Hi everyone,

Is there a kit to do this?

If anyone has any idea on how to do this please post them, How much do you think it would cost?

Thanks everyone

 

I've wondered this too. I started to think about it when I saw that car on hot rod TV. Nice. It would be a bugger to work under the hood though.

Rob

 

I would imagine that it wouldn't be all too hard, if you new what you were doing. you would just have to relocate the hinges and shocks, and come up with a way to latch it near the windshield. if you were going to have someone else do it, i'm sure it would cost big bucks though

 

This question as been ask many times recently. On those posts nobody had any exact instuctions, just suggestions to try. I would like to know how it is done, but I dont think anybody knows.

 

I think one of the late 80's early 90's Buick/Pontiac 4 door sedans had a front opening hood. Grab the setup off of one of those and you should be set with a bit of tweaking. One came through the shop last month and thought of that Camaro.

 

I am looking at the pic again, I am wondering if you would ahve to worry about the hood scapping any of the paint on the nose when you shut it. I just am wondering how strong it would be.

I know if you took the stock shocks and hinges if you did it it would look very bad. The springs would hold the hood up around 2 inches higher in the front. I think if he did use the stocks he would have to relocate teh battery.

well got to go


thanks everyone:hail: :hail: :hail:

 

I had a similar setup on a Geo Tracker I used to show. I used the hinges from an old Buick Park Avenue (I believe) and cut out the center bar so it would fit. I used the stock hood latch and pins to hold the back of the hood down because there wasn't enough room to use the Buick's hood guides. I imagine there would be on a camaro. I got the Idea from a friend that had an S10 who used a corvette rear hood latch to secure it down instead of the pins. It worked great and looked good too. It will take some trial and error but this should work.

Good luck

 

I think JC Whitney sold a fiberglass front end for third gens that could open that way

 

The Buick Park Aveinue & lesabre used that style hood, there are some tracks to latch the rear of the hood in the back. Go to a junkyard study how they did it on those cars.

On a firebird it might be a lot more tricky because the way the hood is in relationship to the front facia. Camaros might be pretty easy..

Might I say might...

John

 

thanks, I should be going there sometime within the next 2 weeks.

I'll try to find one of those car.

thanks :hail: :hail: :hail:


:lala: :lala: :lala:

 

forgot to mention, the lesabre's and the parks that it was used on is something like 86-90 model years...

hope that helps...

 

forgot to mention, the lesabre's and the parks that it was used on is something like 86-90 model years...

Its easy to tell because the hood actually wraps down over the fenders...

hope that helps...

 

I'll report back when I find one =)

hopefuly soon,
thanks

 

Wouldn't corvette parts work better? I'm serious about doing this. Pics would be great right about now.

 

I have never eally look close up at that corvette hood hindges but I think they could work, the only problem is that there are not many corvettes in junkyards =( and I don't want to guess teh rice for the hod hindges.


thanks again:hail: :hail: :hail:

 

Well I'm going to hold off till I see what happens with the car. If it doesn't sell this summer then I'll just have to keep it. But those parts should pop up on ebay sometime.

 

Went 2 junkyards, can you believe neither had a lesabre or park ave. That's what I get for living in maine

I still have about 4 others to check out,

I might be going to them next weekend.:hail: :hail: :hail:

 

There is never failure, only new challenges. Keep looking, theres bound to be one out there somewhere. If they'll let you out in the yard keep your eyes open for any other cars that may have something you can use. Sometimes people junk old rice showcars that have some usable mods still attached. I'll look but I was thinking you might be able to get a latch for the back of the hood and relocate the stock hinges being that they lift up and back. That'll still give you enough room to work on it if you have to.

 

I have not been back to the junkyard in a while.

But I do have some good news. I found picures of that same car showing how the guy rigged up the hod to open like that. They are from a magazine and I hope to scan them in soon, like tomorrow.

 

I think it would be harder to use any hardware from a 'Vette.

Only the C5s actually had a "hood" per se that lifts up, rather than practically the entire front body clip like C4s. And good luck finding a C5 (or any 'vette that hasn't been picked clean) in a junkyard, much less buying those pieces new/used without getting raped in the process.

A little creativity is going to be needed anyway, so obviously if it's scratching the nose you're gonna find a slightly different way of doing it, right?

I think the stock hinges would be just fine for a reverse opening hood, since they lift up as well as rotate. That would keep the front edge of the hood off of the car, not to mention you already have them.

I believe they would make working on the car tougher since when I work on mine I'm often leaning over the front of the car. Being limited to only leaning over the sides would make things a lot more frustrating.

On the other side of the argument, it would make high-speed hood flip-up impossible (and I've seen it happen once with a steel hood and once with a fiberglass hood.. not pretty either time)
Obviously it looks pretty trick.

It's your car.

 

i was always facinated by how it opened, and i was thinking about selling my 89 LeSabre!!! haha, NO WAY! my camaro WILL have the reverse open hood. (just gotta figure out how to do it now )

 

mag

 

2

 

3 Sorry about the small pics, I will try to get a close up scan of teh hood open. It uses springs and a sway bar like thing connecting both of teh lifting arms.

 

Here is the hood close up. Just want to say sorry about teh load time to people using modems and otehr connections.:hail: :hail: :hail:

 

That is definitely the buick hinge and it looks like he didn't even have to shorten the connecting bar. The trick is to get the hood to sit level with the body.

 

That really helps alot knowing what it came from. I have thought about that also, geting it level.

Thank you:hail: :hail: :hail:

 

Here is another pic. Its hard to see, but it looks like the same type of hinge. Man, I want one!

