Hello fellow truckers, I installed a forward tilt hood kit today that I bought from CPP. It was an easy install and it's the best that the front sheet metal has lined up, as some of you know I've been baptized as a darksider and have to deal with the pitfalls of being on that side. Now that I have the hood on I can address the matter of the hieght of the radiator cross member at the front of my chevy frame. I have a gap of 7/16th's at the rear of the hood, is this close to the gap originally, I do have miner issues with high and low spots on top of the hood but other than that the hood is in fairly good shape but, there's always a but, the remanufactured fenders I have don't match the the contour of the hood nor are the gaps consistent from front to back. One more thing, when the hood is flipped up it hits the grill, is there anyway to prevent this or is it just one of those things you have to be careful about or live with your boo boo's.
John

 

Most hit the grill, better put a plastic coated cable to keep it from flying forward and then consider a locking pin in the hinge tube. I think one or more of the guys here have put pins in theirs. They will be here soon.
Jon

 

I drilled a hole for a pin to lock the hood at a particular spot.

Just have to remember that when I open the hood..

Sam

 

Thanks for your information, just wanted to know that I hadn't done anything wrong, I had pm'd Jag and he informed me that it is a common problem. Thanks guys. John


P.S. any infor on the correct gaps at the back of the hood and does any one else have the same problem with the remanufactured fenders not matching the contour of the hood, it appears that the hood has a higher prfile than the fenders.

 

Your remedy for this condition depends on what you want as an end result. It turned out that I got real picky about it, so my solution became involved.

You should be able to get the fender surface close to fairing with the hood surface by adjusting the fenders at their attachment to the cab. I slotted the holes in the fenders to allow it to move up almost 3/8". When the fender return bottoms out on the lower cab seam, you have all the adjustment there is. That is what happened on my passenger side fender. So, I slit the vertical return of the fender, put a 2X4 on its inside and used a jack to move the fender upper surface up to plane into the hood. Then, I welded a doubler on the inside to cover the split. I had to move it an additional 1/4-3/8".

The gaps suck on original equipment also. I used to be able to stick my hand in between the hood and fender at the rear to pull the hood up. The gaps between fender and hood edge tapered from about 3/16" at the front to over 1/2" at the rear end of the seam - both sides. Most original effies looked to be similar to mine for those gaps.

I adjusted the gaps by adding metal (weld bead) to the fender edges and using body filler to plane out the inside fender step. I also had to add weld bead to some of the rear door edges to get even gaps all around the doors. Turned out very nice, but it was a lot of work.