#1  
Old 06-26-2022, 10:55 PM
poncho-mike poncho-mike is offline
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Default 1972 GTO hood repair

How many 70-72 enthusiasts do we have that are going to Bristol?

Back around 1985 I bought a 1972 Lemans Sport convertible with the GTO front end. The ower let the car overheat, got angry and jerked the hood, buckling it at the hinges. I had another hood, so I put a different hood on. I've been saving the original hood for all these years because it was so rust free.

I've also got another 1972 GTO hood that was damaged just to the right of center. The back half of the hood is good and is not buckled.

I'm meeting a guy at Bristol who is picking up some parts, and he's going to give me his opinion on how hard it would be to repair the hood. If there are any other PYers that are handy with a welder and going to Bristol, please stop by and give me your opinion on how savable the hood is.

Here are some older pictures.
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  #2  
Old 06-27-2022, 09:20 AM
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roger1 roger1 is offline
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A hood is the most difficult thing on a car to repair even for a seasoned body man. I think time and money is better spent to look for an original with no damage.

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  #3  
Old 06-27-2022, 05:49 PM
poncho-mike poncho-mike is offline
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I have a pretty good hood. This one is just so incredibly clean that I'd love to find a way to use it

  #4  
Old 06-27-2022, 06:16 PM
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Shiny Shiny is offline
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Please update with what you learn.

Similar to yours, the hood on my LeMans is buckled but otherwise in great shape. I have yet to look for repair guidance but figure I could weld a "doubler" where it was designed to fold (and did). The skin on mine has very little damage so I'm optimistic.

Mike

  #5  
Old 06-27-2022, 09:50 PM
poncho-mike poncho-mike is offline
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I'm meeting a guy at the GTOAA who I've known for many years. He worked at a Chevrolet dealership body shop for many years, and is currently working on a couple of his own cars. We live several hundred miles apart, so it's not like I can throw the parts in the back of the Suburban and go see him.

He says he thinks he can fix it. If I understood him correctly, he would cut the inner section out from about the center of the hood to the back. He would form an offset flange on the remaining inner section. He would then remove the back section of the hood with a good back half, lay it in, weld the overlap and weld the inner to the outer back half. Then he would take care of any ripples with hammerwork and a minimal amount of putty.

I think that is what I understood. I have a good hood already, but it's not nearly as good as the orange hood. It's pretty solid, but has a couple of small scabs on the top surface. The orange hood is perfect on the front end.

I'm not sure what it would cost. If it works out, I can sell the hood I have set aside for the project. My main worry is having any filler in the buckle area as these hoods are prone to buckle there.

  #6  
Old 06-30-2022, 06:25 PM
tjs72lemans tjs72lemans is offline
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I will say I fixed my hood that had that issue. The hood looked like yours (red too). Someone tried to fix it and split the side seams and wedged a 1/8" piece of steel about 18" long and 1 1/4" wide in between the seams, drilled holes through the side of hood and steel and plug welded it.
I installed the hood on my vert and the middle of hood was up about 3/4" above fenders.
I drilled out their welds, split seam and removed their steel insert. I then c clamped a steel bar (about 1' thick by 4" wide and 4" long) to under side with a 2x4 on top along each side. I was afraid I was going to dent the top badly as I tightened the clamps over the two, squeezing the hood to an original shape. I had the hood on/off car about 6 times. You must bend back more to allow it to spring back. Once I had it where I knew I could keep it, I Ground the edges of their inserts to slide back between sides and shove in to pinch the seams tight, drilled holes through the steel insert where the original plug welds were, inserted 5/16" bolts, tighten up while I used a cardboard template the length/shape of fender for checking and clamped. Back on car, satisfied, off car, took one bolt out at a time and plug welded each hole as I pulled the bolt out (about 5 each side). Back on car, perfect. I did have some hammer dolly work where there was no brace and filled the rest. The center of hood was ok, the sides were the worst, but you would never know looking at the finished hood. It fits the fenders awesome. Two friends that helped install/remove the hood were amazed how it turned out. Fix it!

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