Guest Mike Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Anyone seen this yet?? http://www.autoblog.com/2006/09/25/vandenbrink-gto-may-see-production/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Mike.I am still shooting in the dark on these latches.One set is for the GTO and the other is for the Tomahawk Z Cobra. I will look for more Honda trunk latches. The Pacific Northwest does have a few of these CVCC cars and the latches do come avaiable from time to time. I still have to trial fit and trim the mechanisims to a door. I have a junk Z I will take the doors off for this purpose. There were a set of rusted Z doors I scrapped and would have been great to have the section of door skin to fit the latches. Bill Y Not (originator of this thjread) had a set of latch mechanisims for sale. You could contact him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Hey O'L TIMER... Isn't DUKE the originator of this thread? Who has the latches for sale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 LOL.......................I am on the wrong thread page. Mike go to the "Honda push button" thread and Bill "Y Not" had a set of the Rube Goldberg latch gizmos for sale. As Speedracer sez they are not that complicated (once i am on the right page....is this March or July ?). I decided to pull the door off the Tomahawk z to fit the attachment part that fastens the gizmo to the door and locate the position of the actuating lever. Not much of a throw but probably does not take much to release the Z door latch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Hah!! I feel much better knowing that I'm not the only one here losing my memory. This is actually FEBRUARY, Ol' Timer. Sheesh... can't you keep track of the months here in good ol' 1997?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Has anyone with the Alpha 1 style front end ever modified/converted to a one-piece tilt nose? If so, did they document their work... and do you know where it's posted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boy from Oz Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Mike - Sorry I can't help there but you have reminded me of a bodywork question I have. My kit is of unknown origin to me but the hinge mounts on the bonnet (hood) look very purpose built. Does anyone recognise the kit from the mounts and do you know if the mounts are designed for a specific hinge? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedRacer Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Hi Peter, It looks like your kit is based on the original Alpha 1 GTO. The hood hinges (if you want to call them that) for it are really poor. They are comprised of a piece of channel iron with a tab welded to it on the top. There are two holes in the channel iron to mount it where the stock Datsun hood hinge mounted on the inside of the front fender well. There is also a hole drilled in the tab on top of the channel iron and in that tab of fiberglass hanging down from the hood. You simply run a bolt w/locknut through the two holes. I had a pair but I’m pretty sure they went to the junkyard a long time ago. Instead, I used mid 60's Corvette hinges on mine as they are very simple and easy to find, at least in the USA. I built up a supporting block on the underside of the hood and captured a drilled and tapped metal plate inside. I then built a triangulated pad that bolted to the front inner fender where the original hinge bolted. The pad has two bolts welded that point upwards so the hinge slides down over them and they are held in place buy standard nuts and lock washers. Now the hood hinges are precise, adjustable and the hood stays aligned. If you decide to try my way I’ll take some pictures for you. Speed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedRacer Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Mike, The original Alpha 1 GTO kit had horrible fit problems with the front end and hood. Unless you did a huge amount of work the fit was pretty poor. When Tom McBurnie got the kit from Joe Alphabet he redesigned the whole front end. To help solve the fitment problems he moved the hood back and used Corvette hood hinges attached to the radiator core support. John Washington http://www.reactionresearch.com/automotive.html solved the problem by converting the Alpha nose to a clam shell design so there was no nose, fender, hood alignment problems. I do know quite a few guys who went from the VR tilt type nose to the Alpha & McBurnie front end so it shouldn't be to hard to go the other way. Tom over at Scorpion Z Cars http://www.scorpionzcars.com did one a little while ago. Sorry but I have to ask, why do you want the tilt front end? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boy from Oz Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 mid 60's Corvette hinges ... as they are very simple and easy to find, at least in the USA. If you decide to try my way I’ll take some pictures for you. Speed Dick - thanks. I'll keep an eye out for the Corvette hinges on e-Bay. I would appreciate the any images you have of your set-up. I'll e-mail in the next few days but progress has fluctuated between very very slow and non-existent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 ...why do you want the tilt front end? Mine needs some work and I figured I might as well go full guns. A tilt front end will do 2 things... (1) provide very easy access to the engine compartment, and (2) clean up all the seams between the disparate parts. I realize that the orignal GTO had seams but the ones on the kit cars aren't exact anyway. So I figured "what the heck". It's just something I'm considering... want to keep all my options open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedRacer Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Pete - I don't know what that thing on the right is but yes, the two hood hinges shown in the left are the ones you need. The larger pad bolts to the hood and the smaller side on the fender bracket. I'll have some pictures for you later today. I'll do my best but my engine compartment is painted black and they are in a difficult place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedRacer Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Peter - here are the links to two photos of my hood hinge setup. http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=13474&cat=500 http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=13475&cat=500 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boy from Oz Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 It appears that the leading edge of the bonnet (sorry, hood) goes very close to the support bracket for the hinge when the hood is open. Is there a mechanical 'stop' incorporated in the hinge, or elsewhere, or do you just have to be careful on not over-open? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedRacer Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 It's difficult to see but that is a very hard piece of sponge padding you see glued to the front of the hinge bracket. It serves as a soft stop when the bonnet (hood) is fully opened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 the Corvette hinges supplied from Blue Ray aka StableWorks fit on the radiator support inside a special definition location in the fiberglass. There is clever simplistic hood adjustment built into the lower part of the hinge bolt that attaches to the radiator support. This is the 2nd bolt closest to the firewall and is fully threaded with one nut on the bottom side tightened against a top side nut with the cap head of the bolt acting as an adustment and stop for the hood. If this explaination is confusing, I can take a picture(s) and place in Yahoo Photos. I have trial fitted the hinges which appear with the adjusting bolt to raise the front of the hood in perfect alignment with the fender line. The frontend is currently off the car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boy from Oz Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 Ol' Timer - I would appreciate some photos. It appears that the older I get the more I become a visual learner. You seem to be referring to the alignment of the sides of the bonnet (hood). To date I have only been considering issues relating to the front edge alignment, I hadn't even considered the sides. Regarding the front edge, I have been considering whether to fabricate a framework forward of the radiator (as per a 250 GTO, see photo) so that I could attach the front section to something in addition to the inner guards' lip - it would also enable attachment of the driving lights, ducting for the front brakes, etc. Any thoughts by anyone on the idea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con Brio Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Hey Mike. To answer your earlier question about tilt front ends. "Yes." I have an Alpha 1 kit with a one piece tilt front end from VR Engineering (John Washington). And I love it. Not only does it look great and function well. But It has the added benefits you mentioned. I know the 250 never came with a tilt front end, or side pipes for that matter. But remember it never will be a 250. Build it the way you like it. And you'll enjoy it even that much more. Kind Regards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Con Brio Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Hey Mike, I even took it one step further and modified the hood for clearance of the Edelbrock Pro Flo EFI I installed on my sbc. I had to raise the centre of the hood over 2". Bringing the centre level with the fenders. It looks great and gives the car more presence (sorry no pics). Ordered a set of lexan air scoops from Scorpion and cut them in using a/c quick release fasteners to hold them on. Then modified and cut in KingAir engine cowl latches to hold the bonnet down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 ^^^ Pics please!! (but be ready for some flaming ) ^^^ I may need to raise mine a couple of inches too so I'd really like to see how this looks. I'm thinking very seriously of jamming a 572 stroker under the hood and, even with JTR mounts, the intake/carb/filter combo may not fit. BTW folks... as you know, several 250 GTO's were produced and each one was a bit different, eh? Ferrari "tweaked" their designs to fit their then-current "goals", yes? There can be no such thing as a (Ferrari "kit car" purist), heh, heh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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