'62 Aluminum Hood ?

R

Randy Ferguson

Member
hey guys,

Was the inner structure of the '62 aluminum hood the same as the steel ones? I assume they were, but to save extra weight, I could see them having lightening holes cut or using less material or whatever. I wanna get it right the first time!!

A picture of a real aluminum hood inner structure would be great so I can compare it to the steel one.

Thanks in advance.
 
R

Randy Ferguson

Member
Hi Mark,

No, he didn't. We discussed the fact that there are several 'opinions' as to what alloy and gauge was used, but that was the extent of it. The alloy could be tested easily enough and one could assume that GM used a 0 temper or "dead soft" As far as the thickness, who knows?? The stamping process stretches the material in most cases, so it would be difficult to assume that you could get an accurate reading as to what they started with. As for me, I'm using 3003 H14 .063, which is the most common aluminum alloy and gauge used for hand built automotive vehicle construction. During the shaping process, this will thin slightly due to stretching.
 
Brian Thompson

Brian Thompson

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 2
Randy-

It was great to meet you at Thompson. Your workmanship is top notch to say the least. I don't know how you can take a flat piece of aluminum and shape it into such a beautiful work of art!

I finally got the pictures of the fender off my camera and sent over to Pat.

Brian
 
impalamike.com

impalamike.com

 
Supporting Member 1
Randy: You do some amazing things with steel and aluminum! :eek: :bow I just checked out your Willys and Z11 pages. You ought to give classes. I've always been fascinated with metal forming and wanted to use English Wheel. GOOD WORK! :clap
 
Tom Kochtanek

Tom Kochtanek

Well Known Member
Supporting Member 13
The Art of Metal Bumping

Randy, I don't know how you do it, I have a hard enough time removing steel parts from my X frame Chevies and trying to get them back into shape :).

I once read an older book entitled "The Art of Metal Bumping", a really good introduction to how the pros did repairs back in the day. It discusses how formed metals want to return to the shapes they were made into. I still don't know how one can shape flat metals into the shapes Randy has made :). I'll leave that up to the pros, and keep trying to R&R the original pieces as best I can!

Cheers,
TomK
 
R

Randy Ferguson

Member
impalamike-

I figure I'll start giving classes when I figure out what the heck I'm doing! Right now, I'm too busy with clients projects to focus on teaching. I have done a few classes in the past and at some point, I'm sure I'll have time to devote to it again.

I appreciate your compliments. We try to do good work.


Tom-

When you figure out how to do it, let me in on it, cuz I ain't figured it out either. I just beat on it 'til it fits and hope it looks decent when it's done.
 
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