im doin the crusier buggy thing and i want to narrow the hood about 8" or so, anyone have any suggestions on how to go about this so that it doesnt end up lookin like ass..thanks

oh ya fj40 hood.

Just split it down the middle and remove 4" from each piece from
the cut. Do it carefully and it won't look bad.

ya i think i could figure that part out, but i dont know shit about body werk, so would i weld it back together or rivets, or what..and then how do u blend it to look good after bondo im guessin?????:confused:

What kind of hood are you starting with? 1 or 2 piece? Just
measure 4" from the middle to either side and cut along those
lines nice and straight. Tack weld in place to make sure it has the
kind of curve you want and then weld the whole line. Then grind
smooth, prime, and paint. Seems like a fairly simple operation to
me.

you can just but weld the thing together and grind it all smooth and thats gonna be strong, but i guess you could lay a strip of metal on the inside of the hood..cool

Yup, that would be my plan. Make sure to take pictures of the
final product :D

yeah i can already see the warped final product

I bet if you took it to a local junior college body shop class they would hack it... um I mean cut it. :D

when you weld sheet metal stitch it vs. running a straight bead.

If you put too much heat into it it will be really distorted. I would go back and forth between the front and back only welding about an inch at a time.

A setup table is really nice.....big flat steel table.

You can line and cut the hood carefully, then tack weld one side of the hood to the table ( landcruiser hoods are flat ) then tack the other side down once you get both edges cleaned up and matched. Tack both sides together about every 5-6 apart, then start to weld the two together slowly so you don't warp it too much. A TIG welder is nice too.

When welding the two parts back together, put a heat sink behind the weld so you don't put too much heat into sheet metal. I usually use a chunk of aluminum to soak up the excess heat. Works good.

Are you keeping the cowl in your buggy? Or you going to narrow the whole thing(hood)? The whole hood would be easy, but if it has to match the cowl "stock" width, that will be harder to do. Plus, leave a small gap between the two sides while welding. If you butt them together and weld it, it will crack when you grind it down.
Or talk to Rugburn;)

ya no cowl dealy, its just the hood and front grill thing.

so what size wire should i use on this bitch? would .030 be okay or too big? cuz thats the smallest i got.

030 works fine, thats what I have been using for all my bodywork. 023 is probably the way to go, but Im more than happy with the welds with the 030.

The easiest way to make a narrowed hood would be to bug the crap out of rugburn and he could make us all some:D

Originally posted by Myanarchy
The easiest way to make a narrowed hood would be to bug the crap out of rugburn and he could make us all some:D

What he said except wait until he sends us out our stock ones. I don't think he needs to start any more projects until this one is finished.....:D