flimsy original hood?
 

my original hood (30,000 mile truck) is very flimsy. anyone have any luck stiffening them? it dips down with very little pressure, from your finger anywhere in the flat of either side, the guy that was supposed to block sand it and paint it gave it back to me because he said he couldn't block it properly.
i checked a few others and they were very flimsy too.

I bought the pads to go between the inner braces and the outer skin but he said they didn't help.

I was at a friends shop yesterday, and he was blocking a 72 hood and i couldn't see anything between the braces and the skin , but that hood seemed like it was 6 gauges heavier metal than mine. you would have to apply a whole lot of pressure with your finger to depress it any at all?

I went to the second owner since he started the body work and paint, and asked if he had sandblasted it or anything and he said no it was 100% original and no work ever done to it.(my hood)

I plan on putting some body adhesive between the braces and skin if I have to but wanted to see if you guys have other tricks?

Re: flimsy original hood?
 

Don't use adhesive. It'll capture the tin and it could cause problems. Use the pads. If the tin has sagged, which I doubt it would with low miles, it can be corrected. It's always possible that somebody got up on the hood too and distorted it at some time. I have a hood that sagged and managed to bring it back. There's a thread here with a description of what I did.

Re: flimsy original hood?
 

With the pads are the braces tight agent’s the hood

Re: flimsy original hood?
 

Check this link out:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=524652

I used the caulk idea but not the additional metal brace. It was a 2 part SEM product. I don't remember part number. It solved the issue for the hood on my 1972

Re: flimsy original hood?
 

What year hood in the OP?
There were foam pads above the diagonal hood braces on 67-72 trucks.
The crossbrace in post 4 is nice.

Re: flimsy original hood?
 

nothing is bent or sagging, the problem is if you take 1 finger almost anywhere on the top of the hood it only takes a samll amount of pressure and the metal pops down quite a bit then when you release the pressure it pops back up ? way to light a pressure for it to collapse!
I am going to put the pads in and I am thinking about bending the inner braces upward towards the skin to tighten it?

it isn't like anyone sat on top of it it is just way too springy! I don't know but I am assuming that it would be flexing up and down a lot as the truck was being driven, but I have never had it drivable since I bought it about 50 % restored?

Thanks for any responses, this is how we all learn! Sorry my hood is a 1971.

Re: flimsy original hood?
 

I have doubled the pads up to firm up a hood

Re: flimsy original hood?
 

If its oil canning then the metal is stretched...it needs shrinked... a shrinking disc in the proper hands could maybe fix it..but itd need painted after

Re: flimsy original hood?
 

I was wondering about these hoods as well. Mine looks like someone did the Tennessee Waltz across it every weekend, so I need to replace it, bit want to make it a little more solid.

Re: flimsy original hood?
 

No expert but what I used to firm up my hood was strips of dyna mat between the hood and braces. It's very sticky on one side and not the other so the hood can "breathe" depending on the temp.