Early 73'-80' engine hood reinforcements

[Cyrillious]

Hood that came with my project is bent across the middle so I fabricated a couple brackets to keep my donor hood sturdy. Used existing holes for 5/16-18 bolts and 1/2" pipe across for extra stability. Anyone did modification to their hoods for reinforcements? Or is this overkill?

 

[Strick]

Cutting the center section from lawn mower blades and using for a brace where the hood cracks on the edges works well if you have good metal to weld to. The blade contours the round edge of the ribbed support. I usually hyper-extend the hood and weld the brace; when relieving the extension the hood is usually perfectly straight with the fender at that point. I'm getting ready to make this same patch on my '79 Big 10.

Strickland

 

[Cyrillious]

Cutting the center section from lawn mower blades and using for a brace where the hood cracks on the edges works well if you have good metal to weld to. The blade contours the round edge of the ribbed support. I usually hyper-extend the hood and weld the brace; when relieving the extension the hood is usually perfectly straight with the fender at that point. I'm getting ready to make this same patch on my '79 Big 10.

Strickland

Sounds like you had the perfect storm with the right lawnmower having the right blades and you're experienced with welding on these auto bodies!
This is hood I bought is in decent shape (told it came from the south). I want to do minimal mods to it. Would like to enhance the look of my brackets in the future to make it look like something that came out of the factory!

 

[Strick]

I'll post some pics later. It usually works great.

Strickland