hood adjustment

-
aaadave

aaadave

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2010
Messages
400
Reaction score
94
Location
moss point ms.
hi, got a question. i've got two 72 dart swingers. one's a rusty parts car that i know still has the original sheet metal. the other had a fender change, maybe more, along the way. i used the hood on the parts car for the other 72, and had to change the hinge's also. the hood on the part's car has it's adjustment in the hinge's, and the other one has the adj. in the hood itself. did they change the way they adj. between 70 and 72 ? thanks, dave.
 
Side to side and front height adjustments are done at the latch. The forward and rearward as well as the rear height adjustments are at the hinges two bolts. All a bodies adjust the same way iirc. The rubber bumpers on the inside of the fenders are crucial in aiding the side to side adjustments!

Just my 2 cents. Just did my Cuda which is the same process.
 
Marking this. I have ran into this before. i dont know the year difference. And i would like to know myself. Mine was on a duster/valaint hood. and I dont know what years the hood were.

Hopefully someone will answer this.

Curtis
 
I think I read that the factory installed the hoods with a guy inside the empty engine bay tightening the bolts. If true, I expect they loaded the engine et al by lowering the body onto the assembled K-frame. Otherwise, lots of trial and error (been there). I learned that before removing a hood, I drill 2 small holes on both sides so I can stick an alignment nail thru. I tried marking the bolt locations with a Sharpie, but not precise enough to get it back.
 
Of course mine has a header panel and Darts didn't until later in their production. I adjusted mine without the header installed. I started at the rear and confirmed alignment with the cowl first. Then square the hood to the fenders at the hinges. There is quite a bit of movement in the hinges front to rear and up and down. I had a helper get the hood on the hinges and finished alignment myself. It is a PITA so take your time so a finger isn't lost or you dent/scratch the hell out of the fenders or cowl. SLOWLY raise and lower the hood during the adjustment process. Mopar wasn't perfect with their gaps by any means. A large construction pencil is ideal to help get the proper gaps. Actually the rear gap at the cowl was a bit wider than the sides and front.

Just another 2 cents.

As far as differences in the Dart hoods, someone else will need to chime in for that since I really don't like that specific body style. I personally have never owned one but helped friends with theirs.
 
thanks for the reply's. i've got the thing adjusted alright, but i had to change out the hinge's. on my driver dart, the bar with the threaded hole's in the hood slide back and forth while the hinge hole's are round. on the parts dart, it's just the other way around. i used the parts car hood on my driver, and did'nt have any adjustment till i used the parts hinge. it does'nt have any holes in front of the hood for the dodge emblem they used in 70, so it's got to be a 72. you think maybe the demon had a hood like this? got me stumped. dave.
 
I'm not sure when Mopar started to use hood hinges with the slotted style openings, but I came across an original set off a 67 Dart that had only round holes....no adjustment in them.

Wondering if this was a 68 model year change or what :scratch:
 
6pk2goDemon said:
I'm not sure when Mopar started to use hood hinges with the slotted style openings, but I came across an original set off a 67 Dart that had only round holes....no adjustment in them.

Wondering if this was a 68 model year change or what :scratch:
Click to expand...

My 68 Cuda has the plates that move within the hood. I don't recall any other way to adjust a hood on an a body??
 
that's what's got me stumped. one 72 adjusts like cuudak's, and the other adjust's with the hinge. i wonder how the 73 up adjust? if anyone has one, can you look at the hinge's to see if they are slotted? dave.
 
I'm thinking the difference follows where there is a header panel or not.
My Barracudas have a header panel and floating nut blocks inside the hood. 75 Valiant without a header panel had slotted holes in the hinges. I cant say if the 73 Valiant was the same since I never messed with that hood adjustment.
 
The 73's are just like the 72's. No plate/slider adjustment in the hood itself, just a round opening for the hinge bolt.

Someone else will have to chime in with 69, 70 71 style to figure out when this changed maybe?

Interesting info.........:thumleft:
 
i'll check the build dates tomorrow. one might have been built in late 71 and the other in mid 72. it could be a change for the 72 model and they just were using up their inventory.
 
Just FYI....my 72 Demon has an August 71 build date. I'm guessing this was a 69 or 70 model year change.

Hopefully, a member with one of those model years will chime in....
 
ya, could be 70. my parts 72 has a build date of 5-72, and adjust in the hinge, while my driver has a date of 10-71 and adjust in the hood itself. i know the parts car is all original sheet metal, but there's no telling what's been changed on my driver. it would have to change after 70 cause they only made this style hood for three years. several other difference's i noticed is one has the stainless one piece antenna, and other has the telescopic, one has seat belt light and the other does'nt, and the front fender extentions and trim is different. the extensions will interchange, but you have to change the trim with them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top