Hood Hinge Detail

[DieselSpider]

I have been making progress on my rolling resto on the DieselSpider and have set my sights now on the hood, specifically the area just above where the straps for the hinge pin are mounted where all the creases are and the metal converges in a seam on the side of the hood itself. This seam has separated so that it opens up when the hood is stressed such as when its held up by the prop rod. I thought it was stress from the prop rod however the seam has let go on both sides.

I was wondering what others have done to reinforce the corners of the hood around the hinge area. Thankfully the hood is not all rotted along the front edge like so many we've seen.

Pictures of the side of the hood at the front corners showing how a good seam looks and or how repairs were done would be greatly appreciated. Its not a flat seam so its not like it can easily be sandwiched and will require some cogitation. I am thinking something like a 14 gauge piece of sheet metal bent on a brake to a V shape 5/8 inch tall and about 1 inch long will need to be welded over the seam to make it strong.

This is the closest I have found to showing this area (right side of photo) using the search function here however a view from the opposite direction is what shows the seams in question:

[DieselSpider]

I ended up stitch welding it back together without adding any new steel along with welded the prop-rod bracket on a bit more securely since it was rocking a bit.

Surprising that no one has dealt with this before though and posted detailed pictures of the repair. It does appear to be a weak spot that's prone to damage. Wonder if most just don't even notice that its let go and opening up.

The INE flux wire from Italy sure does make doing these types of repairs along with other body work much easier. Nice that you can get it locally at a Harbor Freight now under the Vulcan label for less than $15 per 2 lb spool and not be wasting expensive welding gas when working in breezy locations.

[wetminkey]

I've seen the type of rust damage that you refer to on other Spiders.
I have been tremendously lucky in that my Spider's factory hood was rust free, and the one that I picked to replace it (from Aspen Import Auto's lot, after the accident) is also.
Terrible spot for rust, too! I know that the hinge positions place all of the stress of opening and closing the hood in this area. Lack of hinge lubrication will deform Spider hoods easily, and rust in this area severely complicates that problem!
Glad you were able to repair your hood!
Got pics to show off?
Todd.

[DieselSpider]

Sorry no pics, I have been slammed with several things at once and am in makeup mode right now. Wife's car was broken into by a roving gang of smash and grab thieves who nabbed her purse, house keys, cards, etc so dealing with securing the house became job #1 especially getting all the locks along with all the financials changed. Spent a day tracking the thieves path as they tried to use her cards checking trash cans and such to hopefully find her purse and see if they tossed the keys or not and only focused on the credit cards however unfortunately I was unable to find it. Plenty of bodies of water in the area so they may have put a rock in it and tossed it in the drink. Heat also failed in the house and had to replace the contactors and transformer in the air handler, had some other items break that required plastic welding, others that needed steel welding, aluminum welding, daughter had car trouble to top it off (drive by wire computerized car and a dishonest dealer mechanic type of trouble), all interrupting the rolling resto on the Spider. And of course there was getting the window they smashed replaced on top of all that. Anyways I was working outside and was rushing to get the hood repair done to beat the rain and didn't take any pictures. The rain which included 25 mph winds and a 20 degree temperature drop is just clearing up now however it won't be dry enough to do anything today.

[wetminkey]

OMG! That's terrible! I'm very sorry to hear.
Concentrate on getting settled again, and the very best of luck with it! Hope things smooth out for you guys soon.
Sincerely, Todd.