Why the Hood Gap?

[Tire Guy]

There is quite a sizable gap between the edge of the hood and the vent grill. See picture. Any ideas why? Everything else seems to line up at the front. The quarter panel gaps are a little large. But nothing like the hood. Is this normal? Thoughts?

Additional information, it has a 69 Nova front end sub frame. Could that have caused the gap?

Thanks.

[tmoble]

Did you adjust the hood all the way back on the hinges?


BTW, I ended up with a set of aluminum Rally wheels, Rev 107 17x7 and 245/60x17 tires from Falken. I think it's Falken. Sure improved the ride and steering. Had to "adjust" the front fender lips again. Thanks for the advice you gave me.

[Tire Guy]

Originally Posted by tmoble

Did you adjust the hood all the way back on the hinges?


BTW, I ended up with a set of aluminum Rally wheels, Rev 107 17x7 and 245/60x17 tires from Falken. I think it's Falken. Sure improved the ride and steering. Had to "adjust" the front fender lips again. Thanks for the advice you gave me.

Glad I could help. I checked the hood and there is just a little adjust on the hinges. I don't think enough to account for the gap. Plus if I move it back too much won't it foul the hood latch?

Please post a picture of the new wheels and tires. I have to replace the front two wheels on my 57. The wheels are too narrow for regular size tires. I am debating about what to do. They are 15 inch and pricey. I will probably go with 4 new wheels and I am thinking of 17 inch and wondering what they will look like on the truck. I think you have a good combination tire and wheel size.

[roger55]

You may have to put shims behind one of the bolts between the hood hinge and the firewall. I had to put a 1/8" between firewall and the bottom bolt on the driver's side on mine.
If your hood latch is off, you may have to adjust the core support.

[Tire Guy]

Originally Posted by roger55

You may have to put shims behind one of the bolts between the hood hinge and the firewall. I had to put a 1/8" between firewall and the bottom bolt on the driver's side on mine.
If your hood latch is off, you may have to adjust the core support.

I'll look and see how doable. Thanks for the idea.

As I really look at the gaps it seems that the front body panels are wonky. Lots of gaps and uneven left to right or top to bottom.

[Tire Guy]

Possible related issue. The drivers side rear of the hood, when closed, does not go down all the way. I can push down on that side and it helps but still is higher up that the left side. I just assumed the hinge was rusty or binding.

I think when I start trying to make this hood look right I should start with some new hinges then adjust accordingly. Does that makes sense?

[roger55]

Originally Posted by Tire Guy

Possible related issue. The drivers side rear of the hood, when closed, does not go down all the way. I can push down on that side and it helps but still is higher up that the left side. I just assumed the hinge was rusty or binding.

I think when I start trying to make this hood look right I should start with some new hinges then adjust accordingly. Does that makes sense?

No problem to use old hinges as long as they aren't too sloppy from wear or have any damage of any kind.

Sometimes it takes a little while to work the tightness out of new hinges before the hood will shut right. Lubing and opening and shutting 20 or so times should do it though. But, it can make them difficult to adjust at first.

[tmoble]

if the bottom of the hood is contacting the top of the cowl you may need to adjust the hood hinges up a little. If it is hitting it might be keeping it from going back.

There's usually adjustment available in the hood latch.

[tmoble]

Truck is down to the frame now, no bed, cab or front end. My truck is pretty low with the Camaro stub, I've had to hammer the front fender lips before. Not sure I got any pics before, the bed was off anyway. I thought it looked great in the front. Going from the stock chevy 15x7 with 245x60 to 17x7 245x60 didn't change the location of the rear wheels in regards to the frame at all.

Tires are just right, no O-ring effect at all, still have sidewall.

[55dude]

keep in mind the factory fit wasn't that great,far from a Lexus! The trucks you see with all matching gaps took many man hours to get them cutting and shimming. i bought 3 near perfect driver doors from a guy that weren't good enough and the one he used had metal added here and taken away in other spots. the guy doing body claimed their was 3K + in each door getting gaps done. talk about picky!

[roger55]

Driver side:











Passenger:













I was pretty lucky in that this truck had never been wrecked. Just some dings and 2 minor dents. Yeah the factory g aps had some issues but working with a truck that's never been hit helps.

The cab corners and steps were replaced with repros and both doors needed the botttoms replaced both the inner and outer. Both fender bottoms were replaced that I got from a donor pair of fenders damaged in the front.
Skim coat was applied to help leveling as you can see. I also skim coated along the edge of the fenders at the hood gap. It's nice that these trucks have a nice wide edge that is conducive to that.

Only a couple of edges needed a little welding to get the door gaps right. Not much at all.
If you want to see more details in how I did all that, it's all in my build thread.

I'd say this is definitely finesse type work but I don't find it all that difficult or that time consuming. But I'm the type that likes to solve this kind of puzzle and I've done it several times.

I don't have the hood on yet but here's a couple of photos of how the doors came out when installed them for the final time last week:







My wife's happy. I'm building the truck for her.

[Tire Guy]

Originally Posted by tmoble

Truck is down to the frame now, no bed, cab or front end. My truck is pretty low with the Camaro stub, I've had to hammer the front fender lips before. Not sure I got any pics before, the bed was off anyway. I thought it looked great in the front. Going from the stock chevy 15x7 with 245x60 to 17x7 245x60 didn't change the location of the rear wheels in regards to the frame at all.

Tires are just right, no O-ring effect at all, still have sidewall.

Glad to hear. That is the look I want. Great way to put it, O-ring effect.

[Tire Guy]

Roger55 the fit and finish on your truck is simply amazing. Terrific work.

[OrrieG]

I spent about 8 hours aligning doors, fenders and the hood, not counting the body work. Every movement in one affects the rest. I found I had to move my cab over a little, lower the radiator support and add shims between one side of the inner fender and support to get the gaps right. Also shims under the fender at the cab and bottom back bolts to the lower cowl.

I remember a post a while ago about having to rotate the hinges on the firewall with shims to get the hood to set right at the back, a search should find it. If your fender to door gaps are good then the radiator support to firewall distance is good. You might need to open up the hinge bracket bolt holes to allow the hood the slide back and adjust the latch accordingly too.