# 68 GTO hood hinge problems



## tom miller (Mar 3, 2013)

Hello everyone,
The 68 Goat I bought came with after market hinges installed. I took the car to a body shop to have them align the hood and fenders so all the seams are straight and get fenders the same height as the hood. (the hood is about a 1/2 inch higher than the fenders). The shop says the hinges will not close enough to allow the them to make the adjustments. When I try to close the hood I get about 2 inches from closing and I can see the hood trying to bend at the front of the hinges. The hood will close but it bulges up in the center near the hinges. The shop guys say I would be better off with old hinges that are not completely shot. They say they can make them work. 
Anyone had similar experience with after market hinges? I don't know what brand these are since I did not install them. I would like to buy someones old hinges or get a recommendation for after market hinges that work properly.
Thanks,
Tom


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## 68GTO4004Spd (Jun 19, 2008)

I bought aftermarket hinges from Ames, and they work well, hood closes with no problems. These cars you need to push the front of the hood back towards the hinges and push down at the same time to close the hood without buckling. 2" sounds like the wrong hinge or it was installed horribly wrong, or it's majorly messed up. Is the hood itself straight? Pics would help us see the problem. Below is a pic of my hood fitment with Ames hinges.


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## bondobill (Oct 24, 2011)

Is this the same problem with the hood fit before you brought it to a body
shop ? If not I would guess they didn't adjust them right. I got a couple of young body guys in my shop with at least 10 years experience and they wouldn't have a clue how to adjust the hinges on these old cars :confused 

We bought a set of a/m hinges for Brent 68 goat, the holes from the hinge to the hood where so far off we would have run out of metal elongating the holes on the hinge. We ended up finding a nice set of o.e. hinges.

It would be some work but you could take off the springs on the hinges and see how it closes then, may be wrong springs for the a/m hinges.
Probably be a lot easier tho to just replace the hinges with some decent o.e one, at least then there will no excuses if they can't get them to fit.

Bill


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## tom miller (Mar 3, 2013)

Bondobill,
Thanks for the reply. The hood had the problem before I took it to the body shop. The older guy who I watched align a camaro hood seems to know what he is doing. He tried to fix my problem by raising the front of the fenders and using all the adjustment the hinges had and that did not work. The hinges just have the wrong geometry and run out of travel before the hood is closed. 
The hinges run out of travel just as the hood reaches the release spring at the front of the hood. Then bumping the hood closed, the bulge shows up just in front of the hinges. I installed a new cowl bumper in the center of the hood as shown in the shop manual. It is not the problem as the hood did the same thing before the new bumper. Seems to me the mounting holes in the hinges could be elongated so the hinge could go up at the back and down at the front. Or I could try the Ames hinges 68gto4004spd used with success. 
I tried to attach pictures of the hood open and closed but I can not figure out how to do it. I can email them to you if you like. 
Tom


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## tom miller (Mar 3, 2013)

I managed, right or wrong, to get the pictures in my photo's. Click on the 6 to see the pics of my hood problem.
Wish I was better with my computer. Us old guys really struggle with this hi tech stuff.
Tom


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## bondobill (Oct 24, 2011)

Sounds like a bad set of hinges, especially if a old guy was trying to adjust them  
Problem with elongating the holes is, you have very little room before the washer on the bolt will hit the inside roll on the mounting plate of the hinge.
If you are going to the trouble of pulling the hood and hinges to try fudging 
them, do your self a favor and do like 68 said, try a set from Ames. I have heard others on here also say good things about their hinges.
Might check with them and see if your springs will work. You may think about getting springs from them also.

Good luck

Bill


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## GTO JUDGE (May 14, 2005)

Just a thought.... any consideration been given to possibly the incorrect springs on the unit? Have you tried closing the hood with the springs detached to see if the hood closes? Maybe the spring size is not correct and its fighting the alignment?

If it checks out I'd order a new set


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## 67GTOCoupe (Mar 6, 2013)

I have a set of GM original 68-72 "A" body hood hinges in my stash. If you like I can put up some pics of what the original GM hinges should look like to see if you mabye just have the wrong hinges or just a really bad set of reopops. Let me know and I would be happy to measure them up for you.

Michael


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## tom miller (Mar 3, 2013)

Thanks for the suggestions. I removed the springs and closed the hood with the same results. Damn. Thanks for offering to measure your old springs Michael, but I think I will order the hinge kit from Ames with new springs and bolts and see what happens. I really suspect the hinges I have are junk. What I can't understand is why someone would install them with the current results and leave them on! 
Tom


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## 67GTOCoupe (Mar 6, 2013)

I'm not sure why but hood hinges seem to be one item the people who make repo parts seem to have a lot of problems with getting right. I have no doubt if you get yourself a set from Ames they will fit properly.


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## FlambeauHO (Nov 24, 2011)

Got mine from Ames and they work great. Good luck :thumbup:


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## bsebby (Apr 28, 2016)

I have had the same issues.
DO NOT USE REPO HINGES ... there is a reason they are so cheap !!
You can rebuild your originals by drilling out the rivets and replacing with bushing bolt or oversize replacement rivets.

I found a set at a muscle care parts dealer in Tulsa ... Phillips Muscle Car Parts
Fixed all my front end alignment problems ...

Also, one more tip .... found some hood adjustment tips in an old service manual.
Cures the back of the hood sticking up.
1. square the hood first with the hinge to hood (TOP) bolts on either side.
2. Then ... loosen both bottom bolts ... open and extend the hood to its farthest open position and tighten the two rear bolts closets to the firewall.
3. With back bolts in position adjust the two front bolts to what the car wants ...
Works like a charm ...


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