Hood alignment after frame swap ('69)

[69427]

Need some help with the hood alignment/appearance. I swapped the body onto another frame, and just got around to putting the hood on yesterday. I have it aligned so it latches okay, but the seams aren't as even as they used to be. There are three areas I'm concerned about. The very front (point) edge of the hood sits about a 1/4" above the nose bodywork directly ahead of it, while the sides of the hood (near the 427 emblems) are 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch below the fender curve lines. I'm trying to figure out if I have the front of the body bolted wrong (in the area above the front sway bar), or (if it's possible) if the hood has taken a less-curve set after sitting in a hot attic for the past year or two.
What do I need to do to figure out my problem here? This car has always had very good (for an older Corvette) seam evenness, and I'd like to get back to where it was.

Thanks for any help!
Mike

 

[mrvette]

Mike, my only comment is concerning my own car....when I bought it, the car was with a SB hood, and OEM painted like the body about ten years earlier....

but I wanted a BB hood, found one and had it painted up....

it too fit nearly perfect on all seams/elevations....

so a few months later I hit a Florida deer square up in the lights at night...busted hell out of them....found the front was lower than the hood by about 1/4 inch all across the hood, from the lights being forced UP and BACK into the body work, busted hell outta all that aluminum BS....

so went Ecklers scoops and so had to prop the front end up with a strut glued to the steel and that header....

I have examined and poked around all to hell with that over the years, and found NO solution...everyone I see seems happy, but nothing...stick the strut in there down to the frame and call it a day.....

if you find out, please lemme know....

:crutches::crap::hissyfit:

 

[Twin_Turbo]

I'm not quite envisioning where yours is too low, is it too low at the window side? What if you shim up the stuff there, the front will then be lower in respect to the front clip also. Do you have a pic so we can see where exactly it's too low?

What about the "hip" area?? is it ok there? If it's off there and okay everywhere else you have no option left but to break the inner fender bond and re-bond it while maintaining a level surface w/ the hood.

 

[69427]

I'm not quite envisioning where yours is too low, is it too low at the window side? What if you shim up the stuff there, the front will then be lower in respect to the front clip also. Do you have a pic so we can see where exactly it's too low?

What about the "hip" area?? is it ok there? If it's off there and okay everywhere else you have no option left but to break the inner fender bond and re-bond it while maintaining a level surface w/ the hood.

I took some pictures, but that POS HP camera of mine is giving me grief again, so I'll just try to explain what I've got here..

Recapping: If you run your hand from the center of the bumper rearward toward the hood, your hand will stop at the hood, as the front of the hood is sticking up higher (1/4 inch) than the bodywork ahead of the hood.
And, starting from the 427 hood emblems, if you run your hand outward toward the fender, your hand will stop at the hood/fender interface, as the hood is lower than the fender, rather than being even with it at the seam.

I can picture two things. 1)The front of the body (bumper area) is too low (explaining why the front bodywork is lower than the hood front), and this is causing a slight kink in the fenders, causing them to be high in the middle of the fenders (in the line between two wheelwells). I'm curious if raising the front (which should get rid of the hood front height misalignment) would also help out the hood side height issue.
2) If the hood is warped, I suppose I could fixture it (with some weights) out in the backyard, and let the sun heat it up and rebend it back to its former shape.

I think I might try undoing the bolts tomorrow on the brackets (above the sway bar mounts) and try lifting the nose up a quarter or half inch to see what happens.

I'll post pictures once I can get the damn camera to cooperate.

 

[BBShark]

Recapping: If you run your hand from the center of the bumper rearward toward the hood, your hand will stop at the hood, as the front of the hood is sticking up higher (1/4 inch) than the bodywork ahead of the hood.
And, starting from the 427 hood emblems, if you run your hand outward toward the fender, your hand will stop at the hood/fender interface, as the hood is lower than the fender, rather than being even with it at the seam.

I can picture two things.
1)The front of the body (bumper area) is too low (explaining why the front bodywork is lower than the hood front), and this is causing a slight kink in the fenders, causing them to be high in the middle of the fenders (in the line between two wheelwells). I'm curious if raising the front (which should get rid of the hood front height misalignment) would also help out the hood side height issue.
2) If the hood is warped, I suppose I could fixture it (with some weights) out in the backyard, and let the sun heat it up and rebend it back to its former shape.

The front "point" on the hood is about a foot in front of the hinge and the emblems are about a foot behind the hinge. Sounds like it is level at the hinge?

The front can droop pretty good on it's own and, with al the bracket collection that holds the front of the nose, it's real pain to get everything aligned.

 

[DeeVeeEight]

I installed rubber hood bumpers mid way up the sides (near your 427 emblems) to correct my hood height/alignment.

http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?pf_id=41505&dept_id=1459

 

[69427]

For whatever reason, the camera (or computer) cooperated in downloading this morning. First picture is taken from the front bumper towards the hood. Note that the hood front edge is visible above the plane of the bodywork.



The next picture is the hood side and fender interface, just outward from the hood emblems. The hood edge here sits lower than the fender seam.



As I mentioned earlier, I think I'll loosen the front brackets and try to raise the front bodywork a touch to see what happens. I hate spending time on stuff that doesn't make the car faster, but I can't stand how crappy the hood area looks like at the moment.

