took off my hood on my 66 cutlass to redo engine compartment marked everything but repainted over it having a hell of a time realigning the hood when i think i have it perfect the back stays to high but front perfect cant move hinges down anymore. just cleaned and painted old hinges. any tricks to doing it easy by myself. tighten in certain sequence? thanks for the help

 

I had the same problem with my 66 when I first put it together. Take the springs off the hinges, pull and hood and hinges. Spray all the pivoy pionts down real good with white spray grease. Work the hinge open and closed by hand 30-40 times. Clean off the extra grease and spray more grease and repeat. Do the same to the other side. You will be amazed how good the hood will shut after you do this.

 

Well, guess I did it the smart way. Drilled a couple short #8 bit tip screws through the hinge plate and hood, before touching the main bolts. Had the hood off several times, put the small scews back in before torquing down the main bolts, and perfect alignment every time.

 

Believe it or not, raising the hinges will lower the rear part of the hood.

 

I'm telling you the cleaning and painting is the problem not the alignment. I had mine aligned perfect and the hood stuck up at the back. Mine were probably a little worse because I zinc plated them but the procedure above worked perfect.

 

Raising the front of the hinge lowers the back of the hood. If it needs more you lower the back if possible too.
You have to picture the plane of the hinge when the hood is closed, raising the front angles the hinge and hood down towards the back.

 

That's exactly how I've always understood it. Good short explanation.

 

Does that work on a 1970 cutlass supreme? the rear of my hood is up in the air also. I bought the car that way.
Mike

 

Yes, and I'm not sure but I think yours require some shims.

 

Shouldn't need any shims at all for hood alignment. The rear spring screws take care of the rear 'seating'. The rad support bumpers can be adjusted at the front to lift the leading edge as needed. The side bumpers will just cradle the hood so it doesn't wiggle when you're driving. The only shims you might need are for fender alignment.

 

These came up during a discussion on a previous post?

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...inge-shim.html

 

Both my '70 and '71 had those at the rear between the hinge and the hood. They were critical for proper alignment on both cars.

FYI, when I remove the hood I first use a pencil and make a mark around the hinge mating surface on the hood. When reinstalling the hood, just get the hinge inside the outline box and it's in the correct position.

 

Thank you, Should I start with the shims 1st? and than try to raise the front of the hood? Do you think 1/4 inch is ok?

 

Also, and I'm surprised no onerntioned it, if the back of the hood sits to high when closed, but it can be "pushed" back down to level, the springs are worn.
Here is another one, I took off a stock flat hood and replaced it with a SS. ( years ago on an El Camino) and fought and fought for hours trying to align the hood perfectly. I finally gave in and called a friend that was a body-man as his chosen profession. Anyway, he had it done, and I mean perfectly done, way better than GM
Specs------ He loosed the core supports mounts and within minutes had done what I COULDN'T do in hours.
Who says you can't beat a guy at his own game?

 

While he was "onerntion"-ing it... ( Sorry, it is Friday) Did you have core support too tight? and by loosening it the front end raised allowing the hood to go down in the back, or did he loosen the core support and add shims to raise it?

 

The only time you need shims on the core support while your "onerntion"-ing would be if your fender to door seam is not correct. The shims betweenf the hood and hinge are there to prevent the hood from warping when you tighten the bolts on the 68 n up.

 

I did move the front of the hood springs all the way up and the hood is better but still up in the air just a little bit in the rear. What can I do to further bring it down? I just need a little more.

 

Can you push it down with your hand or does it stop? Did you lubricate all the pivot points like Richard suggested?

 

I did get it down. I did get the passenger side to look real nice but I need to adjust the fender on the drs side. The gap is wide between the fender and the door and I think the top of the fender needs to come up to meet the hood and I think this will close the gap in between the door and the fender. Would you have any idea how to do this? Thank you so much for the advice on the hood adjustment. I have been living with this problem for 10 years now.
Mike

 

You might have to drill the holes bigger in the hinge. If you raise the fender it will raise the hinge also. I feel your pain, I've done this three times now on new hinges each time. (gotta love only having pins DOH!) For future reference drill the hinges with a 1/8 in bit into the hood and fenders so you can re-align it. works great after a paint job also.

 

Anyone have any tips on how to install the rubber bumpers that are in the fender at the sides of the hood? My hood is aligned nice but i have not been able to get those installed. I have a 65 cutlass.

 

The rubber cushions just push in,I use some lubricant and wiggle them in.

Ok, with your hood closed does everything line up? Does the hood stick out on one side, is there gaps that are wider on one side vs the other? What it sounds like to me is your core support is not centered on the frame which in turn throws your door gaps off at the fenders. You may have to remove the bumper, loosen everything up and align all your front end sheet metal.

 

No all of that seems to be ok. I would like to send a pic can I do that on this site? I'm new to this. Seems like the right side is good but the left side fender seems to low. The top of the door gap is wide and the fender is just a touch lower than the hood but with your hood adjustment it is a lot better but the front of the hinge is at its max height adjustment. Can you tell me how to send a pic?

 

Yes, post a picture. If you have the image hosted somewhere else, just copy the IMG url and paste it here.
Otherwise, open "Go Advanced" and scroll down to 'Manage Attachments'. Pretty self explanatory. Your images can't be super HD quality though or the server won't accept them.

 

Ok, I will take a pic I the morning and try to post it. Thank you!
Mike

 

Ok IM going to try to up load the pics

 

Looks like it worked. Notice the hood is raised and the gap for the door is wide. I think if I were to raise the fender a little bit this would resolve the problem, IM worried if I try this I may cause other problems.

 

Sorry about my typing a couple of posts back---can't figure that one out. I guess my "spell checking" took the day off, just like my brain. I will say, in my own defense, that I had MAJOR back surgery not long ago, and maybe, just maybe those pain pills took over. Anyway, I promise I'll try to do better.

 

Don't worry Dave none of us is perfect, except maybe Jaunty .

Well Crankshaft, thats a marked improvement, just keep fine tuning and it'll be perfect.

 

Dave, don't worry about it, just giving you a hard time. Spell check gets me all the time, especially on my phone.

Crankshaft keep working at it, I have a whole front clip to put on, so I am real interested in these subtle adjustments.

 

Before you adjust anything else, what's the gap like on the back of the door at the quarter panel gap?

 

The door to rear quarter is perfect. I still cant get the fender to come up to the hood. It also seems that the rear of the hood rubs the firewall as it closes. I think the rear of the hood is to low but if I raise it it sticks up to high in the rear.