Hood hinge issue. Help needed

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Moparone

Moparone

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We are assembling my sons 71 Dart Swinger. Have the hood fitting well and am finally happy with the gaps and overall fitment. However I noticed the driver side hinge is rubbing the fender when fully open. The passenger side gap is tight (1/8”) but clears. I really don’t want to move the fender out as it lines up nicely with the cowl and door. I looked at my brothers 74 dart and he has an 1” clearance. Is this supposed to be this tight? Any way to adjust or do I need to rebuild the hinges. They do not seem sloppy. I the pics show clearance but is only about 3/4 open. If I open fully it tightens up. Also note I have protective tape on the fender. Any help or advice would be appreciated

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Interested to see what others say. I am having similar issue but mine only rubs when I begin closing the hood. The hinge flexes or bows outward until it starts to travel which rubs the fender. I thought about putting on a small piece of PPF or paint protection film on that spot just to give it some protection but I would like to come up with a solution
 
The way the hinges are made causes a lot of "slop" when in the open position. There is no "adjustment" for this other than tweaking the hinges themselves or their pivot pins. Usually we are content with proper alignment when closed.
 
Agree with above. As long as they’re on the studs completely with the retaining washers - a low cost setup to be sure. You’d likely have to pull the fender to swap them out, the splash shield for sure. Most just live with it.
 
The a-body hinges get sloppier with age...

The driver's side hinge has a larger gap from the cowl side than your passenger side... Is there any way to bend the base of the hinge to bias it closer to the cowl side and away from the fender???

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krazykuda said:
The a-body hinges get sloppier with age...

The driver's side hinge has a larger gap from the cowl side than your passenger side... Is there any way to bend the base of the hinge to bias it closer to the cowl side and away from the fender???

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I was thinking of trying to do that. I’ll give it a try but not much leverage can be had with fender on. I can just not open all the way but don’t want to risk peeling paint off the fresh painted fender
 
Moparone said:
I was thinking of trying to do that. I’ll give it a try but not much leverage can be had with fender on. I can just not open all the way but don’t want to risk peeling paint off the fresh painted fender
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You may have to remove the fender to get at it and bend it...

If you don't get more clearance, it may hit the fender and rub some paint off of that... :BangHead:

Either way, you may have to touch up the paint... :mad:
 
As stated, the pin on the door hinge pillar holds the hinge with a push on type retaining washer. Maybe you can look and see if the hinge slid away from pillar due to washer not holding. You might have some access though splash shield area but not sure.In this pic someone used washers and drill and installed cotter pin to hold more snug.
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Took a few more pics. Hinges look tight to the mounting location. They do bow out some when trying to close. That is causing the rubbing issue. They are either bent slightly or need rebuilt. I don’t even think anyone makes replacement hinges. May need to buy another set or try to bend these back.

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The body shop lost my hood hinges, so I had to source some in a hurry from eBay when it was ready for paint and they realized that. I have a similar problem. They both wobble, one of them practically scrapes, and they both make horrible screeching noises because the body guy didn't think to lube them before putting the fenders on. Grr.
 
Clean the seam sealer around the top pin. Install the hinge as flush as possible to the body. Drill the pins and use small push pins through the holes after installing as many washers needed to keep the hinge tight to the body. This was mentioned above and is what worked for me on several builds. The top pin on the hinge is what is needed to be kept tight. Usually done with the fender off. Good luck they all rub that I have seen with the push locks installed from the factory.

I have seen fenders with a small strip of ABS pad riveted to them to prevent the rub noise also
 
Thanks for the information. I really hate to remove the fenders and front valence again but I just may have to.
 
Moparone said:
We are assembling my sons 71 Dart Swinger. Have the hood fitting well and am finally happy with the gaps and overall fitment. However I noticed the driver side hinge is rubbing the fender when fully open. The passenger side gap is tight (1/8”) but clears. I really don’t want to move the fender out as it lines up nicely with the cowl and door. I looked at my brothers 74 dart and he has an 1” clearance. Is this supposed to be this tight? Any way to adjust or do I need to rebuild the hinges. They do not seem sloppy. I the pics show clearance but is only about 3/4 open. If I open fully it tightens up. Also note I have protective tape on the fender. Any help or advice would be appreciated

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This tool is a life saver. I can see it working here. Every body shop has one. Hook the chain to the hood bolt and bend the hinge inward. I have little home made versions of the same concept. There is a bigger version of this tool also. Very handy. Amazon product ASIN B0CCY4YTXT
 
Moparone said:
We are assembling my sons 71 Dart Swinger. Have the hood fitting well and am finally happy with the gaps and overall fitment. However I noticed the driver side hinge is rubbing the fender when fully open. The passenger side gap is tight (1/8”) but clears. I really don’t want to move the fender out as it lines up nicely with the cowl and door. I looked at my brothers 74 dart and he has an 1” clearance. Is this supposed to be this tight? Any way to adjust or do I need to rebuild the hinges. They do not seem sloppy. I the pics show clearance but is only about 3/4 open. If I open fully it tightens up. Also note I have protective tape on the fender. Any help or advice would be appreciated

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My 69 Barracuda hood was doing the same thing. My hinges were so sloppy that each one bowed way out, and it was hard to shut the hood. During the restoration, I had the car completely blown apart, so I searched the internet and found a guy who rebuilt Mopar hinges. I called him, and he guaranteed me his rebuild would fix the problem. The rebuilt hinges were amazing, and the problem was solved I wish I could remember the name but try Google. He may still be out there.
 
If it was me, I would take the hinge off and lay it on a hard surface and beat a 1/2" of arch out of it and see if it fixes it. If it did, I would even contemplate heating it up and cool it down with some water to temper it some. I know people will disagree (understood) but it's just my nature to experiment on things before giving up on them. Also, check the mounting to pillar holes and make sure they are not oblong instead of round. Your added pics do show the hinge up snug to the pillar. Lastly lube up those mounting pins on install.
Go easy on me guys lol.
 
Kendog 170 said:
If it was me, I would take the hinge off and lay it on a hard surface and beat a 1/2" of arch out of it and see if it fixes it. If it did, I would even contemplate heating it up and cool it down with some water to temper it some. I know people will disagree (understood) but it's just my nature to experiment on things before giving up on them. Also, check the mounting to pillar holes and make sure they are not oblong instead of round. Your added pics do show the hinge up snug to the pillar. Lastly lube up those mounting pins on install.
Go easy on me guys lol.
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Dude, I totally agree. I myself LOVE to experiment. I have ruined quite a few things over the years with my 'experiments'. However, that being said for every failure, I have had multiple successes. And a lot of my experiments involve a large hammer, cutting and welding. I'm a mad scientist at heart.
 
I spoke to Willie. He recommended to use SMS Auto or Resto Rick to rebuild the hinges. He said he can’t competitively do these hinges and would want $600 to do them. He also said to lube them really well with Seafoam foaming lubricant. I did that but it didn’t really help. I think I’m going to eventually try to take these off and get them rebuilt.
 
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