Tilt front end?

Post by **Greg D** » August 1, 2009, 9:52 pm

I have been considering this for awhile. In my pursuit for a truck that is as "seamless" as possible this is one of the ideas I had. You might say I want a really slick Slick, LOL.
I could fill around the hood/fender gap and fill the rear portions of the fender to the cowl. The new seam from the hood corner to the wheel arch could be made pretty tight too.
One of the "issues" is the rock guard, it nearly rests on the frame so the tilt front would either have to lift as it tilted quite abit or I would have to cut the rock guard so the sections over the frame were stationary. I would obviously have to cut up the core support (some of you would hate me even saying that if you saw this one, lol). or mount the radiator to the frame. I haven't figured out hinges yet (something from a semi front end?).
Jason suggested I consider cutting and hinging the frame too. I am a little concerned about that because of how low I will be after the drop axle goes in though. I haven't decided about the inner fenders yet, they would at least need cut so I don't have to relocate the battery.
Anybody have any other bright ideas for hinges or anything else? Never hurts to get a few others ideas.
Maybe I should just stick to my front tilt hood I was thinking of too, lol.
Thanks Guys!

charliemccraney · Post by **charliemccraney** » August 1, 2009, 10:15 pm

Charlie Burns might be able to help. He does not have a tilt front end but the whole front end of his '57 comes off.

Take a look at your hood hinges for some inspiration. The hood lifts up as it tilts back.

Some tilt hoods have to lift up before tilting them back. The same principle might be aplied to a tilt front end. You can probably find some cars at a local salvage yard with that sort of setup and do a little research. I know BMW and Saab have some like that.

You can play with some cardboard to make hinges for R&D purposes to get the movement you will need.

I'm curious, though, if your willing to tackle a tilt front end, why not battery relocation? It just seems like it will be cleaner to have the whole front end tilt.

Post by **Greg D** » August 1, 2009, 10:22 pm

Because of the bed cover I'm going to put on putting it in the bed would make it a pain to reach, I don't think I would want it all the way at the back.
I could change my mind on this part, but for now...............

ICEMAN6166 · Post by **ICEMAN6166** » August 1, 2009, 11:31 pm

personally i would mount the radiator to the frame and make a hinge located where the core support bolts are and not cut it.

i thought about using a piece of angle iron bolted to the frame holes on each side , another to each core support hole and a pin thru the 2 angle iron. kind of like a semi tractor front end.

Haus · Post by **Haus** » August 2, 2009, 7:54 am

Battery relocation: I mounted mine to the frame behind the cab. My starter and engine negative wire run along the frame and then come up just a couple of inches to their mounting points. Access is a concern of mine also. What I plan to do is buy some of the jumper posts that drag strip cars use and mount them inside the bed back by the tailgate area. This will solve the "I need a jump issue." If my solenoid goes bad I'll just have to get underneath and get dirty since its mounted next to the battery bracket. You really could mount the solenoid anywhere you wanted though. My ignition switch wire goes up through the door piller, comes out by the factory gas fill tube, follows along the back cab floor and drops down through a hole in the floor, goes along the frame to the solenoid. I took my stock tank out so it was a little less work for me.

Front lights and turn: You would likely come out of the bottom of the cab, go along the frame and then up to the lights, turns, and horn on the front section. Of couse you would leave enough slack for needed movement during the flip. If you have the windshild washer bag and pump you could actually leave them in their stock location since the jets come out the hood anyway.

Front Tilt: Sure seems like that front is heavy. I think if you are planningy to keep it stock (not fiberglass) I would have to mount some actuators to do the lifting. Then you also have the concern of adding some king of support in the rear. I guess you could support it where the hood meets the cowl. A guy on another forum used rear spring shackles he had left after lowering to use as the tilt piece in the front. I still think his might have been a fiberglass front end though. Mounting the radiator would be the easiest part.

Rock guard clearance: OK so lets say you go with the shackle idea. You of course mount the lower section to the frame so it could swivel. Mount them to sit at a 45 degree(or less, 30 maybe) angle facing towards the cab. Then you fab up a piece to mount solidly (you don't need the top to swivel only the bottom) to the tilting section. Now when you begin tilting the front end forward it acutally lifts the front end while coming forward at the same time. At least in theory I think thats how it would work. You would likely have to play with the angles and such to get it to work to your specs. More power to you, that seems like a hell of a lot of work.

Gary Seymour · Post by **Gary Seymour** » August 2, 2009, 7:54 am

I've seen at least one tilt front that first slid forward, then tilted. This was for fender to cowl clearance, but might also help with the rock guard problem too.

Haus · Post by **Haus** » August 2, 2009, 8:05 am

Though of one more thing. Can you imagine a strong wind blowing that thing shut while your under it working? Holy hell. Might want to add some sort of safety feature for this while your in the design phase. Maybe once the shackle moved forward there is a piece of square tubing with a piece of pipe welded on top the slides inside the shackle and then some safety pins can be inserted through the shackle and through the pipe to lock it in place.

