'54 hood hinge trouble

[timer2]

I lifted the hood on my '54 this morning and BANG, the two large rivets holding the spring arm section of the hood hinge separated and the arm and spring fell on the floor. Turns out, the large rivets (or pins) have a 1/2 inch shoulder that inserts into the arm and a 3/8 pin that went through the hinge section and was "mushroomed" at the factory. Anybody ever replace these or have any repair advice, I'd appreciate it.   T. Irvin

[walt chomosh #23510]

Terry,
  I rebuilt my 1955 hood hinges using oil-lite bronze bushings that I purchased from my local bearing shop.(cheap) If I remember correctly,It took some time and reaming of holes but the job turned out excellant! You may also consider sending them out to a shop who specializes in hinge repair.(by the way,I lube my hinges regularly since doing the repair)....walt,,,tulsa,ok

[phildeville@cox.net]

Months after the restoration of my '54, I noticed cracked paint around the rivet cross peen.  Further investigation revealed that the rivets were rusted solid on the larger diameter under the head.  I removed the whole assembly and sent it to a hot tank stripper.  After the cleaning you could really see that the hood had been pivoting on the wrong part of the rivet.  I ground off the peens and beat out the rivets.  Cleaned up the oval holes with a 1/32 '' larger reamer & made 2 custom pins to fit.
My attempt to match the rivet splay was feeble so I elected to TIG weld the pin protrusion in 4 tacks.....trying to mimic the appearance of the original splay. Off to the powder coaters....

Having a fabrication shop on site causes me to over fix things.  In hindsight, tack welding or brazing the rivet splays in place would probably tighten things up for awhile...

Phil

[timer2]

I pounded the rivets out of the hinge arm and they're nice and tight. It' the section that's bolted to the hood that has been slightly elongated, thus causing the rivets to come out.... the top hole I can get to...the bottom hole I can't even see unless I remove the fender. I'll be going over to Fastenal to see what they might have that will get me going. The force of the spring coming off put a dime size hole in the cover over the heater core but did not damage the core it self. I sure could use a fab shop about now. One more question- does the arm pivot on the larger (1/2") section of the rivet(the shoulder) or on the smaller protruding 3/8" part(that has the cross peen on it). Thanks     T. Irvin

[phildeville@cox.net]

The arm pivots on the larger (1/2") section of the rivet(the shoulder)
The 3/8" dia. is fixed by the rivet peen

Phil

[timer2]

Thanks      I went to O'Reilly and picked up a kit with the bolts and bushings (Dorman "help" section) and Nylock nuts. I had to do some filing and grind the bolts back a little but it went alright. I then spent the next 5 hours putting the spring back on. I'm preparing myself mentally to do the other side.  T. Irvin