it will come back to bite you if you don't deal with it. Allen

Having been there and done that I would suggest the following. You can remove the front support brace easily enough and the rear hinge brace/bow can be partially removed without drilling out the rivets that secure it to the side hood lip. Once you remove the center plate of the rear brace you can get to any rust that may be hidding under the brace to treat it, remove it, and/or paint it. I would suggest not removing the rivets. I had to on my hood so I could move the brace to another hood shell but the re-attachment was difficult. It can be done but you probably do not need to go that far to do what you want.

It is hard to imagine a climate much worse than here in the middle of the USA, which is right where Sam and I are located. I didn't take my hood apart but there is no sign of rust 20 years later. Sam's rusty rear brace was likely due to leaking radiator fluid getting thrown back by the fan.

I'd say if your hood is in such bad shape you feel the need to peel it apart, maybe you need to just get a new, way less rusty hood.

Unless you can see rust through on the seam between the halves, I'd say leave it be. Take the center trim off the top, but don't take the halves apart. You're just asking for reassembly trouble if you do.

Fumblin, the only part of my hood that is damaged is the rear brace. The rest is straight and rust free. However, those braces are GONE. And GMC hoods are a PITA to find.

Is there anyone near you who can acid dip it? That would get into all those hidden spots without disassembly/reassembly. I think there were some threads about that in the body forum if you do some searching.

BradB ... yes in fact there is a acid drip place about 10 miles from my house. My front fenders are there right now and I am going to take the hood in next.