Hood Adjustment Help

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MrJLR

MrJLR

Built, not bought
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How do you adjust the hood side to side?
When I took it off, it was pretty good...not perfect, but pretty good.
Putting it back on its way off to the driver's side. .....
There were no shims or anything like that when I took it off....

1968 Barracuda Notch-Back

Jeff
 
typically this is fender adjustments not hood - did you move the fenders? there is some "play" forward and backward on the hood and that will affect the gap side to side..
 
ScampMike said:
typically this is fender adjustments not hood - did you move the fenders? there is some "play" forward and backward on the hood and that will affect the gap side to side..
Click to expand...
No....never moved the fenders...
Tell me more how the front to back moves it side to side????

Jeff
 
if you tighten the left side and loosen the right -- the hood will have some play on the loose side - pull forward and tighten the bolts will close the gap to the left front and to the right rear... obviously opening the gap to the right front and the left rear.. basically you are adjusting the alignment of the hood at the hood hinges - these are minor tweaks - be careful not to over do it!
 
Since there was no adjustment from side to side on one of my previous Mopars, I used to loosen the bolts slightly and just grab the front of the hood and push it in the direction that I wanted it to go until it lined up. The hinges didn't seem to loosen up at all.
 
ScampMike said:
if you tighten the left side and loosen the right -- the hood will have some play on the loose side - pull forward and tighten the bolts will close the gap to the left front and to the right rear... obviously opening the gap to the right front and the left rear.. basically you are adjusting the alignment of the hood at the hood hinges - these are minor tweaks - be careful not to over do it!
Click to expand...
I'll give it a go!

Jeff
 
I got it...really the bumpers line it up mostly. ..
Thanks guys!

20160812_110416.jpg
 
well in the body shop , we push it to the other side to correct the hinges placement from side to side . also check your rubb'r hood to fender . and i should state that this should be done with no catch latch . that can be done after the body lines up .
 
the hinges will give easy in a side to side . long as it fits the cowl , no loosing . i always start with the cowl line , then the fenders . just be carefull of the fenders at the hinge holes . should not have to bump the paint .
 
ScampMike said:
cool - so just a push and a shove or did it need to be loosened up a little? looks good BTW
Click to expand...
Well we all know the hinges are pretty loosy goosy....I got it as close as possible and when I close it, I just pull it over a little and the rubber bumpers keep it there once it's latched...

Jeff
 
There was a discussion of this same thing on here a couple years ago - Don't know if it'll help you any but here it is. Hood alignment

As an option, you could buy body alignment shims. A whole box of them costs like $12 at Harbor Freight or online, but a purist might give ya' flak for that. Chevy and Ford put them on in the factory but I don't know whether Mopar did. Body shops sure do. They don't go in the hinges; they go between the body panels wherever needed. Even if your car was straight when it left the factory, life twists.

shims.jpg
 
For future ease of putting the hood back on. Before you go to pull it off, take a knife/awl/whatever can make a nice clean mark on the paint. Put a line along the back of where it bolts, yes this will mark the paint, yes it's in a spot no one will ever see. Next time you go to put the hood on. Line up the marks. Bingo bango you should be damn near dead on where it was when you took it off.
 
MrJLR said:
That just pushes the hinge out....no?

Jeff
Click to expand...

No, that's what we did on the Dart that we just built the engine for. It worked, we needed to shift it to the left, and we put some washers between the hinge and hood on the right side to get it centered again. Without them, the hood would hit on the pass fender....
 
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