Bodywork questions
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
From: Atlanta Ga
Bodywork questions
My hood is fine along the passenger side but is 1/4'' lower than the fender on the driver side, and 1/4'' higher than the nose. I have tried adjusting at the bolts and was barely able to get my hood to close properly, much less address the above-mentioned problems. The hood still hits the grille vent in front of the wiper door when i close it, but before it would rest on top of the grille vent. It looked like s#@t! Now it looks better but I'm still not happy. Is there any other adjustments I can make? re-painting is out of the question for now. Can you heat and bend fiberlass?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 2,214
Likes: 0
From: Casa Grande AZ
Re: Bodywork questions (vetterATL)
Don't heat it or try to bend it.
You can adjust the grill behind the hood by loosening the screws.
You can adjust the hood at the hinges by loosening the bolts. You can shim those same bolts or just one of them. You may have to adjust the positioning of the latches afterwards. You may have to shim under the hinge on the fender in extreme cases. Sometimes I'm able to improve the fit by pushing a panel around after it's tightened. Getting panels to fit well can take alot of time. That's especially true if you haven't done it before. Get a helper and start loosening and shimming until you figure out what works best. Just be very careful with each test close or repainting may come sooner than you think.
You can adjust the grill behind the hood by loosening the screws.
You can adjust the hood at the hinges by loosening the bolts. You can shim those same bolts or just one of them. You may have to adjust the positioning of the latches afterwards. You may have to shim under the hinge on the fender in extreme cases. Sometimes I'm able to improve the fit by pushing a panel around after it's tightened. Getting panels to fit well can take alot of time. That's especially true if you haven't done it before. Get a helper and start loosening and shimming until you figure out what works best. Just be very careful with each test close or repainting may come sooner than you think.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 9,206
Likes: 17
From: Sewell NJ
Re: Bodywork questions (vetterATL)
The front and rear of the hood can be adjusted by adjusting the hinges at the front and the latches at the rear. Get these right first and then use hood spacers (don't know if this is the right word) to bring the center up to the right hight. You can get the spacers from all the suppliers. they look like a block of rubber about 1 1/2 inches long and about 1 inch high. They go in the channel of the fenders and support the edge of the hood. You trim them down until you get the hood at the right height.
