Mikeacs

I've had my 64 a few weeks and slowly working through issues with it, next on the list is the poor fit of the hood..I'll save the fit of the headlight doors for last..As you can see the hood is about 3/16 high on the LH side toward the center..Why the car was painted with such a poor hood fit is beyond me..There are no shims to remove on the left side, and I tried adjusting the spring down at the rear latch to raise the rear of the hood a bit, in hopes of bringing the front down, which helped a tiny bit. It even looks as if the underside of the hood at the hinge bolt holes has even been ground down in an attempt to lower the hood front..I also tried a shim at the rear bolt of the hinge, which only made the hood rub at the hood opening to the point that I almost couldn't open it. I'm trying to save the paint of course, but the hood fits like crap...any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.!

ChattanoogaJSB

Pretty car! Don't be too stressed.

has the car had a front clip? In the V on the headlight panel do you have recessed where the emblem bolts? Factory front ends do.

If the front end is fitted poorly (or has had a bad collision repair) it may be hard to correct without paint. You certainly won't shim the rear latches to compensate for that leading edge I'm afraid.

Benton

DansYellow66

By left side I think you mean the passenger side which is actually the right side in auto jargon. Even if no shims are there you can still slightly lower the passenger side at the front by loosening the hinge bolts on the fender skirt (outline where the hinge sits with tape first so as to get it back in the same place later) and put a body shim under the rear bolt. Because the hinge point is cantilevered out at the front, the shim will rotate the hinge point down, slightly lowering the hood. It's not going to be enough to solve the whole issue but is easy enough to do and will help.

Other than that you almost have to sand the hinge mounting pad down to compensate or something like that. I think before I sanded down the fiberglass I would remove the hinge and grind the lower base flange to a taper with a very thin edge at the front to further lower the pivot point. That with a shim or two in the rear might take care of it. And a hinge is a replaceable item so grinding it down is a bit less severe. It seems I remember a member who actually section a hinge to slightly lower the pivot point to solve a similar issue - so that may be an option. You might spend some time doing an advance search and find his thread.

I does look like the hood has a bit more peak in it than the nose so anything you end up with might be a compromise. I might be wrong - it could just be the high hinge. The nose can't be re-shaped any because of the steel bar in it (not easily anyway). A hood could be removed, set in the sun with the front supported at the hinge mounts, weight set in the center and left in the sun awhile (as in days) to slowly reshape it a little. But, a lot of care has to be taken in doing so.

It does look like a pretty car.

MikeM

Short of cutting the front end off and starting over.....................

You might try sectioning your hinges to lower the hood. Cut out a section and reweld.

MasterDave

Make sure the hood isn't riding on the air cleaner.

426 Hemi

My '67 has the passenger side hinge cut down---worked good.

Btw is that black with tan interior? Looks good.

mike coletta

I Agree with Mike M. You're not going to fix that with shims or adjustments. Sectioning the hinge is your only hope, but then it looks like (from the picture), that the center would be flush, and the outside front corner will be in a hole???

Mikeacs

Thanks for all the replys..I think cutting the hinge will be my best bet...does anyone have a pic handy of a hinge that's been cut? How much did you take out of the hinge, just the width of the cutting disk?
Thanks again..Mike

426 Hemi

Here's pics of mine. Can't remember how much was removed but I think it's the max before the bolt heads touch each other.

Just for the heck of it you might want to try to shim just the rear bolt. Being though the pivot is way out in front that might tip it down some.


Cut:







Uncut:

Mike Geary

This is the most you can take out and not have to grind down bolt heads. By my shadetree calculations....

Mikeacs

Thanks a lot guys...that'll be a big help!

65air_coupe

Mine has a similar peak in the hood plus had a cutdown hinge when I bought it forty years ago. At some point I replaced the hinge with a non-modified one and just live with the hood being slightly higher in the center. As best I can tell, mine is a no-hit body and I suspect it's not an uncommon problem.

MOXIE62

Are there shims under the 2 bolts that attached the radiator support. Removing them or adding will effect hood height.

Mikeacs

No shims...

corvetteed

You really ought to check on this first. Its easy to check, and could be contributing to the problem. Unfortunately for me, there weren't shims or spacers to be removed and I ended up having the intake manifold replaced, but at least the hood fits now as it is supposed to.

Mikeacs

It has its stock 300hp intake and dual snorkel breather, but I will check that also...thanks

Mikeacs

Well... after stressing over scratching the painted hood, I figured out a way to suspend the hood and remove the hinge without incident. I removed around 3/16 inch from the hinge and slotted the holes a bit..I ended up having to re-adjust the other side as well. Not perfect, as there is still a small rise in the center of the hood, but certainly more presentable.
Thanks for the help!..


and before:

65hihp

I think you nailed it.
Gotta love a 64 coupe!

Brian Kotula

Is that a 64 grille? Looks like a 66-67 grille on your car.

Mikeacs

You are correct..Someone replaced it at some point in its life..