Hood bows 1922 Buick

[David Marshall]

Hi, I’m trying remove the hood bows from the hood irons.  I been able to ease three of them but.... the third one, that has a hinge on it ( see photo ) that doesn’t want to budge. I have taken the screws out and the nails.  
Are the brackets screwed to the bows Or are they rivets and have I missed something 

 

Also I’m thinking of having them powder coated, has anyone done this or is painting better. 
 

Thanks for your help. Cheers David

[Hubert_25-25]

There is at minimum a single upholstery tack holding each bow to the socket.  In other locations some screws had been installed and that crimped the metal around the hole which also holds the wood.  Rust is another factor holding these in place.   If a Bow is stuck in a socket, it may take some persuasion to remove it using a heavy mallet.  You need to protect the wood and the socket.   I did clamp on some scrap wood so that I could hammer near the socket.  You can use a bench clamp or a large C clamp.  I removed some of the bows using a C clamp but the hardest one required that I use a large bench vise to hold the wood bow.    I had one in particular that was really stuck.  You can see where I made a small tear in the socket.  Avoid that.  I finally had to use heat on the socket to expand it enough.  I believe I did get a little smoke off it.  The bow was good and I did not have to replace any.   This is a 2 person job getting these apart.    Hugh 

 

[Mark Shaw]

11 hours ago, David Marshall said:

Hi, I’m trying remove the hood bows from the hood irons.

David,  

    Just to be clarify...:  Those are wood top bows you are removing from the top irons; sometimes called top sockets.

[David Marshall]

Hi Mark, Yes the wood bows are the "blessed things" I'm have so much trouble trying to remove the last one !!  I see Hugh (above post) has a problem with the same bow.  Am i correct in thinking it is just merely stuck and the hinge is riveted into the top socket and not into the timber bow itself ?

 

My wooden bows are in really good condition so I don't want to damage the at all.

[Hubert_25-25]

David,

     On my car, that is the last bow in the vise.  My car is a 1925 Buick Standard Touring.  The bow extends into the socket 7 3/4".  On the photo with the C clamps, I had a friend hold the top socket down.  I put the clamp on the bow with the wood to protect the bow.  I was hitting up and got one of the 2 out of the socket.  Then I resorted to using the bench vise to clamp the bow.  Wood again to protect the wood bow.  The hard part is putting something on the socket as it is tapered smaller in the direction you are hitting.  This is when I put a little notch in the top of the socket by using a screwdriver to hammer down on the thin edge of the socket.  Another option would be to use a "split collar" to spread the load across the top of the socket.  Split collars are cheap and have a lot of uses getting stuff off old cars and preventing damage.  You could also make a Z shaped piece of metal and hold it to the socket using worm clamps.  You need something to give you a bigger edge to beat against.  I had read that heating the socket was also effective which is another thing that I did.  I used an O2 Acetylene torch.  Not sure if propane would put out enough.  Be cautious with the thin sheetmetal. Do not bang on any of the rivetted in connections and be careful with the pivot point casting on the small end of the socket.  This photo will give you some thoughts.

 

Hugh

[Mark Shaw]

12 hours ago, David Marshall said:

My wooden bows are in really good condition so I don't want to damage the at all.

David,

    Saving the original top bows is not always successful, especially when they have suffered water damage and rot.  In many cases, the broken wood inside the top sockets must be drilled out.  But replacing the wood bows is not expensive or difficult.  I just bought three new wood bows for my 15 Buick Speedster project for only $25 each.  

[Hubert_25-25]

David,

     When I was shopping around for top bows antiqueautotophardware.com had some of the better prices.  Mark is referring to the narrower wood bows and the company he has located is definitely worth looking into if you need a new bow.  This stuck one is the last bow and it is larger than the others and has significantly more carving into it so you won't find it for $25.   

 

I did have my sockets sand blasted and powder coated.  First I spent a lot of time with penetrating oil and a little heat and I got all the joints working nicely.  Then I sand blasted it.  Then I used "All metal" which is a body filler that contains aluminum that you can powder coat, then I had them powder coated.  Keep in mind that there is additional wood in the lower cones of the top sockets.  A couple of these fell out after the powder coating process.  They are in the oven at 350-400 degrees - something like that.  Probably worth telling the powder coater so that they are not left in the oven longer than is necessary.  Then you will want to use a clear silicone oil on the joints before you do any upholstery work and wipe any excess off.  I believe sewing machine oil is clear.     

Hugh

 

[Larry Schramm]

I also had the top sockets for my truck powder coated.  The bows were good on my truck, but had a lot of tack holes. I filled all of the holes with tooth picks halves and gorilla glue.   Sanded and then painted them.  Worked fine, they had no rot.  Just tack holes.

Edited June 16, 2020 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)