blap

if you add or subtract shims from the bottom of the support you will change the height of the hood and can change the (up or down) gap against the fender. is that correct thinking ?

MikeM

No.

dtortoise9

Simple answer but why would you just say "No"? What is the reasoning behind this? Maybe we are trying to learn something here. Great way to discourage asking questions to the forum.

MikeM

Sometimes, a fella' has to help himself a little. Looking at how the car is built will go a long ways to answer your question.

Why didn't you answer the OP's question instead of critiquing my answer? Does your hood not fit?

If the OP had additional questions beyond my simple answer, I'b been glad to respond.

vettsplit 63

Since the fenders are bonded to the cowl and down the sides, shimming at the front radiator support enough to force it up would put a lot of strain on the glass. The fit is pretty much what it is. You may be able to do something at the front hinge to change the height at the corner. Unfortunately, that is a common area of poor fit if there has been work done there before, without taking into account the hood to fender fit. Good luck.

DansYellow66

The inner fenders are bonded to the outer fenders - the inner fenders are bolted to the radiator support - and the hood sits on top of it all with the hinges bearing on the inner fenders and inner fender metal braces. Shimming the radiator support up or down will move the whole thing up and down but won't change the relationship between the fenders and hood. Forward of the hood, it can affect your nose/headlight alignment and bumper fit though unless appropriate adjustments are made to them.

blap

So the shims are just to support the nose at the " correct " height so there is no strain or stress on the glass.
these shims are not used as a alignment tool as per say a steel gm car from this era with in some cars with alot of tolerances... alot of shim stacks

MikeM

The radiator support shims on steel bodied cars were typically used to adjust the fender/door margin at the bottom of the fender.

blap

Correct so it(they) have a different use on a c2

DansYellow66

You are basically correct - although with a flexi-convertible the radiator shimming can no doubt influence front of door to fender clearances and windshield to door vent frames to some degree - probably not much if any on a coupe. But most work on those clearances by shimming adjustments at the firewall mount. From what I understand from JohnZ, the factory had a jig or frame that checked the frame assembly and body mount positions to generate a shim count for mounting the body. The body and body mount positions were assumed to be perfect by default so the shimming would keep the body in it's "perfect" default position and minimize stresses on it. At least that was the theory. Guess it worked pretty well until body mount cushions started collapsing from age and fender benders took their toll.

Mike Geary

The 2 most common problems with hood fit are:
1. front edge of hood too high even with zero hinge shims
2. side of hood "bulges" above hood surround panel.

The fixes are different. Post a photo and you'll get the answer you need.
Mike

blap

Thanks ,Yes most of my issues is going to deal with fixing old "repair" work

Shift_Happens

So if the hood is lower than the nose but aligns nicely down the sides with the fenders, how can that be adjusted?

MikeM

Your hood shape is "fixed" and your hood opening is "fixed". So, sometimes, you gotta' give some to get some.

That's code for compromise unless you do some butchering.

Mike Geary

Here's how. Once the nose has been adjusted flush, with shims under the hood hinges, the sides will be high. So how do you deal with that?

A common problem. For some reason, it seems to be more prevalent on the passenger side. To match up the curvatures between hood & top surround, the BOND between the inner fender panel and top surround must be broken.
Then it's a matter of shimming up the hood surround to match the hood and injecting new bond adhesive into the joint. This can be done without disturbing the body color paint on the drip rail if you work from the wheel well side and take your time. To get started, I expose the bond line and drill some starter holes through it. Then a carborundum rod is used to saw through the bond line between the holes. You can do the whole thing this way, or switch to a knife & hammer to split the bond. Of course the old bonding adhesive should be sanded out before rebonding.

There are some threads on this procedure in the archives....

Also should mention that lowering the latches to bring the rear corners slightly below flush is something to try. That will often make a noticeable reduction in side "bulge" and that alone might be acceptable to you. If not, then crack the bond and raise the drip channel.