jasonsamara

Got my 60 back with new radiator support, radiator, fan shroud etc. now it slightly rubs in the front. I loosened the 3 bolts on each side of the support but I'm not sure this is the proper place to adjust? I did search but didn't really find much material to help.

jimh_1962

Yes, these are the ones you will want to use to adjust if the ones on the hood have not been messed with. It helps having another set of hands to do the job. Maybe another set to hold the beer and tools. Stat!

jasonsamara

So I found this http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com...62csg1103.html

but I still can't get it. My neighbor came over to help and the 4 bolts on the back of the hood is where we started. I loosened the bolts and he lifted up then I tightened them down but it still wants to rub and I have a good gap at the back. We then adjusted the 6 bolts that move it up and down but that really didn't do much.

It fit decent with the old rad. support but other than removing it all and widening the holes I'm not sure what to do? Another thing working against me is I don't have an original hood, but that only was a problem at the back of the hood before.

I thought maybe loosening all 10 bolts, get it where I want it and with the grille out come up through the opening and tighten them down but this seems crazy!

desertpilgrim

How about some clarity with what is rubbing against what and where? Is it against the support, glass on Glass, side clearance, nose to front of the hood or ??

Pilot Dan

There are shims (as required ) that go under the center of the radiator support. I would loosen the 2 center carriage bolts and see if a shim or 2 will improve things. The reproduction support I bought a while back was terrible. Had to break the welds on the X and re weld everything to properly align it to get it to fit well. I hope they are making them better than that now. You may need to elongate some holes and add shims ect to get a proper fit. Posting pictures showing the hood gaps and height in relation to the front panel would also be helpful in further diagnosing your problem. Pilot Dan

jasonsamara

I agree and I will get some pics as soon as I can.

The problem is the front of hood rubs the back of the nose. I think if I looked at it correctly I can loosen the 6 bolts on the support and pull up and that should give me some more clearance but will probably start to raise the hood above the nose when the hood is down. I sure hope I don't have to start tearing things apart

Pilot Dan

Hood height is a separate adjustment. If the center mount is not properly shimmed to the new support, when the bolts are tightened it will want to pull the nose downward which can effect the angle you are talking about. If it fit before you changed the support then I would believe this is the problem.

jasonsamara

We spent all evening trying to get it right and it just keeps barely touching about 3/4 down on the front.

Does it make sense to take the hood off and take the brackets off and dremel them about 1/8 so I can get the hood to slide a smidge back towards the windshield when it's down?

jasonsamara

After reading a different thread I'm leaning towards the radiator support needing raised about 1/2". So is it as simple as taking the nuts off the shims and carefully jacking it up, adding shims and tightening it back down? The shroud, radiator and everything is in and bolted up and fits, it's just the nose rubs the hood barely.

Another problem I see after reading another thread is my body sets tight in relation to the top of the front bumper on the passengers side. I can almost get my pinky finger between them on drivers side and no way on passengers side.

Thanks for helping, it's frustrating because everything I learn to build confidence is fixed and every new problem I have to learn and it feels like I know nothing again.

GTOguy

Man, would pictures be helpful on this one!

cbernhardt

If I am reading your problem correctly, the hood needs to move rearward so there will be a larger gap between the front of the hood and the hood surround (fiberglass body), right? Since the radiator support is bolted to the body I don't see how adding shims under the radiator support will help. If you just jack it up and add shims, you will be raising everything. The shims are there under the radiator support to support the weight of the front part of the body, not to adjust the hood gap. If the top of the radiator support were moved slightly rearward, would that solve your problem?

Charles

jasonsamara

Yes you understand my problem. I thought maybe the nose was pulling down just a bit and by raising the support I would relieve that enough, but as I look down the sides I don't see a bulge by the front wheels. Finally I have some pics!



This is where it's rubbing slightly along the front.



I thought by removing the hood, then removing the brackets I could dremel the brackets that attach to the hood just a little so the hood will slide back. I know these brackets look like crap and I'm gonna replace them but I need my hood to fit for now.