 

[mrvette]

Mike, that is the same exact look my shark had after that headlight/deer accident....the only thing I could find was an addtional rubber snub which was a FACTORY FIX for that hood thing up the sides there....I used a piece of 1/2" rubber hose cut and glued into position on the fender edge there.....and on the same side too. Pass side....

on the nose I NEVER figgered out what happened, looked all over the thing, finally gave up and used a prop against the cross support welded onto the U shape brace bolted to my '72 chrome bumper and then to the #1 cross thwart the rad support rests on.....happened to be convenient that cross support is 1.5" angle iron that supports the Hellas and yellow '63 turn signals.....

I see no reason a piece of plactic pipe cant be fashioned to stick between the center of that support and the header bar....

worked for ME....

:clobbered::amazed:

 

[Twin_Turbo]

You need those rubber blocks, place them where the hood sits lowers, then slam it shut.

 

[mrvette]

You need those rubber blocks, place them where the hood sits lowers, then slam it shut.

That IS the cure for his side fender troubles, but will most likely make the nose issue worse.....

:rain:

 

[69427]

You need those rubber blocks, place them where the hood sits lowers, then slam it shut.

Well, I can see how that would bend the hood a bit to make it follow the fender curvature closer. What I still don't understand is why I'm having this problem. The hood (original part) fit great before I took it off. There were no rubber spacers in there. I'm leaning more towards the theory of the hood taking a "straight" set while it was in storage. I'll give the spacers a try, and hopefully some time sitting in the Florida sun will make it a bit more pliable and get the curve back.

ps: The master cylinder fits under the hood. Thanks again.

 

[BBShark]

I would be shocked if the hood changed shape. It is much stiffer than the fenders and, after 40 years, if you tried to reshape it with heat and pressure, count on it going back to it's normal state with underhood heat.

I would put my money on the nose drooping.

 

[69427]

I would be shocked if the hood changed shape. It is much stiffer than the fenders and, after 40 years, if you tried to reshape it with heat and pressure, count on it going back to it's normal state with underhood heat.

I would put my money on the nose drooping.

Well, I'm too confused to know where to put my money. LOL
I loosened the front end today and jacked it up a bit, but I didn't make much improvement there. This mismatch certainly isn't going to slow the car up, but I do get a bit frustrated when I run into something that I don't have a good understanding of what the problem and solution is.
I'll keep plugging away.

 

[Twin_Turbo]

ps: The master cylinder fits under the hood. Thanks again.

Told you should have bet a good amount

 

[cajos1968]

I had the opposite this is how I fixed that. "Maybe". We will see as soon as it is on the road.



I pre heated the underside of the hood with a heat gun. And had it standing for a while lik this.



Those sidewalk tiles are about 12-15kg so there is a rather big weight on the hood.


It is not the best solution. Nex time I will loosen the fender.

 

[DeeVeeEight]

I had the opposite this is how I fixed that. "Maybe". We will see as soon as it is on the road.



I pre heated the underside of the hood with a heat gun. And had it standing for a while lik this.



Those sidewalk tiles are about 12-15kg so there is a rather big weight on the hood.


It is not the best solution. Nex time I will loosen the fender.

Is that Babar at the wheel?

 

[mrvette]

I would be shocked if the hood changed shape. It is much stiffer than the fenders and, after 40 years, if you tried to reshape it with heat and pressure, count on it going back to it's normal state with underhood heat.

I would put my money on the nose drooping.

Well, I'm too confused to know where to put my money. LOL
I loosened the front end today and jacked it up a bit, but I didn't make much improvement there. This mismatch certainly isn't going to slow the car up, but I do get a bit frustrated when I run into something that I don't have a good understanding of what the problem and solution is.
I'll keep plugging away.

Join the club, I get a high MPPO....over that....


:crutches::devil:

 

[cajos1968]

Is that Babar at the wheel?

Trunky the barbarian, looks like his master ;-). You can hire us for parties and funerals ;-)

 

[TopGunn]

I would be shocked if the hood changed shape. It is much stiffer than the fenders and, after 40 years, if you tried to reshape it with heat and pressure, count on it going back to it's normal state with underhood heat.

I would put my money on the nose drooping.

Well, I'm too confused to know where to put my money. LOL
I loosened the front end today and jacked it up a bit, but I didn't make much improvement there. This mismatch certainly isn't going to slow the car up, but I do get a bit frustrated when I run into something that I don't have a good understanding of what the problem and solution is.
I'll keep plugging away.

Hi,

I know this thread is a little old but I have the same condition with my car, the hood is aligned good at the windshield and at the nose but is below the fenders in the middle on both sides. I think mine has always been that way though the way the paint is worn at the fender edge. I also loosened the bolts on the nose and tried to bring the nose up so I could raise the hood to match but it didn't move at all. A friend wants me to break the seam on the fender lip and bring the fender down to match the hood, then re-rivet it. I have a hard time believing the fender is that plyable to bring down that much.

Were you able to get things lined up somehow?

 

[damoroso]

Actually, those rubber bumpers that sit along the fender are for aligning the hood to the fender hights and the nose. It calls for 2 per side, and you place/cut them to fit per the service manual. After trying all kinds of other adjustments, I did what the book said, and the hood fit really well. Even the front...