Repo hood - fitting techniques?

[miketyler 15]

I think I figured out the cause of my extreme gaposis at the rear of the hood. It looks like the driver side hinge holes are about 5/16" farther forward than the passenger side. Everything is finished and I really dont want to relocate the hinge mount set. I'm considering slotting the holes in the top bracket. Are there any functional issues I might come across doing that?

[miketyler 15]

With no noted objections, I moved forward and modified the drivers hinge. Hell its only money, right?

 

I slotted the top holes an additional 3/8 and opened up the width of the vertical slots on the body side almost 1/8". I think this hood will be fine. I installed my new rubber bumpers and will post up pics of the fit so far.

 

Still have to deal with buckets....

[miketyler 15]

For droopy buckets, I took 1/4" flat washers and beveled the edge with a heavy 45* chamfer. Placed on the inside of the fender, it helps keep the fender bucket stud in the center of the hole.

 

These wont help if your bucket needed to be located higher than the center of the hole but mine are pretty close there and was nice to have them stay in place once I tightened them down.

[Mike65 476]

Mike, I was just thinking the same thing & was going to post it when I read your latest post. Great minds think alike.:thumbup1:

[miketyler 15]

Yup, conicle washers seem to be working good so far. I finished the fitment and did have to go back and re-evaluate gaps at the doors. The manual says that the front gap between the door and the fender could be as much as .26". That seems huge to me. Anyhow, here are pics of where the hood and fenders are now. Hope to refit valance and grill work soon.