Post by **Greg D** » August 2, 2009, 10:16 am

Gary Seymour wrote:I've seen at least one tilt front that first slid forward, then tilted. This was for fender to cowl clearance, but might also help with the rock guard problem too.

I thought of that, it would have to go a LONG way, lol. The rockguard is below the top of the bumper too.

Haus · Post by **Haus** » August 2, 2009, 11:40 am

I think I would see if the rock guard could be separated and mounted directly to the frame with spacers of course for fitament issues.

in2hotrods · Post by **in2hotrods** » August 4, 2009, 9:09 am

Would a F-350 rock guard work? Weren't they notched around the frame rails? Or am I completely senile?

Post by **Casey 65** » August 4, 2009, 11:45 am

While the tilt front looks cool, working on one with the tilt front is a real pain. Just my 2... LOL I had one and hated it. But, it do look cool.

winr · Post by **winr** » August 4, 2009, 5:12 pm

If you dont have the front end pull forward before lifting the fenders will catch on the cab.

You could cut the fenders at an angle and bolt the angled pieces on the cab.

I saw a 65 F-100 a guy has at the Friendswood Extravaganza, he bolted the hood and fenders together so it looked stock.

The front end pulled out enough for the fenders to clear the cab.

He also REMOVED the SACRED CORE SUPPORT and made brackets for the radiator.

I am have been eyeing my 65 for a while trying to decide if I want to tilt my front end.

Richard.

Truckfarmer2 · Post by **Truckfarmer2** » August 5, 2009, 9:29 am

check out this truck that is for sale but has adapted it to a tilt front end. http://fordtruk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11590

Wondering out loud here,,,how do they tilt those fiberglass front ends? Maybe they have your solution.

Post by **Greg D** » August 5, 2009, 2:29 pm

They do make special hinges for glass tilt fronts. You have a different situation with them though. I wouldn't be able to hinge the core support right on the frame, it would have to lift ALOT so that the grill didn't tilt down when it opened. These front clips are about as bad as you can have trying figure this out, an awful lot of work just avoid using Slick hood hinges, LOL.
One other way might be to can the support all together, mount the rad to the frame, mount the grill and rock guard stationary and hinge the hood & fenders it so that the valance moves forward over the grill and the bottom few inches of fenders move back. Some bracing would be in order for sure.
Just thought I'd toss it out here for some discussion, I haven't really decided one way or the other yet. Hmm, then I could maybe build some fender well headers, LOL.
I may be smarter to just use the Buick setup for a forward tilt hood I already have here, lol.

ABA · Post by **ABA** » August 5, 2009, 4:09 pm

You seen these Greg?

http://www.usbody.com/Pages_Trucks/61-Ford.htm

Gary Seymour · Post by **Gary Seymour** » August 5, 2009, 8:12 pm

The red '61 in that USBody ad looks right! I like how they curved the new seam into the wheelwell down from the hood. Fill in the cowl to fender and the hood to fender, and that treatment would work great using the metal clip too!

Looks like engine access is great leaving the rear part of the fender attached like that too.

Now, the forward-tilting hood idea has GREAT merits for engine access too, and about as much "cool factor" as well!

jwh f-100 · Post by **jwh f-100** » August 6, 2009, 9:40 am

Greg, you have my hamster wheel spinning again with the bumper to ground issue... LOL

Heres my thought.. I still say cut between the spring hanger and core support and hinge everything, but raher than put the hinge at the cut, plate the frame somehow and put the pivot point futher forward..

The only thing I worry about with the "plate" is how the bumper may contact it..

The other thought is the further forward the pivot the heavier it will be to tilt..

Post by **Greg D** » August 6, 2009, 9:03 pm

ABA, I have seen their site before - I can't punch louvers in fiberglass though.
Jason, that is some food for thought for sure.

ABA · Post by **ABA** » August 7, 2009, 3:33 pm

Greg D wrote:ABA, I have seen their site before - I can't punch louvers in fiberglass though.
Jason, that is some food for thought for sure.

Never understood the appeal of louvers other than the ones covering the back glass on a '69-'70 Mach 1 Mustang.

Here's a fiberglass hood on a '67 Shelby with louvers so it can be done.

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-1352518777 ... 62_1852189

1961 slickwilly · Post by **1961 slickwilly** » August 7, 2009, 7:10 pm

it would be cool to have a tilt and a split front end. have the the hood and grill and core support flip foward and the fenders flip to the side like an open book build some cool custom inner fenders hinge them to the frame and use hydaulic lift arms like you find on some newer trucks hood or trunk that way the fenders dnt hit the ground and they'll drop really slow