 

Let me know if you can't find one around there. I have a scource that may have one here pretty cheap. As for working on the car, when I did my old Tracker I found it easier to get to most things without having to hang over the front of the car. Things seemed easier to reach.

I looked at it again and it may not be that difficult. Just flatten out the hinge and try to match it to the pics.

 

Lately the weekends here I have pretty ****y, all raining or even snowing. This weekend was hale though. Most of the junkyards that are cheap to shop at don't really keep track of what they have though.

 

My father's 85 or 86 Park Avenue's hood opened that way. Pull-a-Part is littered with those cars now. Most of the other yards around here crush the 80s FWD cars cause there is no demand for them. I had a hard time finding a fender for Mom's 85 6000 till I went to PAP.

 

I was looking at a mid 90's grand am today in our shop and the hinges on that might work if they were reversed. It kinda works like a door hinge. Just to mount it backwards on the front of the hood and maybe use your stock hood shocks. Any comments on that? Take a look at one once.

 

That might work, the only think I'm not sure of is if the nose of the hood would hit. The Grand Am hood is pretty straight across where ours comes to more of a point.

 

I wuz reading this article and i thought...well that is a fairly trick thing to do to my car.Then i wuz flippin thru a lowrider and noticed a cavalier with a hood that opened to the side.So...im a fairly avid auto fabricator...this weekend im gonna make my hood tilt to the right!ive got a regular hinge from a camaro,and i picked up a hinge from one of the 80s civics where the hood opens forward.ill use the civic hinge near the middle of the hood on the right side.With a little fabrication it will fit!and the stock hinge up near where the battery is.with a little trial and error i think it will work.

 

could you post some pics of the process and results?

thanks:hail: :hail: :hail:

(understand if you can't though)

 

I think that will be really cool until you need to work on something on the right side of your engine compartment, then you'll be hating life.

 

Yes i already thought of that,origionally i wuz gonna do it to the left but there are more things in the engine comp. that are on the left that would have to be accesed more frequently than on the right.youve got the oil and the brake fluid to worry about.then theres the rad cap and washer fluid.the battery will still be acsesable becuz itz right on the corner in the front.The trans fluid will be reachable.So,i think it will work out.It took me about 2 minutes to decide to do this,and that wuz last nite.and already i have the hinges,and time side aside to do it.ill snap some before,during,and after pics for ya all.but i dont got a digital cam,so theyll have to be developed,scanned,then youll see em.
thanx to all who participated in this post/lowrider mag, for the idea !

 

I have seen some cutsom hoods where they would open either way, to the right or left. Where the latches on one side would act as a hinge when tilting the other way.

OR where they split the hood down the middle and open from the center on both sides... (this is common for many airplanes)

John

 

I got a reverse openning hood hinge setup from a buick le sabre. I got it for 5 bucks!
I'll try to setup and get some pics ofr ya asp.

It may take awhile. I am lucky to get a day of this week. for the passed month I have been working 7 days a week 9 to 8.

well wish me luck... I need it :lala: :lala: :lala:

 

Youll be fine, once you lay everything out it will come right together. I look forward to seeing the pics. Good luck

 

Hey Trux? What magazine is that? I'd like to see that article myself.

Mathius

 

if you look closely it says Camaro Performers, Winter 2002.

I might have 2 copies of the magazine. I am not sure. I have some better scans of it if you want them

 

Why not just weld the hood shut, and make it so that the entire front clip lifts up, fenders and all? Or is that not feasible?

 

Can you believe I already thought of that.

It would require too much work. I wanted to have a chrom monly front clip made up. You can not buy them for our cars. Well At least I ahve not found any. If I just keep the front clip I can still fond other parts for my car without have to not exact measurments.

I am thinking now, istead of builid just the front clip just buy an intire chrom moly frame later and built it up.

 

You'd still have to have hinges that lift up and then out, or the nose on your camaro would be resting on the ground. Besides which, the nose on these things is 4-5 parts including the radiator supports and whatnot and of course the front fenders are bolted on, obviously. You'd also be talking about a ton of weight to support unless you plan on making the whole front end fiberglass or something. If you went with an open front clip it would be a LOT more work than just making the hood reverse.

Mathius

 

not to mention every time you opened the hood the fenders would scrape on the doors. would be well off to cut the fender in half at the highlight line behind the front wheels like the vettes..

John

 

You know what WOULD be cool (and possibly do-able)? Get a complete fiberglass front end, add the hydraulic tilt mechanism, but instead of having it swing up as pictured above, have it tilt up the other way; over the roof of the car. Kind of like a C-5 Galaxy aircraft. That way, you'd have nothing in the way of working on your car.

Course, this is probably one of those "Yeah, that be cool, but..." but that just hit me while thinking about this.

Something like this:

 

Anyone know where I can get hinges off a "C-5 Galaxy aircraft" ?

*duck*

Mathius

 

A friend of mine did the reverse hood pop-up mod on his 90 Formula 350. He used the hinges from a Saab or Audi, I think it was a Saab.

When he'd pop the hood release, he would lift up the front of the hood and it would come forward a little, then he would lift it from the back and it would come up without scraping anything on the front. He didn't have any shocks to hold it up so he just used a prop rod.

His new mod is putting a sbc 350, 700R4 and a 3rd gen rear end on his ealry 90's Honda Civic Hatchback. Should be sweet when he is done. We actually were able to fit one of my old rearends into his civic as well as my Pacesetter Catback, Y-pipe, and headers. Put all that stuff into his car for the drive back to Jax, FL.

 

Found this while surfing for parts for my truck. It's a site completely devoted to painting custom flames, but the upper left picture of that truck made me think of Steve's opening front end idea..... Does anyone know if that's a custom job? Maybe they made hinges for just this sort of thing?

Mathius