# Hood adjustment tips anyone?



## gotyorgoat (Jun 19, 2011)

Does anyone have any tips on getting the hood and fender panels to align? 

My hood is 3/4" high on the rear drivers corner and does not want to sit down. The other side fits fine and I see no difference between the two hinges. Should I slot the mounting holes in the hinge so I can move the whole hinge down? I don't see any way possible to shim the surrounding panels up 3/4" and it does not seem like the hood is warped at all.

Any general knowledge or tips of the trade would be appreciated.


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

Unless one has experience with this it is a tedious trial and error job with 3 or 4 people. 2 on each side adjusting bolts one in the front watching alignments. Took me "forever" to get it close. Side to side then front to back. Lots of opening and closing the hood.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

Loosen the hinge to fender bolts, have someone lift the front of the hood as far as it will go, tighten the hinge to fender bolts, close hood slowly to check for clearance.


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## Matthew (Feb 11, 2011)

Do you have hood bumpers on your cowl? If so, check the one on the left side for clearance -- adjust it down.


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## Matthew (Feb 11, 2011)

And another thought... assuming your hinge is adjusted down, is your hood being held up on the left corner by a hood to fender bumper? Small rubber wedge like bumper on the upper lip of the fender. If so, you may not have enough space between your hood and left fender. 

Also, how's the alignment at the front of the hood? High left low right will cause your hood to be high at the left rear. If that is the case, you would adjust your right front hood bumper up and the left front hood bumper down.


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## 66tempestGT (Nov 28, 2009)

several people here have got good results from doing it rukees way.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

gotyorgoat said:


> Does anyone have any tips on getting the hood and fender panels to align?
> 
> My hood is 3/4" high on the rear drivers corner and does not want to sit down. The other side fits fine and I see no difference between the two hinges. Should I slot the mounting holes in the hinge so I can move the whole hinge down? I don't see any way possible to shim the surrounding panels up 3/4" and it does not seem like the hood is warped at all.
> 
> Any general knowledge or tips of the trade would be appreciated.


Something that worked for me in a similar situation was to lower only the rear half of the hinge, tilting it a little more towards the rear of the car. As others have said, work very carefully and very slowly after you've changed something. Lower the hood a little bit at a time, checking all the clearances and gaps as you go. 'Slamming' a hood that's off just enough to catch on an edge can very quickly ruin both the hood and the paint job.

Bear


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

BearGFR said:


> 'Slamming' a hood that's off just enough to catch on an edge can very quickly ruin both the hood and the paint job.
> 
> Bear


And your day. Thats why I don't run a hood OP. JK ( I've got 3! :lol


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## gotyorgoat (Jun 19, 2011)

Thanks for the input. I did loosen the bolts, opened the hood all the way (forcing the hinge down) and retightened with no success, but i will keep messing with it to see if I can make it look better. I do not have any hood bumpers on the cowl, but there are the wedge shaped ones against the fenders. I'll check for clearances. Paint is rough so I'm not real worried about chips, but I would never slam the hood on my baby anyway. 50% of the time, she starts every time.


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## ALKYGTO (Mar 29, 2010)

gotyorgoat said:


> 50% of the time, she starts every time.


I smell a new sig quote! :lol:


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## Eric Animal (Oct 28, 2007)

:agree Yep, the 50% rule.....either it will, or it won't = 50% arty:


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## 66tempestGT (Nov 28, 2009)

gotyorgoat said:


> Thanks for the input. I did loosen the bolts, opened the hood all the way (forcing the hinge down) and retightened with no success, but i will keep messing with it to see if I can make it look better. I do not have any hood bumpers on the cowl, but there are the wedge shaped ones against the fenders. I'll check for clearances. Paint is rough so I'm not real worried about chips, but I would never slam the hood on my baby anyway. 50% of the time, she starts every time.


this might be what you did but the idea is to get the front of the hinge as high as it will go while the rear is all the way down.


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## gotyorgoat (Jun 19, 2011)

Thanks for the clarification 66. I pushed the front of the hinge up and the back of the hinge down and this solved the problem. I also removed the wedge shaped bumpers against the fender as it seemed to be getting hung up on these as well.

Like a whole new car.

Thanks again for the support.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

If those wedges won't fit, then the fenders are adjusted to close to the hood. The wedges are in there to keep the hood from moving side to side while driving and hitting bumps. Sounds like the whole front end needs to be adjusted, not just the hood.


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