74 delta hood hinge help
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74 delta hood hinge help
On my 74 delta vert my hood is raised on the driver side I WD 40 and greased good hood hinges they work fine but the hood stays raised on the driverside a couple of inches,,,, so I purchased different hood hinges, put them on greased them up and same problem.. is there anything i can adjust or do to help this out,,, thanks everybody
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Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 15,163
From: southeastern Michigan
Have you tried adjusting the hood? These hinges have all kinds of adjustment in them, and there was probably no reason to buy new ones until you at least tried to make adjustments with the old ones.
But hood adjustment is tricky because it's such a heavy thing. The way to do it is to loosen the hinge bolts, and there will be bolts holding the hinge to the fender as well as the hood to the hinge, just enough to allow you to slide the hinge behind the bolts but not so much that the hinge doesn't stay in place when you let go.
To adjust play that's in the horizontal direction, you would loosen the hood-to-hinge bolts. What you need, apparently, is to adjust in the vertical direction, so you would loosen the hinge-to-fender bolts.
As I said, loosen just enough to be able to slide the hinge around. Then lower the hood carefully to the fully closed position and push down on any parts of the rear of the hood as necessary until it lines up with the fender. Then open the hood very carefully and slowly so as not to knock the hinges out of place and retighten them.
Then open and close the hood a few times to check for fit and repeat the above process as necessary. You may have to go through the loosen-close-adjust-open-tighten sequence several times before you get it just the way you want it.
Remember, the hood is heavy, so don't over-loosen it or it could fall in some way you don't want it to.
If it's toward the front of the car that alignment is needed, you will need to loosen and adjust the hood stop bolts on either side. These have little rubber tops on them, and they control how far down the front of the hood goes when fully closed.
I have a '73 Custom Cruiser wagon, which has an identical hood/hinge system to your car, and this is what I went through to get the hood lined up.
But hood adjustment is tricky because it's such a heavy thing. The way to do it is to loosen the hinge bolts, and there will be bolts holding the hinge to the fender as well as the hood to the hinge, just enough to allow you to slide the hinge behind the bolts but not so much that the hinge doesn't stay in place when you let go.
To adjust play that's in the horizontal direction, you would loosen the hood-to-hinge bolts. What you need, apparently, is to adjust in the vertical direction, so you would loosen the hinge-to-fender bolts.
As I said, loosen just enough to be able to slide the hinge around. Then lower the hood carefully to the fully closed position and push down on any parts of the rear of the hood as necessary until it lines up with the fender. Then open the hood very carefully and slowly so as not to knock the hinges out of place and retighten them.
Then open and close the hood a few times to check for fit and repeat the above process as necessary. You may have to go through the loosen-close-adjust-open-tighten sequence several times before you get it just the way you want it.
Remember, the hood is heavy, so don't over-loosen it or it could fall in some way you don't want it to.
If it's toward the front of the car that alignment is needed, you will need to loosen and adjust the hood stop bolts on either side. These have little rubber tops on them, and they control how far down the front of the hood goes when fully closed.
I have a '73 Custom Cruiser wagon, which has an identical hood/hinge system to your car, and this is what I went through to get the hood lined up.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 221
have you tried adjusting the hood? These hinges have all kinds of adjustment in them, and there was probably no reason to buy new ones until you at least tried to make adjustments with the old ones.
But hood adjustment is tricky because it's such a heavy thing. The way to do it is to loosen the hinge bolts, and there will be bolts holding the hinge to the fender as well as the hood to the hinge, just enough to allow you to slide the hinge behind the bolts but not so much that the hinge doesn't stay in place when you let go.
To adjust play that's in the horizontal direction, you would loosen the hood-to-hinge bolts. What you need, apparently, is to adjust in the vertical direction, so you would loosen the hinge-to-fender bolts.
As i said, loosen just enough to be able to slide the hinge around. Then lower the hood carefully to the fully closed position and push down on any parts of the rear of the hood as necessary until it lines up with the fender. Then open the hood very carefully and slowly so as not to knock the hinges out of place and retighten them.
Then open and close the hood a few times to check for fit and repeat the above process as necessary. You may have to go through the loosen-close-adjust-open-tighten sequence several times before you get it just the way you want it.
Remember, the hood is heavy, so don't over-loosen it or it could fall in some way you don't want it to.
If it's toward the front of the car that alignment is needed, you will need to loosen and adjust the hood stop bolts on either side. These have little rubber tops on them, and they control how far down the front of the hood goes when fully closed.
I have a '73 custom cruiser wagon, which has an identical hood/hinge system to your car, and this is what i went through to get the hood lined up.
But hood adjustment is tricky because it's such a heavy thing. The way to do it is to loosen the hinge bolts, and there will be bolts holding the hinge to the fender as well as the hood to the hinge, just enough to allow you to slide the hinge behind the bolts but not so much that the hinge doesn't stay in place when you let go.
To adjust play that's in the horizontal direction, you would loosen the hood-to-hinge bolts. What you need, apparently, is to adjust in the vertical direction, so you would loosen the hinge-to-fender bolts.
As i said, loosen just enough to be able to slide the hinge around. Then lower the hood carefully to the fully closed position and push down on any parts of the rear of the hood as necessary until it lines up with the fender. Then open the hood very carefully and slowly so as not to knock the hinges out of place and retighten them.
Then open and close the hood a few times to check for fit and repeat the above process as necessary. You may have to go through the loosen-close-adjust-open-tighten sequence several times before you get it just the way you want it.
Remember, the hood is heavy, so don't over-loosen it or it could fall in some way you don't want it to.
If it's toward the front of the car that alignment is needed, you will need to loosen and adjust the hood stop bolts on either side. These have little rubber tops on them, and they control how far down the front of the hood goes when fully closed.
I have a '73 custom cruiser wagon, which has an identical hood/hinge system to your car, and this is what i went through to get the hood lined up.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 221
well after adgusting the hood forever i got the passanger side to line up perfect,, the drivers side is still off about a half inch.. Ill take that but it i have to push it down on the driver side by the hinge to line up if not ill stay up about 1 or so.. I tried 2 diffrent springs on the hood any suggestions on that... If not ill leave it like that.
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 15,163
From: southeastern Michigan
It sounds like you got it pretty close. Misalignment can also be due to improperly aligned front fenders. Those can be adjusted as well once you find their mounting bolts.
It might be worth it at the end of the day, if you really want this to look perfect, to take it to body shop and give them $10 or $20 to line it up for you. They do this all the time while you and I do it once or twice in our lives.
When I needed help in figuring out how to adjust a door so that it closed properly, I took the car to my favorite local body shop (a place that had uncrunched a few of my children's fender-benders over the years), and the guy just came out to the parking lot and gave me a 5-minute lesson on what to do. He didn't charge me anything.
It might be worth it at the end of the day, if you really want this to look perfect, to take it to body shop and give them $10 or $20 to line it up for you. They do this all the time while you and I do it once or twice in our lives.
When I needed help in figuring out how to adjust a door so that it closed properly, I took the car to my favorite local body shop (a place that had uncrunched a few of my children's fender-benders over the years), and the guy just came out to the parking lot and gave me a 5-minute lesson on what to do. He didn't charge me anything.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 221
It sounds like you got it pretty close. Misalignment can also be due to improperly aligned front fenders. Those can be adjusted as well once you find their mounting bolts.
It might be worth it at the end of the day, if you really want this to look perfect, to take it to body shop and give them $10 or $20 to line it up for you. They do this all the time while you and I do it once or twice in our lives.
When I needed help in figuring out how to adjust a door so that it closed properly, I took the car to my favorite local body shop (a place that had uncrunched a few of my children's fender-benders over the years), and the guy just came out to the parking lot and gave me a 5-minute lesson on what to do. He didn't charge me anything.
