triadecho

I am getting a 72 Corvettte convertible ready to paint. The forward end of the hood has about a 1/4" too high mismatch with the body work at the forward end.
I thought the old beat up hood was just warped. The new one I bought fit just the same. The front end has plenty of fiberglass Bondo holding and bonding it together. The fenders seem to be glued to the sides of the engine compartment. People do awful things to Corvettes don't they?

Any hope other than replacing the whole front clip?

Frustrated in Houston

stingry

This is very bubba but read on.

My car had been in a front on about 20 years ago.

When I just finished my engine/gearbox/wholde_damm_car rebuild I bought new hood hinges. Now the right side is 1/4 inch higher then it was with the old hinges.

It turns out that after the accident the guy who repaired it was out by 1/4 with gluing the fenders on the car. The way they fixed it was to cut down the hinge so it was not as high. I found this out when I sandblasted the hinges. Left one is stock, right one is 1/4 inch shorter. Hinges are cheap so you amy try that. Long term I am going to get my fit perfect but for now it stays as it is.

With the BUBBA hinge installed my hood sits pretty flat, without it is 1/4 high on the right side. It is not noticeablt that the right side of the car is 1/4 lower.

Chuck Gongloff

I've seen a number of, shall we say, "modified hinges". :)

You could also try to shim the hinge where it mounts to the fender. By putting shims at the rear-most hole, you'll tip the front of the hinge down, and lower the front edge of the hood. Worth a try. Mess around with some washers as shims. Chuck

Jughead

69sbcoupe had a few sets of hinges "modified" for this instance. I bought a pair about a year ago and they really helped. I think he had 1/4in removed. Work great. :thumbs: Checkout the hood in my sig pic.


[Modified by Jughead, 5:27 PM 4/2/2004]

Roadster71

Before you start altering hinges (BUBBA) take a look at the way the nose is supported on the car. There is a support rod coming up from the radiator support to the metal bar in the nose of the car. There also is a bracket on each side of the car that is bolted to the front of the inner fenders that supports each end of the metal bar. If any of these are missing, loose or bent it could easly let everything drop 1/4 below the hood. :yesnod:

Edzred72

:iagree: :iagree: :iagree: Found this to be true on my 72. Also found the upper nose cross brace (that the headlight supports bolt to) had pulled away from the glass. Had to bond that up to get proper hood, and headlight adjustment.
Eddie

crf311

What is the first thing that comes off when you have to do front end repaires is the hood. ANd what is the last thing to go on the hood. This is what leads to problems

The main thing I have found when dealing with front end repairs you MUST put the hood on FIRST, then line everything up after that. Once the hood is on you can always raise it with shims. When you need to lower the hood is when you have big problems. Jusy my .02 Hope this helps someone.
:cheers: :cool: