Hood Alignment for Dummies

[69volunteer 84]

When I got my car back from my painter, the back of the hood nearest the windshield was higher than the surrounding fender and cowl panel. I thought this would be a simple exercise to lower as the front of the hood lined up pretty well.

 

I loosened the hinge bolts at the inner fenders but every time I got the hood even and then tried to tighten, it would revert back to the higher position. I even tried tightening what I could reach from under the car.

 

Now, I think I have made it worse. 

 

Thoughts on what is the best way to start from 0 on aligning the hood?

[det0326 192]

most of the time u can lower the back of the hood down by loosening the three apron/hinge  bolts on each side  and get someone to push up at the front of the hood and hold it while you tighten the bolts up. 

 

Dave

[1969_Mach1 334]

Are the hinges moving when you tighten the bolts?  How old are the hinges?  Are the hinges in good condition?

[Brian Conway 272]

First thing you gotta do is prop the hood in the up position.   With out this first step you cannot adjust the hood.  Brian

[69volunteer 84]

I imagine the hinges are original. They are moving fine, no binding.

[barnett468 418]

you are in hood hinge hell . it is NOT usually as simple and as easy as it may seem.

 

if your hinge is worn it can not be properly adjusted.

 

you can clean the area around the hinge then put a couple pieces of masking tape on the top or bottom of the bolts . this will be a marker that will tell you if the hinge has moved when you are adjusting it or tightening the bolts.

 

you do not need a prop rod . you can put your shoulder under the hood the loosen the bolts and push up on the hood with your shoulder . i have done this literally hundreds of times.u.

 

you want to lower the entire hinge then push up on the hood with your shoulder to make the front of the hinge go up and the rear of it go down then tighten it then CAREFULLY close the hood . the rear of the hood will go rearward after adjusting it and it will also shift to the side in the front.the

[1969_Mach1 334]

+1 on this.

you are in hood hinge hell . it is NOT usually as simple and as easy as it may seem.

if your hinge is worn it can not be properly adjusted.

Learned when I was younger, if the hinges are worn at the pivot points, don't expect a very good adjustment.  Somehow, the spring tension takes up the slack at the pivots and always lift the back of the hood.  It seems like you could compensate by lowering the hinges.  But for some reason it never works very well.

[buening 68]

If the rear of the hood is higher than the cowl and you've gone through the adjustment method of having someone push up on the hood while you tighten the hinge bolts at the apron, most likely the hinges are worn.  With the hood closed, can you press the corners of the hood down with your hand?  If so, the hinges are worn.  There was a post on here where someone took their hinges off and used a hammer and punch on a bench vice/anvil to recompress the rivets at the hinge points.

[69volunteer 84]

If the rear of the hood is higher than the cowl and you've gone through the adjustment method of having someone push up on the hood while you tighten the hinge bolts at the apron, most likely the hinges are worn.  With the hood closed, can you press the corners of the hood down with your hand?  If so, the hinges are worn.  There was a post on here where someone took their hinges off and used a hammer and punch on a bench vice/anvil to recompress the rivets at the hinge points.

Yes. I can usually push it at the corners and get it closer to even with the cowl.

 

I take it reproductions hinges are not worth getting?

[jerrywmalcolm 21]

ok,  didn't have any thing to do so i read up on this post about aligning the hood,   i have the same problem,  can press down the rear corners and it goes where it should,   meaning the hinges are shot,  so where can u find a set?,   i would order if i knew where,  thanks   jerry  

[barnett468 418]

ask this guy about hood hinges.

 

http://anghelrestorations.com/

[Ridge Runner 1,153]

Yep ,hinges do not adjust by just going straight up or down ,as Barnett said set the hinge to the bottom and loosen the bolts and lift at the front and tighten then carefully close the hood .If it did drop it may have slid back also and may hit the cowl .If the adjustment looks good but the hood slid back loosen it at the hood and pull the hood forward .Worn hinges will probably never adjust correctly,I thought my hinges were good but the pass side will adjust perfectly but the driver just will not do it .

you can tell if they have a lot of slop by lifting the hood all the way up and pulling down back and forth and watch the hinges ,you will see the slop if they are worn  

[69volunteer 84]

what do you mean by 'see the slop'? Will it bow outward? I figure I would try to work on next week while I'm off.

[Ridge Runner 1,153]

No ,the holes where the rivets go through wear and cause slop in the bars ,you can see it when you lift the hood all the way and drop it slightly .The bars slide slightly and they shouldn't 

[jag 10]

Ridge Runner, i had the same problem as you. ( passener side adjust great but driver side corner high)  To get the driver side aligned, the passenegr side needed to be tightened first. Then loosen the driver side hinge and get someone to push up on the driver side hood corner (front). As he pushes up tighten the hinge and the hood is lined up perfectly. This has worked multiple times for me. Good luck

 

jag