'55 f100 hood alignment
#1
'55 f100 hood alignment
My sons '55 hood has a sizable gap between the top rear and the upper cowel. The rear area down by the fenders is close to the cowel. If I loosen the hinge mounts and turn the upper hinge rearward it seams I would also need to put a spacer under the radiator support to compensate for the hood moving up and back on the front end. We noticed a few trucks at the www.hunnertcarpileup.com car show that had a sizable gap between hood and cowel also. Are we just being too picky ? Thanks for all input, Joe
#2
Lot's of gap's to find and get rid of in that old sheetmetal LoL!...1/4" gap seems the norm,..but the more time spent working things out, smaller gaps can be found..Are you working with an original body/fender/hood combo? What is the condition of the front cab mounts and adjoining sheetmetal??
When the front mounts go south..so does the front of the cab..the rear of the hood(at the cowl) and the rear of the fenders also go south (down)..most times the hood at the cowl will "spread" outward, into the fenders...this gives a "broken-back" look if viewed from the side...with a resulting gap at the cowl to hood being uneven..
As a final note on the hood hinge,..The hinge has a built-in 'camming' action..the hood goes rearward and down..then thru the internal design of the hinge, the rear of the hood actually 'drops' down into the final resting spot. be sure everything is lubed up and working properly..
...these front clips can try one's patience,.. if the front of the cab is dropping you will loose your mind trying to get things to look and work right...because things will not go where they are supposed to. Good Luck!
..
When the front mounts go south..so does the front of the cab..the rear of the hood(at the cowl) and the rear of the fenders also go south (down)..most times the hood at the cowl will "spread" outward, into the fenders...this gives a "broken-back" look if viewed from the side...with a resulting gap at the cowl to hood being uneven..
As a final note on the hood hinge,..The hinge has a built-in 'camming' action..the hood goes rearward and down..then thru the internal design of the hinge, the rear of the hood actually 'drops' down into the final resting spot. be sure everything is lubed up and working properly..
...these front clips can try one's patience,.. if the front of the cab is dropping you will loose your mind trying to get things to look and work right...because things will not go where they are supposed to. Good Luck!
..
#4
Do an advanced search on my user name and sheet metal alignment, fender alignment, hood hinges etc. I have posted a detailed step by step on hanging the front sheet metal several times. There are supposed to be thick rubber spacers under the radiator horseshoe, and the hood is the first piece of body metal you hang and the rest aligns to it, not the last thing.
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