Tilt nose ???

[Paul Buxe]

HAs anyone built a tilt nose for their Panoz? I love the car, but would like to be able to open the hood at the track with out finding some help and then not having the hood blow away or have someone step on it. So I was thinking about a tilt nose, the car already has an almost full nose to turn in to a forward tilt, so has anyone done this???

[Cobra4B]

Yeah the hood setup is one of my dislikes.... takes two people and 10 latch points! We have the 4 original "buckle-type" (not sure what they're actually called), the 2 screws at the top rear, and we converted the 4 supports to hood-pins. It doesn't take long now that we're used to it, but it's not like a normal car at all. We bring a set of saw horses to set it on when at the track.

Our car is ABS plastic so the framework need4ed to make a tilt hood would be quite extensive and probably a bit on the heavy side.

[NZGTRA17]

Originally Posted by Paul Buxe

HAs anyone built a tilt nose for their Panoz? I love the car, but would like to be able to open the hood at the track with out finding some help and then not having the hood blow away or have someone step on it. So I was thinking about a tilt nose, the car already has an almost full nose to turn in to a forward tilt, so has anyone done this???

Access from this could be OK.

Best reason I can think of for not doing this (other than cost / weight / complexity) is it would most likely be one piece and so in the event of an accident you would end up replacing a larger more expensive arrangement than the 4 panels that make up the nose and hood that we have.

If you were going to do this though, some real improvements could be made such as inner gaurds and venting the radiator air up through the hood to improve aeros and downforce.

[Squerly]

I too would like to find a solution that would allow me access to the engine when I don't have help. Although some of you might see the extra weight as an issue, it wouldn't be for me. As for damage in a crash, that's something you would have to deal with on any car.

[Paul Buxe]

My hope is that I can just use the existing hood and fenders and hinge them at the front. I know this will require some brackets and stiffening supports, but I think it will be worth the trouble if it makes it easier to deal with at the track. I'll let you know if I am successful. And like anything else, if unsuccessful, I'll keep it to myself.
But first, I need to finish my LS2 engine conversion, its 75% complete and I need to get cracking. Track time is waiting.

[Cobra4B]

Maybe you could visit a junk yard and get the oem hinges and latches from a C4 Corvette's clamshell hood.... just a thought.

[Paul Buxe]

Good thought, my friend just did that for his Back Draft Cobra that he is building a tilt nose for. He found a BMW hoof hinge that looks like it will work.

[Panoz26]

Make one of these - I did it with an electric winch, some good aluminum...

4-foot-lift-main.jpg

Make a tripod leg system that's collapsable, put in trailer and have it at the track.

You can also do a manual winch if you don't want to be resticted to electricity. like the picture.

Devin