It might be worth it at the end of the day, if you really want this to look perfect, to take it to body shop and give them $10 or $20 to line it up for you. They do this all the time while you and I do it once or twice in our lives.
When I needed help in figuring out how to adjust a door so that it closed properly, I took the car to my favorite local body shop (a place that had uncrunched a few of my children's fender-benders over the years), and the guy just came out to the parking lot and gave me a 5-minute lesson on what to do. He didn't charge me anything.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 221
It sounds like you got it pretty close. Misalignment can also be due to improperly aligned front fenders. Those can be adjusted as well once you find their mounting bolts.
It might be worth it at the end of the day, if you really want this to look perfect, to take it to body shop and give them $10 or $20 to line it up for you. They do this all the time while you and I do it once or twice in our lives.
When I needed help in figuring out how to adjust a door so that it closed properly, I took the car to my favorite local body shop (a place that had uncrunched a few of my children's fender-benders over the years), and the guy just came out to the parking lot and gave me a 5-minute lesson on what to do. He didn't charge me anything.
It might be worth it at the end of the day, if you really want this to look perfect, to take it to body shop and give them $10 or $20 to line it up for you. They do this all the time while you and I do it once or twice in our lives.
When I needed help in figuring out how to adjust a door so that it closed properly, I took the car to my favorite local body shop (a place that had uncrunched a few of my children's fender-benders over the years), and the guy just came out to the parking lot and gave me a 5-minute lesson on what to do. He didn't charge me anything.
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 15,163
From: southeastern Michigan
The problem was my driver's side front door, too, and it would not close and be properly aligned in and out. He said to loosen the the pin on the pillar that the door closes on (you'll need a star bit to loosen it) just enough to slide it around with a bit of effort. Like with the hood hinges, you want to be able to able to move it but have it stay in place when you let go.
Then close the door and "let the door find the correct position of the pin." Move the door in and out, while it's closed, until it aligns with the body. Then open the door carefully so the pin doesn't move and tighten it. This is better than trying to guess where the pin should go, moving it, tightening it, closing the door and seeing that it still isn't quite aligned, and repeating the process over and over.
The guy actually did this for me in the parking lot of his shop as part of the 5-minute lesson and got the door aligned in no time.
Then close the door and "let the door find the correct position of the pin." Move the door in and out, while it's closed, until it aligns with the body. Then open the door carefully so the pin doesn't move and tighten it. This is better than trying to guess where the pin should go, moving it, tightening it, closing the door and seeing that it still isn't quite aligned, and repeating the process over and over.
The guy actually did this for me in the parking lot of his shop as part of the 5-minute lesson and got the door aligned in no time.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 221
The problem was my driver's side front door, too, and it would not close and be properly aligned in and out. He said to loosen the the pin on the pillar that the door closes on (you'll need a star bit to loosen it) just enough to slide it around with a bit of effort. Like with the hood hinges, you want to be able to able to move it but have it stay in place when you let go.
Then close the door and "let the door find the correct position of the pin." Move the door in and out, while it's closed, until it aligns with the body. Then open the door carefully so the pin doesn't move and tighten it. This is better than trying to guess where the pin should go, moving it, tightening it, closing the door and seeing that it still isn't quite aligned, and repeating the process over and over.
The guy actually did this for me in the parking lot of his shop as part of the 5-minute lesson and got the door aligned in no time.
Then close the door and "let the door find the correct position of the pin." Move the door in and out, while it's closed, until it aligns with the body. Then open the door carefully so the pin doesn't move and tighten it. This is better than trying to guess where the pin should go, moving it, tightening it, closing the door and seeing that it still isn't quite aligned, and repeating the process over and over.
The guy actually did this for me in the parking lot of his shop as part of the 5-minute lesson and got the door aligned in no time.
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