the 66 F-250 4 WD that i just purchased has what looks like new hood hinges on it and i cannot for the life of me get them to pull the hood down to match the cab when it's closed. i never ran into this problem with any of my other trucks. there is a good 1/2 an inch of height difference. with the hood being higher of course. i took the hinges off and they are very solid and also look new. i slid it all the way down in the slots to no avail. is it possible that the hood is swelling above the interior hardware when closed. when the hood is open it looks like the interior hardware and the hood metal are fairly close together.With the hood closed you cant see if the hardware and hood metal are separating. any suggestions. it does look like the former owner put new weather stripping along the cab edge also. i may pull that off next and see if the hood will pull down, if that doesn't work i have a coupla extra hoods that i may put on there to see if the metal is weak on the original. anyone had this problem and what did you do to repair it. Dutch

 

give the hinges a good oiling and work them a little,this normally happens when hinges get stiff

 

The new repop hinges are not, Ah to the exact specifications of Fomoco.

do you have new anti rattlers installed of the correct type for the front of the hood? There are 2 kinds the oval ones or the round with screw. This will bring the front up.

Your front fenders also hang on a slotted bracket that attaches to the cowl on the 66 F250 4x4 this may need adjusting up ward to compensate. if the fenders are sloping backwards. Common with sagging cab mounts.

Garbz

 

I had both of the fenders off and refinished them. when i reinstalled them i aligned them with the side coutour of the cab so it would look like it should. the problem is the hood is 1/2 in higher than the cab. gonna give rbaker's suggestion a try before i take it apart again. i did oil them but not much and i only worked them until the hood started going up and down easily and stopped.. thanks for the suggestions guys. Dutch

 

this really ain't a new problem,I had eight of these truck from '64 to '66 back when they were curent and after about a year I would have the same problem

 

wow , did they all do that or just some of them. i own five of them and this is the only one that has done this. although it was this way when i brought it home so it was an existing problem. dutch

 

If you remove the springs from the hinges and the hood settles down to where its supposed to be the hinges are worn. If it still sits high check the front cab mounts for sag. This is a common problem that has been exploered here many times. One other place to look is the rear support piece on the underside of the hood where the hinges bolt to. I had a hood were this was damaged and the hood would sit high at the back.

 

I had one like that a bit ago...the truck I got it off of had been out a while w/o hood on... I put the hinge in a vise carefully and took off the spring...dont let the small gaps between the coils fool ya...when it pops off...its a bomb...then I lubed it up( I used PB Blaster) let it sit 20-30 seconds and slowly started working it...loosened right up and flushed out all the rust. I did noticed after it was nice and loose that the bottom pivot seems to be a key weak spot...the whole hood/hinge seemed to pivot slightly off of it.
Putting the spring back on...pretty easy...get a piece of tubing close to size of front spring mount cut back about 3/4 to 1 inch and cut HALFWAY through the tubing. Then cut it right down the middle sectioning the tubing and creating a halfpipe of sorts... then put the halfpipe over the spring retainer up front and put in the vise to get the pipe to form a bit to the diameter of it...make sure the pipe is at least 2 feet long I would say...give ya leverage to maneuver the spring on...also...with the hinge in the vise either get a brave helper(not a kid) or make some kind of jig or blocking thing so that mounting leg that kicks out can be supported...if you dont do this theres a very good chance you will ruin the hinge by folding it over as the amt of pressure to get the spring to do what you want is an awful lot...I did it and the spring went on the first time...

As I said before...keep kids away as its easy to get hurt seriously dealing with these. And getting the spring off isnt too easy either and as I said prior...it lets loose like a rocket...


- cs65

 

Hey thanks guys. I had the cab bolts out and cleaned and painted all that area to stop the rust, all was in good condition. the cab rubbers looked good but not knowing what the height of the actual rubber sould be i'm at a loss there. i am defininately gonna use your advice on the hinges and springs. as i'm sure thats where the problrm is. also a very good idea on the spring mounting will build me one of those. Dutch

 

The springs are easiest to work with with the hinges installed. Open the hood and support it with a prop rod of some kind. I used a large screwdriver to pry it off and a brake spring tool to put it on. With the cab mount bolts out you can jack the cab front up and down and see how it effects the hood gap at the cowl. Just don't jack too high and tweek the fenders. We're only talking a fraction of an inch that it sags to make it gap.

 

They call the hood up in the back a poor mans cowl induction. My 64 "Christine" has the same issue bu i dont worry about it.

Be carefull with the spriig removal. cover fresh painted areas if it flys off.

Garbz