Need some help here. I'm starting to mock up my front end. I did start with the hood procedure found on this site with the 4"x4". So far I got the hood sitting pretty good. The problem is the hood latch pin is about 3/4" too far forward. With the inner fenders bolted to the truck and rad support how do I get that extra 3/4". Everything is loosely bolted and I haven't even hung the fenders yet.
1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe |1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1969 Pontiac GTO (The Dishpit) I 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
Unless the fenders are loosely in place and the support rods to the inner fenders attached and adjusted, the top of the radiator support is likely pretty floppy (fore and aft.) Do you have the splash panels for the grille installed?
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
I have the inner fenders and rad support bolted together and sitting on the truck. Rad support is loosely bolted to the frame also. This is all mounted on an s10 frame with code 504 kit.
The two threaded rods which are bolted to the fire wall and the inner fenders are there to give you the ability to move the radiator support/fender/inner fender assembly forward or backward so that the hood latch pin will line up with the hood latch. If you have the hood latch installed on the upper radiator baffle, make sure that THE SCREWS ARE LOOSE. If not, you may not be able to open the hood back up. The Manual makes reference to this problem, yet interestingly, does not tell you what to do if it happens.
1952 5-window - return to "as built" condition | 1950 3100 with a 235 and a T-5 transmission
Radiator support mounting is very important to where the hood and fenders end up. Since it is no longer on the original frame, I would verify that the hood is sitting where it is supposed to be. Too low or too high will give you problems. One way to do this, when building the front sheet metal on a non-original frame, is to lay the hood, without springs and latch, in to position when the support is mounted. The gap between the rear of the hood and the cowl, should be even from side to side and on top. If you have a bigger gap on top than compared to the sides, then nose of your hood is too low and the radiator support needs to be shimmed up. After that is set, you can work on making the support lean forward or back. Then, recheck/set your gap if necessary.
You're basically building from scratch and need to dial everything in. Setting a tight gap at the cowl, will take away from some of that 3/4". Somewhere in there, I would hang some fenders and see how they line up with the hood and grill at the front and rear. See if you get good hood to fender gap. Don't be afraid to adjust hinge holes or fender mount holes as necessary to get everything sitting where you want. A round file will do wonders and won't leave any evidence that anyone can see.
Since you have an S10 frame, Check the dimension on the attached picture. If it doesn't match up, you may need to make the slots in the frame for the radiator support longer to account for any difference.
But first do what Mark said.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
