so I have a 69 obviously, but the front clip and hood are from a 68. the car came with two sets of hood hinges. I mounted the first set that the holes lined up and the hood would only open half way im not sure what they are from. so I drilled the holes correctly for the set that looks like what every other 69 has and mounted those. now the latch doesn't go into place. it is about 3 inches to far back. not exactly what to do from here. also one of the quarters is newer so that's the one I had to drill the holes for. just looking for some guidance. maybe the first set I put on are just stuck but nether pair line up with a second bolt hole just the first hole. im pretty confused at this point

thanks for the help

 

We need a pic but it sounds like you're trying to put a 68 hood onto a 69 core support or visa-versa. You can swap front ends but you have to change everything. The hood hinges shouldn't make that much difference. Where does the hood line up relative to the fenders?

 

The hood on the 68 does not open that far to begin with...just ask my head!

I am going by what little is left of my memory, but isn't the hinge from the 68 different from the 69?

 

The hinges functionally are in about the same place but the hood holes are about 3/8" off. They are physically different because the 68 hinge has two mounting holes to the fender and 69 has three. Obviously 69 opens further but you have the tongue to contend with on the 69. You can't just bolt a 69 hinge to a 68 fender because the 69 hinge won't have a flush mounting surface for all three holes (unless you have a dual pattern fender).

 

And the '68 hinges don't seem to open as far as they should, in any case. I'm thinking you were probably getting the full range out of those '68 hinges. I've nailed my head many a time on my '68 hood. But...I've also nailed my head many a time on the '69, with that nose piece that sticks down! It's almost like a "no-win" situation.

Randy C.

 

so im guessing i have both 68 and 69 hinges. the 68 set literally opens half way. maybe i can mess with them and get a little more open space. it just didnt look right so i decided to put the other set on and they are way off. the other question i have is the bolt hole closest to the window on the hood lines up just fine but then the front hole is basically nothing there. this is with both sets on hinges. i pretty sure it only has one set of threads for the hood hinge the ones closest to the windshield. should there be threads for the second bolt holes or whats going on here?

 

i think you might be right. they look maxed out it just didnt look right at all. i wish the 69 hinges would work. they basically fold it up and set the hood on the roof. but thanks for the help

 

The 68 hood and hinge require 3 bolts where it attaches to the hood. The hole closet to the windshield will
require a spacer between the hinge and hood.

 

That's correct. I don't think 69 has that rearward bolt at the end of the hinge.


And 68 hinges attach at 2 points to the fender and 69 has three (I think 69-72 are the same hinge)

 

I tried to fit 69 hinges on my 68 because "everyone" said they would interchange (I have 68-69 dual pattern fenders). I had to elongate the hinge to hood holes and then there was no forward-back adjustment. In the end I abandoned the swap and went with the 68 hinges.


I don't remember it being that far off though. I know I got the hood mounted with the 69 hinges and even closed it. Are you sure the hinges are closing right?

 

for a '68 "halfway" is "all the way."

What do you want, the hood to open up and fold over the top of the car?
It's enough to get in there. All you gotta do is ck the oil and change a filter, right?

You'll learn to watch your head like all of us '68 users. And snicker when others learn.

Rumor has it later F-body [C*mar0] hood hinges are fittable and open farther.

 

The same people told me the 69 hinges worked but no one's actually done it

 

i could barely get in it to pull the trans dip stick out. im gonna try tweeting the 68s and see what happens. not sure what exactly to do about the front bolt on the hood

 

I don't know how you matched up your '69 hinges to your '68 fenders but I have the sense that you may have used one of the '68 holes in doing it. If so, that was wrong. When I've seen a GM replacement fender for '68 & '69, there are 5 holes in that fender - 2 to accomodate the '68 hinge and 3 to accomodate the '69 hinge.

I've had to tell people to back off when looking under my hood as they try to raise the hood even more than it will go. In some cases, I'm afraid they will bend something! It's just one of those things we have to deal with in owning a '68!

Randy C.

 

68-69 Dual Pattern Fender. The 68 and 69's use totally different holes. The 68 used the furthest front and back. The 69 uses the other three

 

1968 only fenders are HARD to find. It is a shame you needed to modify them. My situation was a 1969 universal replacement GM fender was installed on the 1968 car. It came blank. The low brow body shop that installed it mis drilled the numeral locations and the cut out for the side marker was off by a fair amount. I think they said "yep, looks good to me". I searched for 6 months trying to get an original 1968 ONLY fender. Nothing out there. I ended up getting familiar with my welder and filled in everything and re cut from scratch by blueprinting everything from the opposite fender. I also removed the extra hump and mounting hole for 1969 to make really correct. I am sure the reason for the hinge change in 1969 was for additional clearance. There is also a difference in the peak trim, that was the initial tip off, the repaired side had the one piece stainless.

 

Late 68 fenders also used the one piece trim. It was a late change. It's shown in the assembly manual


I did the opposite of you. I took a 68 only fender, cut the top bump out piece from a 69 fender and welded it to make a dual pattern 68-69. The only problem was the 69 hinge really doesn't work on the 68 hood (as previously mentioned) so it was all for naught.

 

While I was looking, I found these pics which may be helpful. I have gathered much useful info here, so here's my contribution. This is a pair of 1968 only hinges being cleaned up. The 1968 only original non W-30/W-36 fender. The test fitting of emblems. The extra time to install, remove, test fit and tweak parts before painting makes the difference. It is amazing that the factory just threw them together. I would have liked to follow the process to see how much fiddling, if any they did to line it all up.

 

I just joined today.....I do have a pair of 69 hinges. I ordered 1968 hinges from a place in AZ.....but they sent 69....they said keep 'em (surprisingly). So, I still need 68....only 68 will fit a 68...b/c they changed the body style in 68 and then again in 69.......I have a 1968 Holiday S convertible, some parts extremely hard to find.....have found no after market hinges either for that year.

 

I just joined today.....I do have a pair of 69 hinges. I ordered 1968 hinges from a place in AZ.....but they sent 69....they said keep 'em (surprisingly). So, I still need 68....only 68 will fit a 68...b/c they changed the body style in 68 and then again in 69.......I have a 1968 Holiday S convertible, some parts extremely hard to find.....have found no after market hinges either for that year. Not sure if I doubled posted or not...sorry if I did!!! Learning as I go.