Dyke, John and Friends,
The factory high-speed 300-C to which John Grady is referring is, I suspect, S/N -001 that our Club member Mike McCandless bought at Leake's January 2020 Scottsdale Auction. I have no idea if this was the only factory 'mule,' or if there were a handful of such early production examples. I'm attaching a few photos from that auction.
John Begian, Jim Bielenda and I were down in AZ checking out the cars, including this C, and enjoying the auctions. We watched as this unique C crossed the auction block. Not only were we there, but we reconnected with many of our Swedish friends present, who I had met a year earlier at the Power Big Meet in Lidkoping. Looking at this -001, I imagine there were many one-off features on this car. In addition to the unique hood latching setup, the front bucket seats and the 140 mph speedo were a couple other obvious features not carried over to the regular production cars.
And I want to again thank Dyke and his wife Sue for graciously hosting Andy and me for their in-depth walkthrough of their significant eclectic collection of marvelous Concours condition automobiles!
Noel
On 11/17/2024 3:26 PM CST John Grady <jkg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
yes — we built it because what happens is vibration side to side can get the lower main one to just let go .
If it does and you are over maybe 60 mph , the air gets under hood lip shape , it blows up right through the second one once hood is moving , it is heavy , like second one is not even there .. like a hammer blow
!
I got that description from someone it happened to .
So second step factory “ safety “ catch does not work at all if on the highway .
I made it for my own cars , then made a few more . Then added to FLP .
Note two angles for pin are out there ,,we think two designs or vendors for hoods , different bracing under too .
we saw a factory high speed car at New Mexico meet with a clever if complicated apparently factory catch that hooks in at both sides ,, and that famous picture of a factory C with ropes in bolt eyes holding the hood shut in high speed runs . They had the problem in 57 …
and 10 k offer for a hood out of Montreal that had no takers for years convinced me …
Add in not just hood $ but new windshield , putting it in , roof body work , paint and then external header chrome trim ( unobtainable , took me 8 years on 57 dodge convert ) despite a standing 800 $ offer ,from any mopar convert 57-59
Plus guy i talked to got into big accident , as you cannot see.. And will be going 70 ?
no thanks! horror show
hope this helps ,
jg
On Nov 17, 2024, at 3:45 PM, Nick Taylor <nicksgaragesd@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I've seen those horror stories of the hood flying up and over. Those two stage catches never seem that secure and I wonder if even when they're working right that vibration could let them release. Just doesn't seem like an awful lot of engagement on that pin. I don't know if anyone has compared the weight of the 300C/D/E hood versus a New Yorker one. The additional hook that John makes is much like what the factory did on later cars. Good insurance for a hood that is worth as much as much as some cars.
This is a big thank you to Noel Hastalis, Andy Mikonis and John Grady. I was honored to host Noel and Andy last week for a visit to look at cars. When we were going over my 300C, Noel mentioned that these cars can have a problem with the hoods coming unlatched at speed and blowing up over the car, causing substantial damage. He told me he thought John Grady had produced a “safety catch” that could be added to the cars to prevent this situation.
I emailed John and he promptly replied that the safety catches we available on his website, and there was a Tech Article also available on the Club Tech Site. I found the item in John’s ForwardLook parts list and then searched out the tech article (written by John). In the article, John points out the factory latch design uses TWO catches (one below the other) to safely secure the hood. The first “catch” acts as a “safety” and the lower second catch, actually keeps the hood in the fully closed position. This didn’t sound like my car, as all I could recall was one “click” as I closed the hood.
So, off to the shop and look at the 300C. I carefully examined the hood closure mechanism and low and behold, there were TWO catches, one below the other. My car was only latching in the first catch! I did some more research and found an old forum post in which the owner was complaining there was not enough thread on the jam nut securing the Hood Pin to allow the pin to be lengthened enough to engage the second catch, and somebody pointed out his jam nut was installed on the wrong side of the upper pin mount! My car had the same problem!
I switched the jam nut to the lower side of the upper pin mount, screwed the “pin” out until it engaged the second catch of the latch when closed completely and everything now works perfect! I have a much better feeling of security that the hood is now safely closed when driving. I also know I can get one of John’s auxiliary catches if I ever decide to go that route for even more protection.
Thanks again Noel, Andy and John,
Dyke Ridgley
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