The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop 1948 Chevy Thriftmaster 3100 - hood issues

The hood on my '48 sits about 3/4" high on the passenger's side at the cab (see attached picture). If I take the spring lift support off the hood on the passenger's side, then the hood aligns properly with the cab and fender. So it seems the hood spring on that side is somehow pushing the hood up (and the spring on the driver's side doesn't seem to push up the hood on that side).

Any idea what is going on and how to correct this?

If it was always that way, then you'll need to readjust the hood. If it just started to happen, something may have broken.

The hood adjustment procedure is HERE.

The truck had a mediocre restoration done to it a couple of years ago (prior to me getting the truck). I can't say if the hood alignment issue has always been present since the resto, but it has been there since I acquired it last fall.

Figure 6 in the hood adjustment procedure shows some kind of bracket that is attached to the center underside of the hood near the cowl - my hood is missing this "bracket". What is it? And where can I get one?

That bracket in Figure 6 holds the center of the hood together at the rear and can be used to adjust the arch of the rear to match the cowl. I don't think they're available aftermarket, so you'd have to get one from another hood. I'm sure there's one or two hoods out there with a fatally crunched nose, but with that bracket usable. Post a want ad in the Swap Meet here, and someone can probably provide one for you.

But that won't fix the issue you're seeing. Most likely the passenger side hinge is mis-adjusted.

I took some new pictures last evening to better illustrate the issue. There is indeed a "plate" installed on the underside of the hood to tie the two halves together, but it doesn't look anything like the factory bracket in the repair manual (see attached picture).

The passenger's side hinge is mounted as far aft and as far down as it can be. There is no further adjustment that can be made to move the this hinge rearward or down at the cab attachment point than it currently is.

I would also like to note that when you pop the hood, it likes to jump to the driver's side by about 3/8" of an inch at the front-center. When you close and latch it, the latch pulls it back (towards to the passenger side) to center it.

Again, it only does this with the passenger's side hood support spring installed. If I remove the passenger's side hood support spring, the hood lines up properly in all aspects (which leads me to believe the hood itself isn't tweaked, but perhaps I have something worn out that is allowing the spring to manipulate the hood on its own improperly).

In your last picture I do not see a bolt extending through the lower hole that comes from the inside. In total there are 3 bolts that secure the hinge, two from the inside and one from the outside It is impossible to see the adjustment available with the hinge in place as the holes in the cab for the two bolts that come from the inside are ove size to provide the adjustment.

Your center bracket is missing the original part that bolts the two side together. The correct bracket bolts in place using the bolt holes that remain visible on either side of what is installed on your hood.

Don't worry about your center bracket not being factory correct for now. It has nothing to do with the wonky way your hood closes.
It is time for you to follow Kevins advice and follow the instructions in the link that he posted. There is a lot going on with adjusting these hoods. Following those instruction to a T has helped a lot of folks to get their hoods on right.

I don't see how performing the full alignment procedure is going to fix my issue. With the hood support springs removed, the hood IS aligned properly to the cowl and front clip - which brings me to step P in the alignment procedure. Once the hood support springs are installed, the passenger's side spring pushes the hood up in the rear on that side by 3/4" - 1". Remove the spring, and the hood sits down and appears aligned properly.

I don't think this is an alignment issue; because as I said above, the hood is aligned with the hood support springs uninstalled. I think there is an issue with the passenger's side hinge assembly - something is wrong with it that is allowing the hood support spring on that side to push the hood up by 3/4" - 1" at the cowl with the hood closed.

It sounds like the shoulder bolts on the hinge arms might be completely worn out, or maybe they're not even shoulder bolts. You might check those to be sure they're not worn or are the incorrect bolts.

Unless there are major body issues, all hoods on the AD trucks sit flat and correctly without the springs attached. The hood adjustment procedure needs to be followed fully. If not, there will always be "hood popping up unevenly at the cowl" issues.

Yep. That's were the "four inch block under the nose of the hood and applying downward pressure on the back of the hood until it makes contact with the cowl, then loosen the hinge bolts again" comes into play.

Thanks for recommending that I check the shoulder bolts. Whoever did the resto job on this truck didn't install shoulder bolts, they just used regular 5/16 bolts with no shoulder - so there was excessive movement between the hinge arms and the bolts they used to attach to the hood. After installing a proper set of shoulder bolts, the hood lines up much better now. I still need to perform the alignment procedure, but I feel confident I will be able to achieve good results now that I've addressed the problem of incorrect bolts being used.

Sounds good. I figured it was just a process of elimination of any other cause.

Thanks for following up on it.