Hood Adjustment - Front Needs to go Down

[Russtypickle]

Hey, I put my new hood on today and I can't get the front to go down any further than in the photos. It's definitely not binding or hitting anything, there's plenty of room in the engine bay (I've looked). Clearly there's something I'm missing, can anyone fill me in on it?

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[ali_c20]

Are your hinges maxed out in movement? You can enlarge/slot the holes of the hinges at the fenders. You can also add shims under the hood for minor adjustment. Do you have hood braces? are the hinges new or the old ones?

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Hood bumpers on the core support. That area may be different with an aftermarket hood.

Or the hinges are off. Or the hood is junk

 

[Girth]

AMD hood? Scratching my head on the cowl we put on my wife's burb too. Sits perfect..... until I install the rubber bumpers that fit in the slots in the fenders. They hold the hood up. Removing all but the front two, it sits BETTER, but the front is still a tad high. With all of them removed and just the stops/bumpers in the core support (that I did need to adjust).... it's back to sitting perfect. I put in new rubbers, so I'm wondering if they'll "break in". Tempted to run just the stops in the core support. Dunno. Still thinking about it.

 

[AuroraGirl]

AMD hood? Scratching my head on the cowl we put on my wife's burb too. Sits perfect..... until I install the rubber bumpers that fit in the slots in the fenders. They hold the hood up. Removing all but the front two, it sits BETTER, but the front is still a tad high. With all of them removed and just the stops/bumpers in the core support (that I did need to adjust).... it's back to sitting perfect. I put in new rubbers, so I'm wondering if they'll "break in". Tempted to run just the stops in the core support. Dunno. Still thinking about it.

the bumpers provide stability, id consider modifying the bumpers before running without, thats asking for rattle i think
also lower the core support ones a lot, then see what it does with just those
Also make sure your cowl seal is good and fender is not distorted

 

[Russtypickle]

Thanks, I've wound down the rad support front bumpers as far as they'll go, there's plenty of clearance on them, honestly I thought someone would tell me to adjust one of the hinges (front or rear) somehow as that does seem to be where the hood is "binding", I just thought I was missing something. They are the original hinges so there might be something there but it's weird because the previous hood closed perfect. I'll try to lower the front hood hinge and see what I can get from that and let you know where I get with it. Thanks again for the suggestions!

 

[Russtypickle]

I removed the fender bumpers but it didn't make a difference. One was touching but wasn't holding it up. I have to think it's something further back as the hood sits level, just high. One would think a clearance issue would affect one side more than the other but if I push gently on either front corner I get the same "resistance".

 

[TotalyHucked]

I removed the fender bumpers but it didn't make a difference. One was touching but wasn't holding it up. I have to think it's something further back as the hood sits level, just high. One would think a clearance issue would affect one side more than the other but if I push gently on either front corner I get the same "resistance".

Throw some pictures up showing your hinges and spring/hinges. Something must be wrong there. Have you tried unbolting the spring arms and just having it shut on the hinges alone? Are you sure it's not hitting the latch up front and the latch needs to be adjusted?

 

[bucket]

I see the latch is removed in the pictures.

If it seems to be binding at the hinge area, adjust the hinges on the hood. Its kind of hard to explain, but loosen the bolts and raise up the rear of the hood before you tighten the bolts again.

 

[Russtypickle]

Ok, I've got photos and I removed the front springs (thanks for that suggestion TotalyHucked). That didn't really change much but it did get me to mess with the rear hinge (thanks bucket) and that was the problem. I assumed that the rear hinge only held the hood in place front to back and that it's "swing" was greater than what is needed for the hood to close. Apparently not, once the bolts were loosened I had to raise the hood on the back bolt while lowering the hood on the front bolt. The passenger side is still up a little at the front but that's just the metal on the hood, it's bent down instead of flat so it's touching the front support, a rubber mallet will fix that tomorrow, lets face it, you can't expect a new part to fit perfect

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[Girth]

Nice. Always good when things start working right. lol MUCH easier if you have a buddy or two to help fit it up. I also had to whack a couple spots with a rubber mallet on ours, but now that it's painted, I'm not doing that anymore. lol Be sure you get your hammer massaging done before you get too far into it. I'm still playing musical rubber bumpers on ours. Got it closer. It WAS fit up about as perfect as can be, until I installed those bumpers on the sides. Always something....

OH.... and down the line, be sure you put the cowl vent panel on BEFORE the hood. I did NOT do that, and was too stubborn to remove the hood later, after paint. The shape of the hood makes getting that panel back on NEARLY impossible. Don't do what I did. lol

 

[Russtypickle]

Thanks Girth, ya, I have tomorrow to mess with it to get the gaps perfect (aka - as good as I can) and then the entire front clip and doors are all coming off to paint. I'm sure you'll see a post from me in a few weeks asking for tricks on how to install the cowl after the hoods been bolted in place

 

[Girth]

Thanks Girth, ya, I have tomorrow to mess with it to get the gaps perfect (aka - as good as I can) and then the entire front clip and doors are all coming off to paint. I'm sure you'll see a post from me in a few weeks asking for tricks on how to install the cowl after the hoods been bolted in place

Seriously.... don't do it. lol I DID get it on there, but had to feather out some paint chips in the cowl and the hood edge, and bust out the airbrush after. You can do it on the stock hood, so I didn't think about it. The overhang on the cowl hood makes it a whole new game.

 

[Russtypickle]

Wow, that sucks, I'm marking everything before it comes apart and typically do put the cowl on first so I can adjust and tighten it up before the hood goes on. That said, wouldn't have known that it was so hard putting it on after, thanks for that heads up! This forum truly is great!

 

[TotalyHucked]

Nice! Glad you got that figured out