ok..for a while now there has been talk of a suicide hood modification..Ive bounced this one around in my head a million times..my original plan to separate the hood hinges and simply flip it worked well in theory but the angles of the hood struts are too far forward and way to weak to hold any lateral movement(side to side)..would be way to risky to have this kind of set up..so on to plan b...now that Ive had a chance to look..i figure now..the grille itself will have to act as the hinge as it is the only mounting point available..Im now goin back to the drawing board and back into my box of tricks...the hood itself will have to slide forward a little bit to clear the fender gap by the doors to raise properly without hitting..a slider hinge will work for that..I wish the hood was a bit stronger material but if I remake a grille from heavy guage steel and drill more mounting points to the hood itself it should keep the hood from kinking near the front horns of the hood..a small torsion bar behind the grille may help alot too..Ill keep ya posted guys..this may work..it may not..who knows..maybe the cold has got to my brain but anything I come up with..I will post and share with all of ya..[IMG][/IMG]

 

very cool

 

Looks good, but it definitely looks like it makes it way to difficult to do any underhood work very easily

 

accually its the opposite..lots of room to work(dont have to duck) but thats not why Im doin this..my hood(paintjob) is what dissapears at any show..depending where I park..it never gets much attention when I have the hood up to show off the chrome and airbrush work..tryin to remedy this problem but Ill admit..the design of this hood(the arc)is makin this very difficult..but I enjoy a challenge
my first idea went down in flames..lets just hope plan b works..lol
I will say this hood is WAY heavier than I thought..dont try this by urself kids..get a buddy..

where is AMERICAN AND PROUD WHEN I NEED EM??LOL

 

there was an aftermarket product that did just this. try a google search might point you in the right direction

 

My ‘59 Ford Fairlane had that backward hood. I got used to it. Of course even with the 332 V8 in there you could pretty well climb into the engine compartment to do your work.

While it was pretty cool there were enough other vehicles around that had it too that it was hardly unique.

A friend built up a ‘41 Ford hotrod that he put a whole one piece fiberglass front end on. The whole thing, fenders and all rocked forward to access the engine and other things you might want to work on.

Again while totally cool it was kind of a drag when real work needed to be done on the car. It was simpler to just remove the fiberglass, do the work, and put it back on.

For a while I had a Hudson that hinged from on either side so you could whip the hood up from either side. The whole hood went up not a hinge down the middle like a ‘41 Chevy pickup that my dad had and I learned to drive with back when I was about 10.

Personally I like the access the HHR gives me but if I were to change the hinge position I’d probably try to make it swing from either side like the Hudson did.

 

I saw an HHR at the Veterans car show in Loma Linda, Ca. last year that had a hood that was split in the middle and the halves opened to side but I've never seen one that tilts forward. I've owned two Datsun 240Z's, a Datsun 280Z, and a Datsun 1600 Roadster in the past; all of which had forward titling hoods. Things toward the back of the engine were easier to work on but generally, the 'normal' way makes maintenence easier.

 

no application for this vehicle..mostly because the grille is where the hood should be for these apps to work..its the curves that makes this a bit of work but its the lateral movement that is problem..if i can fastem the hood to a newly made hinge system in the center of the hood..with the nose of the designed to pass the front bumper..it may work also..kida sumthin like this..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ17SDGS8Vc

 

Reminds me of my old Fiat Spider

 

Now I know the logistics would be really tough but a complete tilt front would be interesting on an HHR. Something like this: