I can't figure out whats going on. Dealing with 66 Cutlass the if I rotate the hinges forward the hood will shut ok buit sticks up in the back. If I rotate them back I can get it to come down in the back like it needs to but about an inch before the hood shuts there is a lot of resistance. If I watch through a headlight hole the hinges are just stopping and the body and hood are flexing as the hood comes down the last inch or so. The wheel wells are not even in yet so once they are bolted up the fenders won't be flexing any more so all the stress will be on the hood. Anyone ever ran into this? I'm stumped.

 

Pull the springs and try it. It may be as simple as heating your hood springs to loosen them up.

 

Figured it out this morning. It was late last night and my brain had shut down. I pulled the hinges back off and could make them seat all the way but they got tight at the end. I had already lubed them before installing but I did not work them in. I lubed the crap of them this time and and worked them about 50 times. The lithium grease started turning a nasty brown all aroud the pivot points. My guess is when I had them cad plated some of the chemical stayed in the joints and rusted up a little. I sprayed all the grease and brown gook out with carb cleaner relubed and reworked. Now the hood shuts better than any old car I have ever owned.

 

I don't know how many times I've been in the same boat. 3:00 in the morning and nothing seems to be working. After a good night's sleep, the problem becomes obvious.

 

Yeah, at 3:00am it becomes obvious the brain has already retired whether the body has or not........

But when it comes to hood hinges the problem started with GM. Of all the 50s and 60s cars I have those made by GM seem to have the most poorly under braced hoods and hinges more prone to hanging up. I've come to the conclusion that most hinge assemblies were over sprung and hinge rivets often overly compressed during assembly.

 

I'll take an over sprung hinge and a bent hood over a prop rod anyday.