Before I begin, I'll admit that I have yet to do this and my plan is based on my experience fitting parts on other cars years ago. Here's my situation which is somewhat compounded by the fact that it appears that my cab is sitting low in the front as evidenced by the fact that my clutch and brake pedal rods are rubbing the tops of the holes in what's left of my floorboards. So, my first order of business is to raise the front of my cab a little.
My front clip has been put back together by the PO and I've been pondering how to put it back together so that the parts (especially the hood) fit somewhat properly.
Where my hood fits against the cowl it's off everywhere. The hood-to-cowl gap at the bottom is uneven left and right and the v-gap at the top is tight at the center and loose on the ends. The only logical conclusion to draw from this situation is that if the nose of the hood would go down more the v-gap would even out and the bottom hood-to-cowl gap would follow. I read somewhere that the hood should go on first and after reading that it made perfect sense. Supposedly, the sub-assembly that anchors the hood latch can be shimmed up and down... I believe this would be the radiator support.
My plan is to get the hood latched down so that the cowl gaps are somewhat even (keep in mind that these things never fit perfectly in the first place and they're notorious for this) and then fit the fenders to the hood. So, whatever it takes to get the latch and hood fitting should be first and the fenders should come in after that. I assume everything can be hung loose and muscled into place.
Once your "dry fitting" is done it would probably be a good idea to drill some pilot holes or file alignment notches in strategic places to aid the alignment when it comes time for final assembly.
Of course all of this makes for a good theory, so I'm open to any input from someone who's tackled a similar problem, but that's my plan. If it doesn't work there is always cutting and/or welding metal to the trailing edge of the hood to even the gap... something that should not be necessary if you can get adequate adjustment out of the front sheetmetal... assuming the cab is sitting correctly on the frame.
Oh, a helper is almost mandatory because you have to see both sides at the same time. Trying to even a gap on a floppy piece of sheetmetal that's loosely bolted on is enough to drive anyone insane.
