Front clip �63 or �64?

[David H.]

[Richard M.]

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...ight=1963+hood

Rich

[Dave S.]

David, We are all glad you asked. This'll be a good reference for future searches also.

Also just noticed from Harry's circled photo. That's a 64 hood as it doesn't have depressions or holes for the hood grilles. So it's likely a early 64. Joe and Harry probably noticed that too.

Also reference this older thread.....
https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...ight=1963+hood


Rich

[Richard M.]

Rich,

I believe all 64 hoods did not have the depressions for the hood grilles. That was a 63 feature only. Early 64 hoods used the inner skins that were left over from 63. Those left over inner skins had the nut plates that held the hood wedges. Once used up the inner skins did not have the nut plates.

Those inner skins without the hood wedge nutplates were also used on the earlier 63 cars as mentioned above. It wasn’t until around January 1963 that they appeared.

Dave, Yes I think we agree on most of that. But I did a little more research....

I believe the early 64 hoods did not use the inner skins from the late 63 cars. I've found several 64 hood photos and they're missing the inner skin hole on each side for the 63 grille plates. They do seem to have to 4 nutplate areas for the wedges though. I'm speculating the 64 inner skin was a new part(without those 2 holes), and they decided to put the wedge nutplates in as a precaution, but then later they went away.

Here's a 63 hood showing the inner grille plate holes (yellow arrows).
(pic borrowed from morly1963's car on CF)
1963hood.jpg

My 63 hood...
1963hood_mine.jpg

Here's that 64 hood previously posted. Green arrows point to where the holes would have been for the 63 grille plates. Holes are missing. But nutplates are there for the wedges.
1964hood.jpg

A later 64 hood...
1964hood_late.jpg

Now I wonder when the 64 hoods stopped using the wedge nutplates.

Rich

[Dave S.]

[Eric J.]

[Eric J.]

[Richard M.]

I would think that the more likely reason for nut plates without holes is those hood grill holes were cut after the hood was assembled at a later point in time then when the nut plates were installed. The nut plates would have needed to be installed before bonding to the hood panel.

If I had to imagine the manufacturing process it would go like this.
1 Hood panel molded
2 Inner hood structure molded with nut plates
3 Hood panel bonded
4 Templates used to drill holes for hood grills
5 Holes drilled in inner structure (including additional holes by hinges) using template holes as guide.

Eliminate steps 4 and 5 would eliminate those holes yet still have a panel with nut plates.

Eric, Good input. Yes it appears the holes were drilled in the inner skin. I thought they were molded in depressions. The AIM doesn't specify drilling holes so it was probably done in the fiberglass fab shop.

So it appears very likely they used leftover 63 inner skins for early 64 and simply didn't drill the holes for the grilles for 64, and as we've observed the holes for the wedge nutplates were filled in.

Dave, I now say you were right.

Rich

[Joseph S.]

[Richard M.]

1963hood_ screenshot.jpg

I cropped and zoomed the area and I can see the holes, so it was likely done in the fab area.
1963hood_ screenshot_mag.png

[Dave S.]

Eric, The 63 Hood has an additional depression for the hood plates. In order to bond the 2 pieces, Inner frame & outer skin, the inner frame would have to be shaped to accommodate that 2nd depression. This would require a completely different mold for the 64 Hood inner and outer panels.

There is no depression in the 63 or 64 Hood structure where the hood block plates are located. They could be added to any inner frame before it was bonded to the outer skin. Late 63 hoods did not have any hood block, so why they would again go back to hood blocks early in 64 still remains a mystery.

[Joseph S.]

[Dave S.]

[Joseph S.]

[Dave S.]

The area we need photographed is the lower section where the hood grill depressions are. That is where the 2 frames are different.

Joe,
I've attached two photos of my original 63 hood that show where the cookie sheet depressions meet the inner skin (frame). There is no recess for the cookie sheet depression in the frame. I have a photo of the inner hood from 64 VIN # 700 +/-. The inner skin (frame) is the same as the 63. i'm having trouble posting it but will when I get it sorted out.

It looks like the 63 (after December 1962 when the nut plates were added) and 64 inner frames were the same. It also seems likely that the two holes for the cookie sheet nuts were field drilled and not made in the frame itself. That would apply to all 63 hoods no matter which type.

I'm still believing that the 63 with the 4 nutplates (after December 1962) and the early 64 frames were the same.