Headlights are apparently rubbing the hood in the "on" position. I have no room to adjust them forward...
Will fixed headlights (like radioflyers) remedy this? Simple hood adjustment?...or is this a body shop only thing?

 

Last pic is passenger side. It is much worse than drivers side. I leave for work at 4:00 am every day, so I need lights...

 

Has there been recent damage? There are just 4 bolts holding the hood in place. It is easy to adjust the hood back towards the windshield, you probably only need to move it a 1/16" or so.
PS Before moving hood, mark where the hood is now so you can tell how far to move it.

 

No idea. Just bought the car.
This is my life...

 

It's for sure the hood itself that is causing the issue.

As mentioned above there are four bolts that hold the hood itself to the front hinges and the hinges themselves can be loosened and the entire assembly moved. Apply a little paint to the bolts as they are now, loosen them, and move the entire assembly over slightly. This is easier done if you have a helper.

The other adjustment you can make is with the height bump stops. These are the little black pedestals on the furtherest most portion of where the hood is on each four corners. For the front of the hood, you may want to adjust these slightly upwards so the hood has more clearance when closed. This is done by loosening the hold bolt under the bumper and spinning the whole assembly until it's where you want it. Then tightening the hold bolt back down.

Be careful when adjusting the height bump stops. The inside jams of the fenders have an obvious weather seal. If the hood is adjusted too high then there is potential for water to get in easier (debris and water tends to enter the front of the hood quite often, since there is no hood seal there from the factory. An aftermarket seal piece can remedy this).

 

Thank you, I will keep you updated. I owned a 2000 Z28 that was lost to Hurricane Ike. I lived waterfront at the time. It was a caged 10.38 sec. car that I bought new. 18k miles on it when I lost it... Not new to the LS game, but the vette stuff is strangely foreign to me. This is my daily driver, for now. It is a car that I feel is worth saving. Thank you for all of the help.

That said, making adjustments to a hood that rests in a vertical position makes me nervous. Very nervous. I installed a SS hood on my Z28 and it was a bitch. Vertical adjustment.... And just me? This may suck.

 

And if you're not confident in getting the adjustment right, best to let a competent body shop do the work. Shouldn't cost a terrible amount.

 

Remove the headlight cover. The plastic bracket that the headlight cover bolts to is completely adjustable, front to rear side to side.

 

I had the same issue (although, to a lesser extent) with an '04 I bought last spring.

You can adjust to remedy this, it's not difficult just tedious.

Judging from the pictures (more would have helped) I agree with whoever said the hood needs to be adjusted. With the hood (and lights) closed look at the position of the hood, the gaps at the fenders and at the front; all these gaps should be pretty equal. Also, the outside corners of the hood should be in-line with the fender corners near the cowl. Once you've determined which directions the hood needs to be moved (I'm guessing about 1/8" toward the cowl), open the hood, find the bolts attaching the front hood hinge mechanism, loosen (slightly, 1/2 - 3/4 turn should be enough) all the bolts attaching the mechanism to the frame (not to the hood). I then placed a 2"x2"x12" piece of wood end-on against the bottom portion of the mechanism(s) and tapped on the other end of the 2x2 with a hammer; and move the hinges in the direction the hood needs to move. Move the mechanism very, very little (a small movement of the hinge will result in a much larger movement of the hood in relationship to the fenders). Once you've moved a hinge (or hinges), re-snug down the bolts, then carefully and slowly close the hood and reevaluate it's location relative to the it's surroundings. Repeat as necessary until the hood is properly located (if necessary you can "cheat" it's location slightly closer to the cowl) and the light covers no longer hit the hood (the covers are also adjustable, but get the hood location more correct first).

Expect this to take several attempts, as I said it's tedious not difficult; I think I spent about 2 hours "playing" with the hood (and later the headlight doors) until the headlights no longer rubbed and I was satisfied I had the gaps around the hood, fenders, and headlight covers as even as I could get them.

 

Unless you can easily tell the engine hood is mis-aligned, I would start with the headlight covers. You can adjust them by removing the plastic shrouds first and then the actual painted covers by removing the two Phillips head screws in the back and the two torx screws on the sides.

After the lids/ covers are removed, there are 4 adjustment screws that you can move front, back, and sideways. I suggest snapping a before picture so you know where to move the screws. It only takes a little adjustment as there is not much room to begin with. There are also some vertical adjustment points you can also adjust if you feel the lid cover are not even with the hood.

As mentioned, it's more tedious than difficult. Once you have it perfect, I suggest you mark the points for future reference.

 

Thanks guys!!!!
I loosened the four bolts at the mechanism to car point and pushed each side up and better centered it. Then I had to loosen and move the latch mechanisms up. Two hours later the headlights no longer contact the hood, and hopefully the hood will stay down on the highway.