C1 Hood Support

[Donald T.]

Being a C2 guy, my knowledge of C1 parts is pretty limited. How does one distinguish an original 58-62 hood support from a repo? I couldn't find the answer in the archives, but there was a comment that they were originally cad plated. I'm assuming they were really zinc plated like C2, but wanted to be sure before I go blasting the thing.

Thanks!

[John M.]

Re: C1 Hood Support

Don,

All of the repro supports I have seen differ in the area of the flat springs that hold tension around the rivets on each end. some repro supports have 6 segments to the spring legs, but even the ones that have the correct 4 legs, do not have the correct color on the springs. The original springs were black spring steel, while the repro's are plated like the support. You can remove the rivet and blacken the springs and install a new rivet. This requires a special hollow shank rivet set, but is not that hard to do. I have seen people take a fine artist brush, and paint their springs with flat black paint, but a sharp-eyed judge will probably still spot it.

Regards, John McGraw

[Donald T.]

Thanks John! *NM*