Springs for a Lightweight Fiberglass Hood

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A325ic

A325ic

GTS Registry #555
Joined
Feb 19, 2012
Messages
28
Reaction score
26
Location
Concord,NC
I had a problem for years with my '68 Dart GTS, I had a fiberglass hood with the springs unhooked and they rattled constantly when driving. They were very loud and annoying and I hated using a hood prop at car shows on a windy day I did not dare walk away fearing the wind would catch my hood. I took the hinges off and removed the springs thinking it would solve the problem, well it did not they were just as annoying as ever. On this forum (FABO), I found a member "DART67" (to find him in a search on here it has to be written just like that with the quotation marks), His name is Herb Beer and he makes modified springs for A-body light weight hoods. Over the years Herb has made over 200 sets of these springs for others with tooling that he has created. I contacted Herb (he is a super nice person), I ordered a set of his springs and received them in just a few days. He gave me some tips for installation and let me tell you I wish I found this man years ago! I painted his spring assemblies to match my original car color and installed his modified springs to my original hinges without taking my fenders off and they work FANTASTIC !!!!. My fiberglass hood stays where ever I stop and leave it in its travel either opening or closing, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 7/8 of it's travel and it stays there all by its self, NO MORE HOOD PROP !!! About the last 1/8 of its travel open, it will slowly travel open to its full extent. I LOVE this fix !!! His prices are very reasonable, and you will enjoy chatting with him. If you zoom in on the last photo, you will see that my drivers side hinge was hacked up by me. That is not a result of the hinges but because of the repairs I had done to my hood by another person. When I took the hood off to install the springs I noticed some cracks and sent to hood to a local shop for repair. The metal strip for the bolt holes inside the hood were not aligned correctly when repaired and I had to grind out the mounting holes to bolt on the hood. Herb seen the photos, (he lives in Arkansas), he called me this morning and made an awesome suggestion for a repair (which I accepted). Herb has also said that he would send me the parts to do the repair for free, even though I offered to pay him. See ... there are still some awesome people in this world. If anyone on here needs or would like this fix contact Herb simply search "DART67". Also you can look me up on facebook and I will post them there, Terry Richards, Concord,NC. I took it out for a ride yesterday 02/27/28 and it was fantastic, no more constant rattling only the sweet sound of the engine exhaust as I went through the gears ... THANKS HERB !!!
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Had Herb mod a pair for me too for a glass 6 pack hood. Worked perfectly - good guy. (Still using them with my steel hood with cutout for blower).
 
A325ic said:
I had a problem for years with my '68 Dart GTS, I had a fiberglass hood with the springs unhooked and they rattled constantly when driving. They were very loud and annoying and I hated using a hood prop at car shows on a windy day I did not dare walk away fearing the wind would catch my hood. I took the hinges off and removed the springs thinking it would solve the problem, well it did not they were just as annoying as ever. On this forum (FABO), I found a member "DART67" (to find him in a search on here it has to be written just like that with the quotation marks), His name is Herb Beer and he makes modified springs for A-body light weight hoods. Over the years Herb has made over 200 sets of these springs for others with tooling that he has created. I contacted Herb (he is a super nice person), I ordered a set of his springs and received them in just a few days. He gave me some tips for installation and let me tell you I wish I found this man years ago! I painted his spring assemblies to match my original car color and installed his modified springs to my original hinges without taking my fenders off and they work FANTASTIC !!!!. My fiberglass hood stays where ever I stop and leave it in its travel either opening or closing, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 7/8 of it's travel and it stays there all by its self, NO MORE HOOD PROP !!! About the last 1/8 of its travel open, it will slowly travel open to its full extent. I LOVE this fix !!! His prices are very reasonable, and you will enjoy chatting with him. If you zoom in on the last photo, you will see that my drivers side hinge was hacked up by me. That is not a result of the hinges but because of the repairs I had done to my hood by another person. When I took the hood off to install the springs I noticed some cracks and sent to hood to a local shop for repair. The metal strip for the bolt holes inside the hood were not aligned correctly when repaired and I had to grind out the mounting holes to bolt on the hood. Herb seen the photos, (he lives in Arkansas), he called me this morning and made an awesome suggestion for a repair (which I accepted). Herb has also said that he would send me the parts to do the repair for free, even though I offered to pay him. See ... there are still some awesome people in this world. If anyone on here needs or would like this fix contact Herb simply search "DART67". Also you can look me up on facebook and I will post them there, Terry Richards, Concord,NC. I took it out for a ride yesterday 02/27/28 and it was fantastic, no more constant rattling only the sweet sound of the engine exhaust as I went through the gears ... THANKS HERB !!! View attachment 1715147410 View attachment 1715147411 View attachment 1715147412 View attachment 1715147413 View attachment 1715147414
Click to expand...


Terry,
Thank You for the nice write up and the complements and recommendation.
Herb
 
Herb has helped me out quite a bit also, can you say replace hot water heater in house while out of country working?
 
"Dart67" said:
Sorry, I do not.

I think I May have a couple springs left like I used for my friends '69' Road Runner fiberglass hood.
I will have to do a search later today to see if I can find them.

