Another idea for the Ebody underhood

[Mickm]

Hello All,
I am forever thinking of things to add to the Tinfish to make it as complete and as good as possible.  Things that Detroit did not address originally which is the topic of this upgrade.

The area between the radiator tie bar and the body front panel is just a wide open hole that begs to have some attention. I found a ton of data on custom build assessments but non for a stock latching scenario.

It needs to be a panel that can be removed to access anything in the area and replaced without a lot of trouble.

I gave thought to using metal or fiberglass but decided to first try .125" ABS plastic since there is a ton of it in this car from the factor, so it made sense.

I share these little projects for anyone out there that, like me, that wants to make their fish a little better but keep it close to stock appearance.
A little helping hand if you will. I'm not saying this is the ultimate way to address this design omitt but it is mine.

I am open to any and all suggestions and thoughts. But if this isn't your cup of tea, no problem, I respect that.....just hit "back" and all will be fine.lol

Ok, here it is.


Here is a shot of the area as it came from Detroit back in the day.

I used .125" ABS plastic. I made several patterns but believe it or not, made the finished part in one take. Took a  few hours and a couples of beers but I'm very happy with the finished product.






Here are two shots of the finished product. Hood closes just as it did. Nothing in the stock latch assembly was alters and no animals were harmed in the design and execution of this product. lol

Cheers!
Mickm

[70chall440]

That is awesome, I have been wanting to make something just like that for my Cuda. At one time there was someone one eBay selling them but they are gone.

How does it attach?

[Mickm]

70chally440,
Thanks for the kind words. I have never seen anything offered like it but have always felt this was an overlooked area.
It attaches with 5 small screws at the front and the two hood latch bolts that were changed out to socket head screws and all painted black.

IF I did another one, I would make two oblong offset washers from plastic that would fit in the ovals in the front facia lip. This way there would be not holes to drill at all.

Cheers!
Mickm

[70chall440]

Interesting.

It has been done a number of times by a number of custom builders. I intend to do one out of 20g sheet metal for my Cuda, I just have to work through a number of other things first.

[Mickm]

70chall440,
When I was doing research before starting to layout my part, I found that most custom builds address this issue but I found nothing on anyone who had done this to a completely stock setup.

I too thought about 20 ga. sheet metal painted body color and even fiberglass but there is so much plastic in this car that I thought I would start with the ABS and go from there. I just got lucky that it fit well and the look is much more in keeping with the original design que's of the car.

I post these build threads for those out there, like me, that want to do something additional to their ebodies but would like to see what issues were encountered and what I can learn from a previous fabricators experience.

I am starting to feel as though most in the ebody community are more purist and don't care for any upgrades. Just my 2 cents.

Cheers!
Mickm

[70chall440]

You are correct that many in the Mopar world in general are focused on originality (I definitely am not one of them). There is a many reasons for this IMO, most of it related to money and previewed value. I got into these cars back around 73/74 when I was a young teen and from the beginning it was always about hotrodding them, making them better, making them faster. There was never a time when I was concerned about originality.

Unfortunately the investors of the world determined that these cars had value (like paintings, high end watches, etc) and began buying them. This caused the value/price of the rarer cars to soar quickly which had a trickle down affect. Subsequently over the past 10-15 years and with the advent of none stop coverage of the auctions; many people determined that they too could get in on the game and started to purchase cars with the belief that they would be rewarded financially at some later date. All this spawned and encouraged the restoration guys to begin turning out restored cars that offered the illusion that they would increase in value, thus were worthy of spending vast sums of money on today. This entire scenario cascaded down to pretty much everything these days (slant 6 cars, 318 cars, etc).

So, what has occurred is that many coming into the hobby are doing so for more financial reasons than for the passion of the brand/car. This has further fueled an entire population of restoration guys/experts whose livelihood depends on originality. This in turn has created "clicks" within the hobby comprised of hardcore purists on the one side and hotrodders on the other.

While the purists are the loudest complainers about modifying a Mopar (especially an E body), many people are starting to look hard at restomods so they can actually drive their cars. The upside of the entire situation is the booming aftermarket for which we all need to be thankful.

Sorry about the rant..

Here are some pictures I got off the net when I was researching the panel. I really like what you did with the ABS, perhaps if I can get some I will give that a try.

[Mickm]

70chall440,
You are exactly right with your thoughts towards these cars and the entire scheme of who is into what and what has happened in the market.

I like the pictures of the car your post, that is almost exactly what I had thought about doing originally. My eason for not going this route as a first tryp was, painted and smooth gives a more modern car look than a "that's the way it should have been done back in the day".

That's just my personal opinion but it really looks great!! Thanks for sharing.

Cheers!
Mickm

[70chall440]

Great minds and all that 

[shadango]

MICKM, that looks really good!

My underhood area is actually black, and that would fit right in!

Where did you find that plastic and how much $$$?