Hood to cowl fitment
 

Is my hood/cowl bent out of shape or is it common for the rear center of the hood to stick up a good bit higher than the cowl. It can't be an alignment issue because where the fender/cowl and hood meet looks fine. Looking from the side the hood clearly has more of an arch than the cowl.

Not sure it matters but this is a 67-68 front clip on a 72

Re: Hood to cowl fitment
 

Know for sure that the hoods are different, so that might be the problem.
But still learning so don't know about entire front clip assembly.

I know on the hoods because I had to get GMC hood letters for my 72 hood, it was missing them. A forum member helped me and said there were two different sets of GMC letters because there were two different hoods. He even posted in the thread pics of the two different hoods.

The latter hood has a steeper angle/rake at the front of the hood.
But I don't know if the back of the two hoods that mate with the cowl.

I have the situation with my 1971 Jimmy. I’m not positive but believe it’s the original hood.
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Re: Hood to cowl fitment
 

How are your hinges?
If they are worn, with ovaled holes where the rivets go through, that will also raise the hood higher than the cowl. I have this problem on one side.
But if it is that, you will be able to push the hood down in the back on one or both sides.
My hood hinges are being rebuilt.

Re: Hood to cowl fitment
 

Not sure if my hinges are worn. Seem solid to me but I'm pretty confident they wouldn't cause what I'm seeing. Not sure you can tell in these photos but the cowl is pretty flat across the center but the hood has a fair amount of arch to it. Fit is good on the sides but way off in the center. I have no problem doing the body work required to make them flush I just wanted to know if this is "normal" for these trucks. Kinda like how the front edge of the door curves inward and isn't flush with the fender.

I know the hood is not a reproduction not sure about the cowl but don't think it is either.

Re: Hood to cowl fitment
 

Sides look ok from the photo, mine had some front end damage and the cowl was shimmed with some washers. I replaced the hinges with some decent used 1's and shimmed the cowl to it. Still not perfect but decent.

Re: Hood to cowl fitment
 

I guess the next question is which one needs reworked? Flatten out the hood to match the cowl or give the cowl more of an arch?

Re: Hood to cowl fitment
 

How are the gaps from the hood to the fenders?
That could help you with whether you need to flatten the hood, versus work the cowl.

I just looked at mine again. Yours is definitely too far off, in my opinion.
Something is not right.

As far as the cowl or hood being repops, how are the colors underneath?
You might want to scratch off in as inconspicuous a spot as you can to check.

It may be multiple things. Hinges might still be part of the problem.
Can you push down the back of the hood anywhere along the hood to cowl gap?
With worn hinges, ovaled out, you will be able to push down on one or both sides.

Some senior members are better qualified than me to probably help you any further.

Re: Hood to cowl fitment
 

I had the same issues with my hood. A set of reproduction hinges solved the problem.

Re: Hood to cowl fitment
 

Your hood fit fine on both sides and was only raised in center? I can't picture how the hinge affects this. If I take the hinges loose and just lay the hood in the curvature of the hood and cowl are not the same.

Re: Hood to cowl fitment
 

The whole back of my hood was higher than the cowl. You may need to shim the fenders out and message the crown of the hood down. once you get it closer you could also shim the cowl. it is also important to have the cowl seal installed when fitting the hood which will raise the hood even more.

i do know that my original hinges looked and felt fine but i could not get the hood fitted correctly with them. I spent days trying to get them to work. A set of reproduction hinges immediately fixed the problem after i ovaled the mounting holes so they would fit on the fender.

Re: Hood to cowl fitment
 

I can't stress enough how important it is to have smooth working hinges. Make sure you lubricate them too, as that made a huge difference. As far as the hood to cowl, you will have to shim the cowl up a bit in the center to match the hood. The good part is that the shims can be hidden under the weather seal, so no one will ever notice. I can take a pic of mine if you wish.

Re: Hood to cowl fitment
 

^^^^I agree with this method as JJH and HEMI said, simple fix, but you will have to get longer sheet metal screws

Re: Hood to cowl fitment
 

All panels need work and massaging, put it on the floor and gently step on it to flatten it out a bit.