Herb
Click to expand...
That would be great if you could find a pair. I try to keep all the OEM parts for this car as it only has 14,000 miles on it. The car is tucked away and at this moment I can not get the hood off to get to the springs
Thanks for your reply, I hope to hear some good news
Donnie
 
sireland67 said:
Do you happen to make the springs for “E” bodies?
Click to expand...
"Dart67" said:
Sorry, I do not.

I think I May have a couple springs left like I used for my friends '69' Road Runner fiberglass hood.
I will have to do a search later today to see if I can find them.

Herb
Click to expand...

Here is a photo of the springs that I used on the Road Runner.

B Body Spring.jpg


They are 1" in diameter and the wire is 1/8".
You may be able to find some at a Good Oldtime Hardware store.

If you want these I will take $10 for the springs and $10 to cover the U.S. Postal Priority shipping and 25 mile round trip to the post office.

Herb
 
Tried to send a pm but your inbox is full.
 
Now if you just had a diff,style set of hood hinges for an A body/fiberglas lift off !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Something inside the engine bay.
 
"Dart67" said:
Here is a photo of the springs that I used on the Road Runner.

View attachment 1715314846

They are 1" in diameter and the wire is 1/8".
You may be able to find some at a Good Oldtime Hardware store.

If you want these I will take $10 for the springs and $10 to cover the U.S. Postal Priority shipping and 25 mile round trip to the post office.

Herb
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to take a look at my neighbor kid's trampoline......
 
"Dart67" said:
Try again I just delete a few.
Click to expand...
Hello sir I would like to purchase a pair of your lightweight hood Springs for my 1973 duster. Using an aar 6 pack fiberglass hood. If you still have any, or are making more? I live in Ohio 43512 any pricing?
 
The gto 389 said:
Hello sir I would like to purchase a pair of your lightweight hood Springs for my 1973 duster. Using an aar 6 pack fiberglass hood. If you still have any, or are making more? I live in Ohio 43512 any pricing?
Click to expand...

It was nice talking with You. I will get your springs modded and returned as soon as I get them.

Thank You,

Herb
 
A325ic said:
I had a problem for years with my '68 Dart GTS, I had a fiberglass hood with the springs unhooked and they rattled constantly when driving. They were very loud and annoying and I hated using a hood prop at car shows on a windy day I did not dare walk away fearing the wind would catch my hood. I took the hinges off and removed the springs thinking it would solve the problem, well it did not they were just as annoying as ever. On this forum (FABO), I found a member "DART67" (to find him in a search on here it has to be written just like that with the quotation marks), His name is Herb Beer and he makes modified springs for A-body light weight hoods. Over the years Herb has made over 200 sets of these springs for others with tooling that he has created. I contacted Herb (he is a super nice person), I ordered a set of his springs and received them in just a few days. He gave me some tips for installation and let me tell you I wish I found this man years ago! I painted his spring assemblies to match my original car color and installed his modified springs to my original hinges without taking my fenders off and they work FANTASTIC !!!!. My fiberglass hood stays where ever I stop and leave it in its travel either opening or closing, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 7/8 of it's travel and it stays there all by its self, NO MORE HOOD PROP !!! About the last 1/8 of its travel open, it will slowly travel open to its full extent. I LOVE this fix !!! His prices are very reasonable, and you will enjoy chatting with him. If you zoom in on the last photo, you will see that my drivers side hinge was hacked up by me. That is not a result of the hinges but because of the repairs I had done to my hood by another person. When I took the hood off to install the springs I noticed some cracks and sent to hood to a local shop for repair. The metal strip for the bolt holes inside the hood were not aligned correctly when repaired and I had to grind out the mounting holes to bolt on the hood. Herb seen the photos, (he lives in Arkansas), he called me this morning and made an awesome suggestion for a repair (which I accepted). Herb has also said that he would send me the parts to do the repair for free, even though I offered to pay him. See ... there are still some awesome people in this world. If anyone on here needs or would like this fix contact Herb simply search "DART67". Also you can look me up on facebook and I will post them there, Terry Richards, Concord,NC. I took it out for a ride yesterday 02/27/28 and it was fantastic, no more constant rattling only the sweet sound of the engine exhaust as I went through the gears ... THANKS HERB !!! View attachment 1715147410 View attachment 1715147411 View attachment 1715147412 View attachment 1715147413 View attachment 1715147414
Click to expand...
7148A380-0044-4D09-84B7-34411126D722.jpeg
 
I wanted to post a newer photo. This is the hinge after I repaired it. I bought another set of hinges, cut the end off one and welded to the end of the old hinge. Welded in the old bolt slots so it would not show, I bead blasted the hinge and repainted it. I then used some washers to better hide the welded up bolt slots. I added washers to the other hinge on the passengers side so they looked the same. I could have taken my hood back off and had the fiberglass shop fix their error but this seemed easier and it works perfectly.
 
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Hello dart67,
I have a bolt on six pack hood I am finally ready to put on . Do you still have the light weight hood springs available.
Thanks
 
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