Hood issues

[Edward B.]

What do you do when your hood sticks up at the front around 3/16" higher than the nose and you don't have any shims under the hinges??? Is there any other way to get the front of the hood lower?

The back is fine. Just the front it too high.

Ed

[Mark E.]

Re: Hood issues

Did you notice this after replacing or repositioning the front surround? Or did the car have this issue since in your care?

This can happen when the front surround is not properly aligned with the inner fenders (which is what locates the hood hinges). An experienced Corvette bodyman will position the surround with the hood in place to ensure proper alignment.

Raising the front surround in relation to the inner fenders isn't difficult the second time you do it, and involves breaking, realigning then rebonding the surround/inner fender bond.

A careful and experienced fiberglass man can do this without paint damage by minimizing panel flex while working. With that said, the job is less stressful if performed before paint.

[Mark E.]

Re: Hood issues

To clarify my last post:

This procedure is more about lowering the inner fenders than "raising the front surround". Assuming you have good gaps with the doors, the surround stays fixed in position while the inner fenders are positioned lower.

[Edward B.]

Re: Hood issues

Darn. I had a feeling this might be the case. This sounds expensive.

Thanks Mark. I'll start looking around for a good body man!

Ed

[Mark E.]

Re: Hood issues

Shouldn't be too bad, maybe 4 to 6 hours of labor. Paint is the big variable.

[Phillip M.]

Re: Hood issues

Ed, this may sound counterintuitive, but if you add shims to the hood hinges it will tend to "tip" the front edge of the hood down. I don't know if you will be able to effect a 3/16" drop, but it's worth a try before getting into a fiberglass fix. The most effective would be to add the shim(s) to the rearmost bolt on the hinge. My hood was about 1/8" high and this method worked.
Phil

[Bob W.]

Re: Hood issues

Ed, I had the same problem on the LH side of my 63. The inner fender was installed to high. It drove me nuts so I ended up doing the same thing as Phil stated in the above post #45.

[Edward B.]

Re: Hood issues

Thanks for the suggestion Phil and Bob, but wouldn't that be putting a lot of pressure on the hood to "bend"? Does fiberglass "bend" or just BREAK!!??

Ed

[Harry S.]

Re: Hood issues

It will bend slightly due to the length of the hood. Actually everything I can think of bends if it's long enough, even glass.

[Brad H.]

Re: Hood issues

Ed... Always do the easy first... see if your front hardware has any downward adjustments. Loosen nuts etc. if this type and see if they will drop down a bit.

[Edward B.]

Re: Hood issues

Well boys. I did the shims at the rear things and sure enough, it really helped. Not completely, the hood still sticks up MAYBE 1/16" at the front, but that sure is better than 3/16"! I can live with what I have for now until I get the money to have it repaired professionally.

Brad, which hardware are you referring to?

Thanks for the hints guys!

Ed