Eddie Motorsports may be a new name in the customizing end of things, but they have been around for almost 20 years. Instead of hot rods parts, they machined parts for boats and entered the customizing game very well versed in that skill. Eddie Motorsports is a subdivision of Eddie Marine and Eddie Machine, but the way I look at is that boats are just hot rods of the water.
In this tech story we are going to take a look at a set of Eddie Motorsports '55-57 Chevy truck billet hood hinges. The hinges are made of 6061 T6 aluminum and machined to very close tolerances. A gas strut is used in place of the cumbersome stock spring that also looks out of place. When it comes to color choices, Eddie Motorsports has you covered. When selecting the hinges there are several choices of finishes like machined, polished, clear anodized, blue, purple, red, gloss black, or matte black.
So why chose a set of high-end hinges for your project truck? Several reasons come to mind when looking for hinges, and if your stock truck's hinges are anything like what I've seen out there, then they need replacement. For example, does your hood gap look OK or does it look off on one side? Does the back of the hood need to be pushed down every time you close it? If you said yes, then it may be worth looking into a nice set of billet hinges.
If you have ever closed a hood with billet hinges then you know the night-and-day difference compared to the sloppy stock hinges. The next thing I would look at is how nice the rest of the engine bay is that you are building? Does it have a billet pulley setup or nice valve covers? Do you spend way too much time in the garage cleaning the engine bay just to show off? Then the appearance itself and not just the improved function may be enough to steer you toward the clean billet look.
01, 02 So starting with the hood propped up and a friend to help out, unbolt the old hinges from the hood. Have your friend hold the hood on the other side, while both of you are undoing the bolts at the same time.
03 A large cloth, bed sheet, or tape around the cowl areas will help reduce the chance of scratching the paint.
04 Now that the hood is removed, John from Deuces Wild and Hotrods removes the remaining two bolts on the firewall.
05 The hinges ought to be placed in a frame because they look like works of art.
06 The EMS hinge itself is slightly smaller in appearance than the stock hinge.
07 Since adjustment is needed, John likes to cut thin Teflon from a cheap cutting sheet that can be found in the kitchen section of local grocery stores. This way the new hinges don't scratch the freshly painted firewall.
08 A set of stainless button-head bolts were used to finish off the sleek look of the hinges.
09 Antiseize is your best friend when it comes to mixing two types of metals. Stainless steel bolts going into the mild steel firewall need to have a light coat of antiseize.
10 The hinge was ready to be mounted to the firewall, but before that John placed the Teflon spacer on the hinge to protect the paint.
11, 12 Loosely bolt the hinge to the firewall, because you will need to adjust it once the hood is on.
13 With help, place the hood back on the hinges and finger tighten the bolts to the hood.
14 RJ Plent is shown here helping hold/move the hood to best align it to the body.
15 Now with the hood on, make sure that all the gaps look good and tighten down all the loose bolts.
16 Not bad for about an hour's worth of work - 30 minutes to install and 30 to adjust the hood. A clean and simple way to dress up the look of the engine bay.
