Hood Header

[ethel]

Still playing around to try to get the hood to fit easily (without jumping up and down on it). Got a pair of new brass catches, but think that I'm in danger of breaking them or the hood levers:shock:

The header rail seems to be tilted backwards so it touches at the outer ends when there's still a gap (maybe 2cm) at the centre above the Tbar. I can see that some gap is needed to give tension on the locks, but this seems a bit much to me, the locking pins are too far out to engage on the brass insert without much pushing and shoving. How close does your header rail get before you lock the levers?

I think what it needs is the header bending down, but I'm a bit wary of breaking the rivetted links - any suggestions? I'm tempted to put a block of wood on top of the doors and bounce on the header:shock:but that'll probably cause more problems than it'll solve.

Thanks for any advice, John.

[V Mad]

imported post

It does sound like the header rail is leaning back too far. The metal is quite soft on some hoods, and it can become bent backwards. Another reason is cover shrinkage or webbing too tight is pulling the rail back too far.

If the cover or webbing is not too tight you may be able to bend the rail foward, although this is tricky without damaging something, and there is a risk you may snap one of the arms. The safest way is to strip off the cover at the front, then use a welding torch to heat the metal before bending.

[ethel]

imported post

I must admit I'm more or less resigned to partially stripping the frame, just vaguely hoping that some one might have successfully bounced up and down on one to adjust it without damaging anything else. The main advantage I could see of doing it in situ would be that it should be easy to tell when it's been adjusted enough.

Still, at least I know of a good place to get a replacement if I do break it

John.