1929 Ford Model A Roadster - From Shimmin' To Trimmin'

The hood and radiator shell for this car are Henry’s own, and of course the hood shows ripples across the top from years of being tossed over upon itself when opened. This common habit damages more than just paint as it repeatedly shock-loads the metal surrounding the center hinge.

The hood fit low at the cowl for our tastes, so Mrs. Rotten quickly duplicated the supplied shim. Once doubled up, these shims raised the hood even with the cowl, but the saggy ol’ hood was in need of further support.

A field trip to the nearest self-serve auto-recycling center rendered the perfect rubber seal. This one holds the hood in shape much better than stock lacing or any of the peel ’n’ stick rubbers we had on the shelf.

This clever hidden hood latch is Willie’s idea: 1/4-inch rod, ground to a point, a spring, and a setscrew collar/stop will secure the hood firmly. At this stage however, the receivers still needed work.

Steel fuel tubing with a 1/4-inch inside diameter, double-flared at one end will make up the receivers. Here we’ll attempt to mark the spot with blue layout fluid. Using a small ratchet strap to hold the hood down snug, a quick shot through the gap should provide the guide.

Our target is now clearly in our sights. Using masking tape to sharpen our visual boundaries, the area of metal surrounded by blue must now be removed.

With a pneumatic die grinder, we’ll let the sparks fly. We begin with a small-diameter, well-used cut-off disc, which quickly removes what it can reach.

For the final fit, we’ll want to slow things down a tad or two. A square taper file is helpful here for finessing the corners of the rectangular slot.

The latch setup will be the same at all four corners. The two forward receivers in the jamb portion of the radiator shell were easy by comparison, needing only a hole drilled to accept a 1-inch-long section of double-flared tubing.