Early style Engine hood swap

[Mike Schofield]

I thought I’d start this thread cause I had trouble finding any others.
The plan? Swap an early style hood and louvres onto an 82.
In my opinion, the look is much cleaner. I’m sure I’ll run into some snags but I think it’ll pay off.
Pictures to follow...

 

[kmead]

I have the parts so it’s on my list as well.

 

[BrettM]

I did this on my 1981 X1/9. Some minor things to modify but it works well and looks great.

 

[speedy fiat]

One thing not to overlook, if I remember right, it that the hinges are also different to accommodate the height difference

 

[rx1900]

Hi Mike. Yes....very interested in your progress as well.

I plan to do the same to my '81. i've already got the engine lid and side louvres. Never got much further than holding them in place. But did figure out the bodies were indeed different between up to '78, and '79 on. Figured I would need some adapter brackets for the side louvres.

did you know there are actually 2 different early engine lids. One type found on the '74 here and a much taller one used from '75-'78. Which one do you have?

Looking forward to reports on your progress. Doug

 

[JimD]

I have been thinking about this too. i have the required parts and thought it would make a quick project to complete my "early look" 85, but it turns out the body work for the engine side pods changed to accommodate the late model trim. It can be overcome obviously, but i set the project aside till I had the time to do it right.

78 pod wall:


85 pod wall:


85 pod wall with trim on top:


What I found with a quick test fit is that the late model pod wall is not only shaped differently, but also taller, so the early side louvre wont lay flat. Something has to give.

 

[rx1900]

I have been thinking about this too. i have the required parts and thought it would make a quick project to complete my "early look" 85, but it turns out the body work for the engine side pods changed to accommodate the late model trim. It can be overcome obviously, but i set the project aside till I had the time to do it right.

78 pod wall:
View attachment 29531

85 pod wall:
View attachment 29532

85 pod wall with trim on top:
View attachment 29533

What I found with a quick test fit is that the late model pod wall is not only shaped differently, but also taller, so the early side louvre wont lay flat. Something has to give.

Yeah Jim. That sounds about right.....and something funky about the fuel filler too...gotta use the early one or re-locate the later one or something like that. But hey....should be easy for both of us now...we can sit back and let Mike do all the figurin......

 

[Mike Schofield]

Lol, actually not sure which lid I have. It was donated by a fellow Xwebber. Cnc79x19. Perhaps he can shed some light. Although I seem to remember that it’s from a 74. Anyway, I’m probably going to do a test fit tomorrow so we’ll see how that goes. As for the louvres? Not sure how I’ll modify the side body work to accommodate just yet...perhaps BrettM can help us out??

 

[Mark]

I did this on my ‘85. Just had to trim the bottom of the 2 side Louvers. Can’t remember if I changed the fuel neck.

I have been thinking about this too. i have the required parts and thought it would make a quick project to complete my "early look" 85, but it turns out the body work for the engine side pods changed to accommodate the late model trim. It can be overcome obviously, but i set the project aside till I had the time to do it right.

78 pod wall:
View attachment 29531

85 pod wall:
View attachment 29532

85 pod wall with trim on top:
View attachment 29533

What I found with a quick test fit is that the late model pod wall is not only shaped differently, but also taller, so the early side louvre wont lay flat. Something has to give.

 

[Mike Schofield]

Geez! I had it in my head that I had to change the structure and not the louvres themselves. D’oh!
That totally makes sense!

 

[darwoodious]

What's that fuel cap? Interesting... is it a super late model cap?

Looks good.

 

[MikeHynes]

One thing not to overlook, if I remember right, it that the hinges are also different to accommodate the height difference

The only year car with different size early hinges was '77. The later hinges do have a bit extra reinforcement but are the same size as the non '77 early hinges. So the later engine cover hinges will work with an early engine cover conversion, as long as you don't use the '77 engine cover.

 

[Mike Schofield]

Ok, first test fit was pretty encouraging.
The hinges are in perfect alignment. They’ll need some adjustment to lower the back end of the lid but that’s very miner. The latch lines up perfectly as well. The latch is too short but that’s easily remedied. I ordered a longer style one from Midwest Bayless. The fuel inlet is a bit too far over to the right but again, miner adjustment.

 

[Mike Schofield]

The fuel filler was moved down pretty easily.
I ended up cutting the side pieces of the louvres flush to a point so they’d sit flat. So far, pretty easy! I figure most of the work will be in restoring the hood itself.

 

[Mike Schofield]

I’ve got to say, I love this duckbill spoiler and that you left it black. Where did you get it?

 

[Mark]

I made them

View attachment 29637 I’ve got to say, I love this duckbill spoiler and that you left it black. Where did you get it?

 

[CnC79X19]

Hey Mike,
I think Guy (Dino66) has a set of those on his eBay account? He's an honest dude and quick to get stuff out if you are still looking?? Anyhow, drop him a message and he'll respond to you pretty quick. He's sent stuff our way a few times already

 

[Mike Schofield]

I made them

View attachment 29695

That’s awesome! They look really nice!

 

[Mike Schofield]

Hey Mike,
I think Guy (Dino66) has a set of those on his eBay account? He's an honest dude and quick to get stuff out if you are still looking?? Anyhow, drop him a message and he'll respond to you pretty quick. He's sent stuff our way a few times already

Thank you! I’ll take a look..

 

[DanielForest]

I made them

View attachment 29695

If it wasn't for the fact one of the car had the grille in the back and the other not (1974), I could have believe there was in mirror in the middle of your garage. Oh yeah, and one had the rear plate lights, the exhaust tips isn't at the same angle, the center caps aren't the same color... or maybe you had the yellow caps in the right side and the silver on the left...

Hey, honey, we're going to take the yellow car today!