There is a gap between the hood tongue and the bumper. I didn't measure it and I am at work but it is considerable, probably 3/4" or more. Red car is mine. Most other cars/pics I have seen do not have this gap. However, I came across a couple pics the other day of two cars that do have the gap. It seems to make sense, sort of. The gap lines up with the bottom edge of the grill where there is also a gap. My question is - should there be the gap or not? Thanks.

 

Mine doesn't have that. Its prob in the adjustment of the front bumper

 

The problem looks like the hood is sprung up in the front center.

 

Agreed. On my 70 the lower edge of the tongue was behind the upper edge of the bumper. Your bumper may be slightly bent - that forward center section doesn't have a lot of structural support and can bend fairly easily.

 

On my 70 Vista the "hockey stick" chrome hit on he bumper and rubbed wearing a groove in the trim. I lowered the bumper to stop the contact but I think my bumper and or hood/ tongue are bent. I wonder if the correct spacing is shown in the assembly manual?

 

I'm looking at the uneven gap between the hood and the grills.

 

I don't see anything in the assembly manual so far that shows the positioning. It illustrates how to attach the bumper but only illustrates the frame and bumper, no sheet mettle

 

The same thing happened on my 70, but the trim also wore a groove in the bumper. I think that shows how close the two originally were to each other, and also how far down the tongue came with respect to the bumper.

 

Thanks for the input. I'm thinking it is an issue with the bumper. I do not know how I could get the front center of the hood to be any lower without messing with the entire front support.

 

my trim wore a groove in the bumper as well

 

Post some more pictures of your hood, some from straight on, so we can better see the alignment.

It could be that the bumper just needs to be rotated slightly, so the center section that protrudes the farthest, moves in an arc that brings it both upwards and inwards.

 

core support bushings worn out?

 

Looks like the hood needs to come down.

 

I don't think that's it. It looks like it lines up with the fenders pretty well

 

It just seems like the center of the hood is too high. The sides are ok. If you look at the grille on the driver side, the gap from the corner by the headlight to the hood is much smaller than the gap at the corner near the hood tongue.

 

I know this an old thread, but I'm having the same issue as the red Cutlass. Any resolution and suggestions? The body lines for the hood and fender are spot on, but I too have gap by the grilles an the hood tooth/extension has a gap.

 

Anyone?

 

Jacoz,
Body panel alignment is an art. The red car is definitely bent. Core support, hood and maybe the horns. These cars were never perfect. But that's grossly off somewhere. Accident damage is always a consideration...So is shotty repairs. That's why panel gaps during the resto phase are so important. And do it in small tweaks. The pros have ways of customizing/fine tuning gaps by +/- metal and manhandling to get the coveted 3/16" full panel gap fit.

This is another reason I highly recommend putting any car on a frame table to see what the foundation looks like before any restoration work begins. If the horns and core support areas are off enough you will be fighting a losing battle.

If you can not get it the way you want it Id suggest that. Or take it somewhere to someone who does this all day. Worth a few Benjamins before you go any further IMO.

But before you go in that direction:
What do the side gaps look like on your bumper?
Is the bumper off? I've seen a few re-chromes that didn't get straightened properly. I know this first hand.
It looks like the bumper could come up a bit more and get sucked in a bit. But the horizontal in front of the headlights looks about right at least from this angle? Are the headlight buckets tight on the bumper? They shouldn't be. Should be able to get a finger in there. That's the way the 8s n 9s are. The assembly manual has the gap specs
Do you have shims between the core support and fenders? If so remove them and bring the fenders and hood down as long as it doesn't affect the fender to door gaps.
Check the area where the grills attach. Any adjustments to be found there?
What does the fender to door gaps look like?