Hood Latches/hold downs

[1955CJ-5]

Why do some 3A's have two hold downs and some have four?

 Are the extra two in the rear added somewhere along the way by the owner's?

Mine has two but it would sure benefit  from four...

Randy

[garage gnome]

People add the two rear ones to keep the hood vibration down. I've never needed them on mine.

[1955CJ-5]

Well, mine doesn't run yet so I don't know if it will vibrate...but it would improve the "fit and finish" �.....!

[F Bill]

It is a pretty common period mod so I don't think anyone will give you a hard time.. Do your underhood reenforcements look solid or are they breaking spot welds? Normally the one piece brace at the back of the 3A style hood does a good job holding the hood together, unlike the earlier multipiece ones..

[1955CJ-5]

The hood is in good shape and the rear one piece brace looks fine. It's just that when the front is latched the back part of the hood still has a pretty good gap to the fender. I'll work on it...now that i know the latches are owner-added...

[Gunslinger]

The hood is in good shape and the rear one piece brace looks fine. It's just that when the front is latched the back part of the hood still has a pretty good gap to the fender. I'll work on it...now that i know the latches are owner-added...

I would throw out a caution flag at this point.  I just need some clarification.  You say that when the front is latched, there is a pretty good gap at the back.  I'm not sure that putting more latches on will solve that.  The gap between the hood and fender should be a constant 3/8 - 1/2 inch all along the fender, if it varies front to back its most likely that your fenders are not on straight, I would start there and make sure that they are straight.

Next question is what problem are we solving for now?  Is the hood flapping, rubbing, or is there a deep vibration sound at a specific idle.  I thought I needed a second set of latches, after I fixed the fenders I found that the hood didn't make noise anymore and the  rubbing went away. I did have a deep vibration sound that turned out to be the baffle in the fuel tank, vibrations at a harmonic, I added some isolators to move the tank off of the floor and that went away as we'll.

If you need a nice set of stainless steel polished hood latches let me know, I have a set to sell.
Todd

[1955CJ-5]

Well, we really aren't solving any problem yet. My first post was just looking for info on whether or not the second set of latches was factory or owner installed.  I've seen many pictures with either combination of latches...Motors out, and the fuel tank is out..

Thanks for the info though. No telling what I may come across as I progress

I can nearly reach down and tie my shoes through the hole that was under the fuel tank....

Latches will come later....

Randy

[1955CJ-5]

 I went out and latched the hood and measured the gap. It is very consistent at just under 1/2"...

I guess the gap I was looking at was between the curved part of the hood and cowl. but if that were pulled down then the hood to fender gap would be off. �

I'll leave it as is for now..

Randy

[Macgraham]

You'd be surprised how much heat that gap will help to get rid of on a hot summer day. Could help with the engine temp. Just a thought.

[1955CJ-5]

That had crossed my mind....I was reading somewhere about radiator shrouds and someone mentioned that the L-head was sort of prone to overheating on warm days....any little bit of ventilation would help.

[johnrb3b]

A few guys on the 3B forum have added a second set of latches for this reason.
They re-powered with a V6 or V8 and started driving above 65 MPH. At those speeds the hood starts lifting against the springs in the latches. One guy's hood lifted (at well above 70 mph!) and stretched the springs out to about 2 feet long. Yikes! He of course replaced his original latches and added a second set as well.

If you stay with stock engine and brakes, you'll only need to worry about hood lift if you're driving flat out into a strong head wind. I did that once, bucking a 20+ mph wind. In overdrive I couldn't hold any speed above 45 mph. But the hood was bouncing in the combined 60+ mph airstream.

[Ryan_M]

Speaking of hoods, after 11 months, I finally got mine back this week. I can't say that I'm real happy with the fit. I guess this is what happens when the hood is being repaired and reshaped while the rest of the Willys is 40 miles away. I'm not sure there is much I can do with it except keep my eyes open for a replacement. My hood was pretty rough when I first got the Jeep. It has now been beaten, braced, and bondo'd every way possible and this is how it turned out. The gap between the edge of the hood and the top of the fenders is a pretty consistent 1". �I think the problem lies in the hood but is there any way to tell for sure if it's the fenders and tub that are off instead? I'd hate to reconfigure or replace this hood only to have the new version look exactly the same.

[Jeff_M]

Could be worse, I suppose. �At least it fits flush on the front. �It is disappointing, however, when you look at your early pre-refurb photos and see how much better it fit. �If someone says something, you can tell them you had to lift the hood to make room for the turbo kit. �

[F Bill]

Ryan, Look at the hinge area of the hood and the cowl where the hinge bolts on. Something there is not right. You shouldn't be able to see under the back of the hood. It almost looks like the hood is also too far back. If you can get a picture of the cowl, with the hood removed we might be able to see something there.

I would try some spacers behind the hinge and attempt to slide the hinge downward as much as possible. Hopefully it is not a new hinge welded on incorrectly or a damaged cowl.

You may be able to raise the fenders some to close the gap somewhat.

You are right, it would be  ashame to mess up that nice bodywork to get the gaps right.. It would be worth puttng a few layers of masking tap on the edges and fender tops while you get it right, just don't leave it on so long it dries out and gets impossible to remove.

[Ryan_M]

Here's a couple pics sans hood. Do you see anything there that looks wrong? I'll take a closer look at my "Before" pics when I get home but I think the area where the hood hinge bolts to the cowl looks the same as it always did. I have the original rain gutter installed as well. The hinge is down as low as it will go as I had the hood opened straight up before tightening the hinge bolts (see third pic here). I'll have to see if the bottom edge of the hinge can be ground down at all to provide a tighter fit. I forget now if the hinge is original or modified during the body work.