Volvo Gen II Hood Hinge Mount Repair 2

Volvo Gen II Hood Hinge Mount Repair

RandyA had a problem with his hood.  The mounting point for a hood hinge had separated from the fiberglass.  Not wanting to purchase a replacement hood, Randy created a new mounting plated to attach the hood hinge.

With the hood open I decided NOT to try removal of the hinge or hood.  The torque rods sort of scared me because I know how much energy they have when let lose improperly.  I could not gather any help today.  It was a "by myself" job.  So, I decided to leave everything "as is" and built on to what I had to work with.  It was apparent that the hinge plate had some earlier problems - there was a piece riveted onto the bottom.  No epoxy resin in my workshop, only polyester.  Besides, it was too cold to set up strong enough to do me any good today.  I had the broken piece of fiberglass (or SMC) poked back up into the hole it broke out of so I saw no immediate need to glue it back together.

I took a lesson from the Gen 1 Volvo's that ran the support up the side.  Just like Brad Dadles said, there was a metal plate inside that I could grab onto.

These are photos of the repair.  Click on the photos to enlarge them.

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    Figure #1 - I ended up using my trusty little Chinese plasma cutter and some scrap angle and plate to form and weld up an offset Z bracket that would attach to the hinge and then run up the inner side of the hood.
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    Figure #2 - I drilled holes in the plate, positioned it in place and drilled pilot holes into the metal under the fiberglass going up the side.  That was some hard metal underneath, I had to use a cobalt drill bit to get through without burning up the tip of the bit.  I attached the plate with sheet metal screws which will soon be replaced with 1/4" steel rivets.  The rivets I had in the shop were not long enough.

    I managed to get one 1/4" bolt through the hinge arm to make everything snug and hold the bracket in position for welding.
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    Figure #3 - Then I welded the lower part of the new support to the hinge arm knowing the sole 1/4" bolt would not hold up.

It is pretty darn solid now and once I replace the sheet metal screws with rivets I don't think it will give me any more trouble.

IMHO - the OEM design on the Gen 2 (mine) was not nearly as strong as the Gen 1 design.  Wonder why they changed????

It took every bit of 5 hours.

Now I need to do a PM on the other side with the same type of bracket.