ardo55

Ok guys just had my 1968 442 convertible redone by a body guy. When the car went into the shop the hood aligned with both fenders. Now when the car came out the hood is raised on the drivers of the car. The whole length of the hood from front to back. The body guy tells me that the hood hinge is bad cause when the hood goes up and and it shifts back and fourth.

The questions is this.

Is my body man dump and does not know how to align a hood? and this problem can be fixed and if so how?

OR

Is my hinges on my hood bad and I need to find replacements?

Please help.

olds68

It's very possible that the hinge is bad. I had the same problem on mine. BUT, why did it align before the body shop??
Try to push down on the hood when it's closed to see if it aligns. If you can move it then the hinge is probably the issue.
Good luck!

allyolds68

It's a common problem. The guy that did my body work and paint spent a lot of time trying to get it and failed. As you lower the hood, look to the hinge from dead in front. Mine looked like the hinge was slightly tilted (only on the driver's side). I placed a washer or two BEHIND the hinge where it attaches to the fenders to shim the lower part of the hinge away from the fender. Putting the washers behind it as a shim was definitely the fix that worked. The hinge was binding just as it was closing. I should also note that I disassembled the springs from the hinge to make sure the rivets at the hinge points were free prior to shimming. (that can be done using your bumper jack )

BTW, when I closed mine and it was still "sprung" I could push the hood down along the driver's side edge and it would stay closed. I can't explain why your's worked before the trip for paint and not after (mine car was in pieces when I got it) but there are MANY adjustments and tricks that body guys use.

How does your front end line up? Usually on 68's the driver's side fender/ core support looks like it has to be raised to meet the hood.

ardo55

Thanks guys going to try it out. The reason that the hood fit before the body shop and now not after is that when it was painted the whole front end was taken apart.

oldcutlass

Sometimes, shims between the hinge and hood will work! Its called shiming a hood down.

geowindow6768

I had the same problem. The front of the hinge needs to go up - not down as you would assume it should. It worked for me and it was a simple fix

rcorrigan5

Concur with George about the front end of the hinge having to adjust up to make the hood sit down further. I had two problems. The first was a bad hinge, which I replaced. The second (with the replacement hinge) was solved using George's procedure.

Randy C.