Pilot Dan

It is still hard to tell from those pictures what's going on. Are the gaps uniform all around the hood? Your gap in the middle picture looks plenty wide to me. I can't tell the relationship of the hood height to the surrounding panels either. DID THE HOOD FIT BEFORE YOU CHANGED THE RADIATOR SUPPORT?? If so, you should be able to make it fit with the new support but as I mentioned, it took some work first to get the support to fit the car and have proper alignment with the radiator shroud holes first. Shims under the support center will support it and will change the angle of the nose panel if it has drooped. Don't go nuts, but try a couple of 1/16 shims and see if that helps.

jasonsamara

We messed around with it for a few hours this morning and this is as close as we can get it. Because if we drop the hood it shifts forward and of course rubs. I know it stuck up a tad before but this seems to be more. My old support was completely rusted through and there are more shims now than before.

ejboyd5

I'm having difficulty understanding your relationship between the height of the hood and its fore and aft location. Usually, the shims between the hinge bracket and the hood do nothing more than raise the front of the hood relative to the fenders. The bolts that go through the hinge bracket and screw into the captive nuts in the hood should allow for some fore and aft adjustment of the hood itself. Assuming your pictures were taken at the same time, I don't see much in the way of shimming between the bracket and the hood, yet the hood is still too high relative to its opening which leads me to believe the hinge brackets are misaligned. Why not enlarge the openings in the rusty bracket somewhat (do the same on the other side) so as to orient the pivot point of the hinge lower and to the rear of its present location thereby eliminating the "rub" and lowering the hood at the same time..

Pilot Dan

Jason, that hood is too high now. If your old support was "completely rusted through" as you say, it's entirely possible the nose was unsupported for a long period of time and drooped. Try again with another 1/8 shim and see if it improves the angle and go from there. What is the total spacing now under the support to the bottom of the third arm bracket? Can you post a picture of that area so we can see what it looks like?

ASKING AGAIN, did the hood open and close OK with the OLD radiator support???

jasonsamara

Yea it did fit before

jasonsamara

First let me say thank you for your patience, I seem to be having a hard time relaying information that would be helpful from you guys. Especially thank you to Dan because you should have bailed long ago and didn't.

So the hinge that attaches with 2 bolts on the back of the hood are pushed as far forward as they can go because they are hitting the raised part of the back of the hood. We raised the other end of that hinge on the radiator support so it would not rub the nose when the hood closes and then it sets to high when the hood is closed.

Two things that may be working against me are 1. My hinge holes on the support look like they have been drilled out for extra room in the past by someone almost like this was a problem before, but not to this extent because that crappy radiator support was all rusted through.

The other thing is my hood is a repop hood probably from the 80's.

My radiator support piece with the shims has a gap of 1 1/8" from the bottom of the plate to the bottom of the radiator support.

I would kill for 1/8" to a 1/4"

I don't see how raising the support is going to help because it seems to me it will be in danger of hitting the hood when it closes. I don't want to cut a notch in the back of my hood for sure.

Maybe I need to take shims out?


Yes Dan it did fit before but it was slightly raised and could really only be noticed at night in my garage when the light hit just right.

jasonsamara

Obviously after sleeping in it I realize raising the radiator support will not hit the hood since the hood is attached to it. I think if I can take out skirt bolts and other screws I can push the radiator back 1/4" and my problem would be solved but that might be easier said than done.

Pilot Dan

Jason,

Here are 2 photos of my car with the reworked support:




The gap on mine between the support in the front and the hood is about 3/4" with the hood open and resting on the hood support.
Looks like you have a 61-62 hood with that center notch, but I don't think it has anything to do with your problem, just an F/Y/I



Here's what the shims look like. total thickness with the rubber cushion and shims is about 5/8" bottom of support to third arm top (I did not like the paper shims so I made my own out of stainless and painted them black)

I am thinking maybe you could try and see if you can get close to these measurements and that would put you in the ball park. That's about all I can offer.