Another Build Thread - My '32

[J. Robinson]

OK, it's been several days (5 weeks!!) since I did anything. The holidays had to come and go and we've had visitors intermittently. Then I did some work on one of my Electrathon friend's cars, etc., etc. It's always something... I considered selling the hood and replacing it like Figure8 suggested, but no telling how long it might take to find a buyer and then I'd have to order the special length hood and wait. Once I get moving on something I'm not a very patient person, so fixing what I have will be my course of action.

Anyway, a few days after my last post I cut and shaped some 16 gauge steel filler pieces to extend the hood (first pic). The front edge of the hood was folded under, so the finished thickness is a few thousands of an inch over 1/16th of an inch. 16 gauge steel is approximately 1/16th inch thick, so it was a good match. Today I finally got some time to spend in the shop welding the filler pieces in place. I welded them on the bottom side first; spot-stitching about 3/8 inch apart (2nd pic) and then filling in between a few at a time to avoid any serious warping.

After finishing the underside, I flipped the hood halves over and welded the outside. I did it in short sections, moving around randomly again to avoid warping. I neglected to take a picture, but it looked the same as the underside. After all the welding was done I ground the welds flat inside and out, first with a stone wheel and then with a soft disc (3rd pic).

I had to do just a little hammer-off-dolly work to straighten the corners (very minor warpage). A tiny amount of body filler will fix the pits and grinder marks when I get to it. The last pic is the newly extended hood back on the car.