Mon Jun 29, 2015 2:32 pm by Flying Bum
My efforts to find a suitable replacement went nowhere... I have a spare hood, but the center hinge on it has it's own issues.... I decided to repair my hinge by carefully drilling out the rivets that attach the center hinge onto the 2 hood top pieces... once removed, I then soaked the center hinge with aluminum rust jelly (rust remover).... may take several applications... after the pieces freed up, I then sandblasted, constantly working the hinge.... soaked again, cleaned, and once satisfied I used an acid wash (from Eastwood) then painted with epoxy primer, using a brush to get epoxy primer into each J channel of the hinge pieces.... NOTE: these J channel pieces were never separated from one another..
As for the flanges that were rusted thru, I used scraps of 18 gauge sheet metal to fabricate replacement pieces, and welded them into place.. not perfect, but it works...
For those not familiar with the center hinge for a D2, it is not a typical hinge which is a cylinder with a rod running thru it. This hinge consists of two unequal lengths of J channel, that interlock along the J channels. The hinge pivot points are created by folding the longer of the J channels ends forming a cylinder or pin... the forming of the "pin" also creates a "stop" capturing the hood pieces so they stay aligned once opened....
My efforts to find a replacement went nowhere. 1933-34 Fords had a similar hinge, but didn't meet the measurements (length) that the IHC requires... You can check the MAC catalog for these hinges... My last resort, should my repair not hold up, will be from SPEEDWAY. Their latest catalog has a hinge assembly which may meet the requirement... I intend to include one in my next Speedway order...
PMH