Hood alignment
2026 Loser of the Year
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 36,559
Likes: 7,006
From: New Or-leens Loo-z-anna
If the front corner is lower than the fender...do what Brandon suggested......add shims under the lower part of the hood hinge where it bolts to the fender.
If that improves the fit of the hood in the front corner, but the rest of the hood along the fender is still too low.....add a long rubber shim the correct thickness to the fender lip that the hood rests in.
If that improves the fit, but the rear corner is now too high....adjust the hood stop down until the hood lays flat with the fender when your palm pressure is applied to that area of the hood.
Then close the hood to see if the hood latch holds everything where it should be....the latch may need adjusting a little.
Keep in mind these are rookie suggestions...anyone is welcomed to modify them.
If that improves the fit of the hood in the front corner, but the rest of the hood along the fender is still too low.....add a long rubber shim the correct thickness to the fender lip that the hood rests in.
If that improves the fit, but the rear corner is now too high....adjust the hood stop down until the hood lays flat with the fender when your palm pressure is applied to that area of the hood.
Then close the hood to see if the hood latch holds everything where it should be....the latch may need adjusting a little.
Keep in mind these are rookie suggestions...anyone is welcomed to modify them.
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 40,338
Likes: 786
From: Redondo Beach, California
If shimming doesn't produce satisfactory results, the next steps are expensive. On my 68, the body shop broke loose the inner wheel wells (the hood hinge bolts to them). Also, they broke the body panel that surrounds the hood loose also....not sure what they did exactly. Finally they added a thin layer of fiberglass and resin on the body in front of the hood. All of the paint had been removed before they did this. I don't know exactly how much they charged for all of this. It was well above $1500 though.
Another mismatch on my car...a very unsightly mismatch was where the door, the rear quarter panel and the convertible lid all met. This was the way it came from the factory...looks really nice now.
The doors have a mild vertical "crease," that is supposed to match a similar crease in the front and rear quarter panels. It didn't quite match...does now. Body panel alignments were often pretty bad for the early C3's.
Another mismatch on my car...a very unsightly mismatch was where the door, the rear quarter panel and the convertible lid all met. This was the way it came from the factory...looks really nice now.
The doors have a mild vertical "crease," that is supposed to match a similar crease in the front and rear quarter panels. It didn't quite match...does now. Body panel alignments were often pretty bad for the early C3's.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 200
Likes: 15
From: shreveport Louisiana
If the front corner is lower than the fender...do what Brandon suggested......add shims under the lower part of the hood hinge where it bolts to the fender.
If that improves the fit of the hood in the front corner, but the rest of the hood along the fender is still too low.....add a long rubber shim the correct thickness to the fender lip that the hood rests in.
If that improves the fit, but the rear corner is now too high....adjust the hood stop down until the hood lays flat with the fender when your palm pressure is applied to that area of the hood.
Then close the hood to see if the hood latch holds everything where it should be....the latch may need adjusting a little.
Keep in mind these are rookie suggestions...anyone is welcomed to modify them.
If that improves the fit of the hood in the front corner, but the rest of the hood along the fender is still too low.....add a long rubber shim the correct thickness to the fender lip that the hood rests in.
If that improves the fit, but the rear corner is now too high....adjust the hood stop down until the hood lays flat with the fender when your palm pressure is applied to that area of the hood.
Then close the hood to see if the hood latch holds everything where it should be....the latch may need adjusting a little.
Keep in mind these are rookie suggestions...anyone is welcomed to modify them.
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,805
Likes: 432
From: Denver CO
Danny, They are square rubber bumper shims that are avail at most vendors.Dont know the exact name.They are stuck on w/2 sided tape.Place them on the fender lip where the hood is low as needed. Then peel and stick.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 200
Likes: 15
From: shreveport Louisiana
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 6,196
Likes: 58
From: Denton, Texas
If you look at the picture with the hood hinges painted, look at the box with parts that look like an "m" or a "3" and those are the shims. The shims go under the hinge when installed. I painted mine to blend in more.
Last edited by Brandons72vette; Feb 22, 2015 at 06:10 PM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 200
Likes: 15
From: shreveport Louisiana
Thanks! Another question I have is your car in your living room? Lol
No, that is the garage
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 40,338
Likes: 786
From: Redondo Beach, California
Just some more anecdotes about hood alignment for whatever it's worth. In maybe 1973, I bought a stock L88 BB hood from GM..this was not a repro, this was the real thing. It didn't fit my stock 69 BB all that well. I had a Chevrolet dealer body shop mate it to my car. They were able to get it to fit nicely with body work...with all these years, having past I forget what they did, but it did involve fiberglass work. I have a stone stock BB hood left over from my 69 BB. I thought it's be great to use on my 68 SB convertible. When I mated it to my 68, it didn't fit very well!! I decided not to use it.
I'm tending to think, that at least for early C3's, notwithstanding a good fit for your factory hood, if you try to replace it with another factory hood, it may maybe not fit that well. When you replace a factory hood with a repro hood, instead of another stock factory hood, it appears there's more uncertainty about fit.
I'm tending to think, that at least for early C3's, notwithstanding a good fit for your factory hood, if you try to replace it with another factory hood, it may maybe not fit that well. When you replace a factory hood with a repro hood, instead of another stock factory hood, it appears there's more uncertainty about fit.
