Please help - Hood alignment

[62lwbc10]

Hello all, Im kind of a noob with these 55-59 trucks, but I just got a pretty nice 58 swb. The hood was pretty well aligned without the hood hinge springs in. I put new springs on this evening and all hell broke loose. The hood sat very high at the windshield side and was very hard to open when the hood was closed. THe addition of the springs seemed to also pull the hood forward a bit. So i loosened the hinge bolts at the firewall and pushed them down (to alleviate the height at the rear side), then I loosened the 4 bolts the attach the hood to the hinges and pushed the hood back towards the windshield because the latch was not getting into the hole cleanly (the hood was too far forward). ANyway now I have a mess and the hood wont close, and its all out of wack. Can someone please tell me the correct steps to align the hood? Can you also make adjustments at the latch itself.

One huge surprise from all this is I am now also not able to open the doors! Somehow my adjustments messed up the fender alignment and the fenders are pushed back and hitting the door, so the doors wont open. WHat the heck did I do?
Again the hood was sitting perfectly before I added the springs. Is is possible the springs are wrong? Im not certain they are correct, the guy who sold me the truck threw them in.

THanks in advance for your help.
Mark
Westchester County, NY

[OrrieG]

58-59 the springs attach to the inner fender panel, which is bolted to the fender, and the hinge bolted to the firewall. Your fender bolts were not tight enough to resist the spring pulling the inner panel and fender back into the doors. The rise in the back is mis adjustment or worn hinges. The hood not closing is because, again the hinge latch, rad support and fenders moved back in relationship to the hood and firewall. I would remove the springs, get the fenders where you want them in relationship to the doors and tighten them down, adjust the latch metal and rad support and tighten them down. Make sure the hinges are tight, do not oil them, then need resistance to work right. You might want to start with the back a little low to compensate for the rise when you install the springs. From there it is just adjusting. I assume you have all the rubber and bumpers installed too. I have posted a picture of a stock spring so you can measure yours. These trucks were not close to perfect from the factory so do not expect perfect panel gaps and alignment. In an extreme case your cab might not be sitting level which will add to the problem too, but I do not suspect that because you got everything to align without the springs. If the springs are not correct they might be applying more pressure than is required and the body bolts can resist.

[62lwbc10]

TWanks Orrie. what you say makes sense. Yes, everything lined up beautifully when the springs were not installed. I suspect the fender bolts (and perhaps others) were not fully tightened. I will remove the springs and check the measurements against your picture.

Thanks,
Mark

[OrrieG]

Another thought, if you are not using original type bolts that came with the shoulder and knurled surface that meets the metal even tight things can slip. Those were used to get a good grip to keep things from moving.