Quote: Originally Posted by omnipotentgoku I don't have much to contribute to this, but I am watching this mod because I want to add it to the gallery. I have pics of a few completed reversals. http://www.omnipotent-goku.com/iroc/gallery/album103 Wow, I feel honored. You're more than welcome to add it, I wasn't able to find many pics of this done online which was one of the motivating factors for me to take the time to get the pictures. I saw your gallery before I started this, and I just wish that the car was all one color. Once I get it painted in a couple years I'll have to send you some updated pics. I've been putting it off so I don't have to worry about messing it up while doing stuff like this or other mods.

Hey 92,
That came out really cool. It's kind of nice to see some of these newer cars receiving some old school tricks.

Thanks! I'm hoping to get the engine back in soon so I can get the car outside and post some better pics and maybe a video of it.

After fabbing the mount for the underside of the hood, I went to line it up with the notch in the firewall I made and realized that one corner of the mount would end up interfering with the center hood bumper/rubber post height adjuster thingy(maybe someone can chime in with the "technical" name). Using some of the leftover cardboard from my earlier templates, I made one so I could cut the mount down to eliminate the interference issues. After cutting the corner I drilled some holes for the welds that would hold it in place.

Once the mount was done, I had to cut a hole in the underside of the hood so the mount would sit flush with the surface and the nut inside the hood. This part of the project had me wishing for a flange puncher so I could get the mount truly flush with the underside of the hood. Oh well, I'll just add it to the Christmas wish list.

And here is the mount all welded up and ground down. It's not perfect, but I want to smooth out the underside of the hood when I go to paint it along with the engine bay so I'll add putting the finishing touches here to the list of work that needs done when I go to do that. I'll put some primer over it to keep it from rusting till then.

Some quick pics of the latch screwed into the hood.

And some shots of how it looks from under the hood when its closed. I had to cut 1 1/2" off the threads so that it would tuck up nice and tight under the lip. I don't want it to have a lot of slack to fly up and scare me at highway speeds, and I don't want to have to worry about it gouging a big scratch in the top of my air cleaner or ripping my plug wires out of the distributor cap. From what I can see looking at it through the radiator opening it should clear those just fine. Once I get the engine back in I'll be able to tell for sure of course.

I really like this mod but looks like it would make working under the hood a major PITA.

Hmm... ok. So just so I know how those hoods work. You pop them like a normal hood? Then you slide the entire hood straight forward, and then swing it up?

So basically, you lay the hood down, slide the hood back, then your latch catches in the notch in your cowl, and then you shut the front of the hood so that it latches as normal?

Or did I just really confuse myself. haha.

Lookin good!

J.

Not at all. Access from the front of the car is nil of course, but you can reach anything and everything from the sides. I think I actually have MORE room to work under the hood now. Once I can get it outside where I have room to take a pic from the side you'll be able to see what I mean.

Nope, you got it right.

You've got it.

My Grandmother had one of those mid/late 80s Buicks with that reverse hood stock. Sometimes it was nice to have, but generally frustrating because I had to walk side to side & could only access stuff from 2 points, not 3 like a "normal" hood.

WHAT A STUPID IDEA TO WASTE TIME ON! YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSLF!
but i will forgive you if you take it all off immediately. and just so you are not tempted to sin again, you can send everything to me and i will keep them safe for you and you will never have to think of them again. please? i will even pay for shipping. please?

very well done. lots of time and work and how did you find out about the other cars? where did you ever get the idea to look?

job very well done!

I can see how it would be frustrating, but I have so much room when its open on the sides that I'm hoping it'll be alright. We'll see the first time something breaks. Hopefully I'll just be under there for minor things while the hood is still on. When I go to do major things like paint the engine bay, I'll be taking the hood off anyhow.

Nice try, but no. Sorry.

As for the idea and the other cars, I knew I wanted to to this since I got the car. I have always loved Corvettes and their reversed hoods. I was originally going to use the factory Camaro hinges, but I wasn't sure they would fit at all. Height of the hinge when its closed was a big issue, as well as the mounting to the hood. They bollt to the sides of the ribs under the hood and there wasn't really enough room to do that at the front. The other problem was that the hood lifts straight back and up on them so they needed to be mounted at the very front of the hood and there just wasn't a good way to do it strongly enough.

