Final Assembly - Front Sheetmetal, Part 2 (December 26, 2013)

Ahhhhhh, Finally time to mount these beautiful Ring Bros. hood hinges. I went for the black anodized, solid frame models.  If you are running a DSE front clip, you need to make sure that the hinges you choose don't rotate the gas struts below the bottom edge of the hinge body. This is due to the inner fender well and down tube design.

  

The warning stickers on the gas strut will be going bye-bye...

Next was the new hood. When we bought the car it had cowl induction hood. It was nice and I like cowl hoods, but for this project I wanted the smooth look of the original hood. And I am kind-of a "form follows function" kind of thinker. Since there is no carb on top of the engine to feed, there was no functional reason for the cowl hood. A side note, if you have ever ran a cowl hood that isn't ducted to the carb, you will know how much HOT air comes from under the hood and goes directly into the cowl vents, which go right inside of the cabin!

  

Fits well! It will be removed for paint in the near future.

   

  

This is the Digi-tails LED conversion for the park lamps. The LEDs are strategically located to work with the OEM lens design. There is a specific left and right hand array. Super glue is included to mount the array, but I chose to use some double sided tape. Once the lens is in place the array cannot move.

   

The kit comes with everything needed to terminate just like the General did back in '67....but I went with some Weather Pack connectors, today's technology!

I re-tapped the mounting holes (to the bumper) to accept 10-32 SS cap screws. 

Next it was time to finish up the mod to the RH bumper bracket. I had notched the bracket to allow more clearance for the A/C lines to the condenser. I needed to add back the return edge to keep the strength and make it look finished. Took some 1/8" x 1/2" and formed it to match the contour.

Welded it in place.

Finished bracket.

Mounting the bumper assembly.

Here you can see the modified bracket in place. Those are the condenser lines running to the front of the radiator bulkhead.

    

Testing the park lamps. The Digi-tails set up is very well designed and doesn't look cheesy when they are illuminated.

And a little fun with the new plates  :-)

Sweet!

Looking like a car again!