52 Hood latch panel

[ashoe]

Posted over on "that other site" and thought, duh, probably get more reply from here and should have come here first!

I've been working on my 52 and am having issues with a deformed hood latch panel so went shopping and noticed, none of the reproductions look like what's on my truck. Problem is the panel is deformed a lot and the hood is hitting it when I close it, won't even latch. Have tried every adjusting of the hood I could come up with and still no luck. Even trying to "bump" the whole front clip back with bolts loose on the cowl but doesn't budge.

Some history, my cab was a 4400 originally so maybe that is why this panel is so different from what I have seen, but I have been unable to find a match on my searches.

Just want to be sure it's not something rare before I replace or cut up. Pic!

[chopit]

Originally Posted by ashoe

Posted over on "that other site" and thought, duh, probably get more reply from here and should have come here first!

I've been working on my 52 and am having issues with a deformed hood latch panel so went shopping and noticed, none of the reproductions look like what's on my truck. Problem is the panel is deformed a lot and the hood is hitting it when I close it, won't even latch. Have tried every adjusting of the hood I could come up with and still no luck. Even trying to "bump" the whole front clip back with bolts loose on the cowl but doesn't budge.

Some history, my cab was a 4400 originally so maybe that is why this panel is so different from what I have seen, but I have been unable to find a match on my searches.

Just want to be sure it's not something rare before I replace or cut up. Pic!

You mentioned your cab was 4400. What about your fenders? your hood? etc? what are they from?

[ashoe]

Believe the whole cab is from a 4400, hood, doors, fenders and all. Was under the impression these were all the same except for minor differences to a 3100 is that not a true statement? This is why I was confused to find all the replacement latch panels to have the large concave portion that I didn't find on my panel.

Thanks!

[mongocanfly]

Looks just like the latch on my 54 3100..its looks like you have some major deformation between the latch and the radiator support..that may be part of your problem..the 4400 cab is the same as all others models..the fenders and hood are wider and longer than the 1/2-1 ton trucks and I think the hood is a little different to. Here's a pic of my 54 3100 latch..

[mongocanfly]

If your not sure what cab you have ...put up a side pic of cab..

[ashoe]

Thanks mongocanfly for the reply. Was referring more to that panel that the latch is attached to. Did some fancy paint drawing on the pic to better illustrate this. Most I find have a large concave part in orange on this pic whereas mine only the small yellow line defining the cutaway. I do know there is some deformation, that green line and green circles show that stuff. Had a rough life somewhere along the line.



Here is what I keep seeing both for sale and on other people's trucks...



Has that large indent following the lines of the latch assembly instead of a huge flat surface.

[mongocanfly]

Ahhhh...my bad..that's what I get for reading to fast..I thought you were looking for the latch itself..I see what your talking about now..that may be one of the differences in the bigger trucks..I know there's a couple guys on here with bigger trucks.. they might know..

[mongocanfly]

Ok..now that I'm looking for what you asked it appears that the hood latch panel is different on the 4400-6400 trucks..here's the best pic of it I could find..

[mr48chev]

Yep your hood latch panel is for a big truck = 4000 series.

easy to tell on the hoods is that the big truck hood has what looks like a hawk bill corner at the back

The one above is a 1-1/2 ton hood sitting on my 48 half ton.
This is the hood and fender on a 51 1-1/2 ton


3000 series hood


I'd have to dig to find the hood latch panel for my 51 1-1/2 ton and am not sure I even got it when I bought the truck as the truck came without an engine in it an the grill had been unbolted to get the engine out.

Since most likely your truck is sitting on a later chassis the fist step is to make sure your whole nose is line up right and fitting right.

Second thing is that the spring on the safety catch breaks a lot and then unless you put it through the hole in the panel it hits and bends up everything when someone tries to slam the hood, you just flat don't slam these hoods close.

[ashoe]

Thanks guys for the pics and info, I had figured it was something different between the 3100 and 4400. I guess it is time to try and work this one into shape.

Another forum member sent me this

Appears the 4400 panel has a completely different part number. Don't think GM would make a different part if the other would have worked

[mr48chev]

One of my 4000 series panels is so beat up it isn't recognizable for what it is unless you already know what it is but I'll see if the other one is in the green truck and get a photo of it and one from a 3000 series.

[ashoe]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

One of my 4000 series panels is so beat up it isn't recognizable for what it is unless you already know what it is but I'll see if the other one is in the green truck and get a photo of it and one from a 3000 series.

Thanks mr48chev. If you get a chance to look them over, let me know what you think about a latch panel from your 3000 fitting on the 4000 series...I am tempted to order one and see but that is a costly "maybe" purchase but may come to that!