The idea for this method just kinda hit me. I was walking through a junkyard looking for some other parts for the Camaro and some for my truck when I saw a Buick with the hood opened. I went over and looked at it and realized it was about the same width as the Camaro hood. I opened and closed it couple times to see how it worked, and figured I'd grab it and give it a try. If it didn't work, it wasn't a big loss. Once I got home and test-fit it for width, I knew I could get it work.

The other cars and the background info on this is just the result of some time spent with my old pal Google while at work and from other members on TGO.

yes the buick hood kit is almost a bolt on kit. you will have to widen the bar going accross the hood . i saw this on a 91-92 camaro on the power tour back in 01

I thought about widening it, but felt it was easier to weld brackets onto the fender supports. I don't trust myself to weld it back together straight.

You don't happen to have any pics of it do you? I'd like to see how he did it.

Very cool mod. Thumbs up!

no pics, if you widen it use a piece of tubing to go over the bar and weld

I thought about that, but was afraid it would look patched or rigged together.

I know its been a while, but problems with the engine swap and transmission rebuild have prevented me from getting the Camaro out to get some good pics until yesterday. I did use the good digital camera this time so the pics might be a bit big. I also got some video of it opening and closing and I'll post the link to it once I figure out how to post it on Youtube. And I know the car needs painted, but that's going to be the last thing I do so I don't mess it up while working on the rest of the car.

P.S. - Don't mind the red spray paint on the garage wall, my 5 year-old found a can of it on the porch the other day and decided to be an artist

Next batch of pics.

More Pics

Closer pic of the new engine and hood hinge.

I can only imagine the peoples expressions when it's completed and you take it show or meet and you pop the hood open for the first time.

Here is the link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn5p8JBTXFY

And a video of the test drive(ignore the neighborhood brats in the background, I do):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVa5zCU314Y

Thanks! I'm really looking forward to those looks myself. It's one of the reasons I keep trying to come up with different ideas like this. It's gonna be a few years till the car is finished to the point where I feel it is worthy of taking to the local car shows though.

When it is open, does it rest against against the nose? Or is there some sort of 'stop' in the hinges to limit it?

I welded in some stops, and everything worked perfectly before I took it off to drop the V8 in. It was close to touching, but there was about 1-1.5" clearance. Now its resting on the front of the nose, right at the point. It's not pushing it in, just touching it. I think once I play with the alignment of the hood I can get it back to where it was.

The original stops on the hinges let it hit the front too hard, and the secondary latch was trying to go through the front bumper. As it is, you can't have that latch installed if you have the one-piece grille on the front. It'll put a hole right in the middle of it. I have one, but I don't plan on installing it so its not a problem for me.

on a vette with flipup headlights the hood looks pretty much like a firebird i dont know if it would look good on a camaro but probably better on a firebird

man i jusst cant say i like it

Try to ignore the multi-hued paint job

As they say, "To each his own." I posted it up for feedback, good or bad.

Its original though ive( personally) never seen that done on a camaro

And thats one of the biggest reasons I did it.

Now that it's done, I've found that its much easier to work in the engine bay. Since the hood stands almost vertical in the front, I don't have to worry about smacking my head on it when working from the side. Yes, I have to walk a little farther to go from one side to the other, and the back corners of the hood are right at eye-gouging level for me, but it's been well worth the effort just for the ease of access.

it opens much more smoothly than i expected.... will it be secure at higher speeds?

I've had the car up to 85 on the highway so far and it does bounce up and down a bit but I haven't adjusted the height of it in the back yet. Currently, it sits about 1/2" below the level of the fenders. I need to add a pair of those rubber bumpstops/height adjuster things to the rear corners of the hood. These will raise it up level with the tops of the fenders, and pull the rear hood catch tight to the lip on the firewall. This should eliminate any bouncing around at high speeds.

man, that is still awesome. I'm going to have to revise this thread later on to do this myself! I like how it opens in the front, seems that the stock hood-latch can still be used since you have to lift up the front and then "sew-saw" it up and over.....

You're right, the front hood latch is completely stock. I still need to fine-tune the alignment of the hood. When I go to close it, if you let the rear of the hood down too soon it rubs the tops of the fenders. May just be the fenders though. I didn't really spend a lot of time lining all the body panels up as I was getting impatient to get it back on the road before the summer was over.

Just wanted to say nice job with this post... it's a perfect example of how to use a forum to help fellow hot-rodders out with ideas and examples. I appreciate the effort you put into it... I'll be applying some of the tricks on my 73 Camaro in the future.