The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Hood elevation problem

I am trying to mock up my front sheet metal after all the welding and grinding. I have bolted up the fenders, grille and grille pan. I am trying to align the hood but the rear of the hood wont sit down on the cowl. It is about 1 to 3 inches high of the cowl. If I press it down it will go but it just pops back up when I let go....Any thoughts on this???

The hood was never on the truck when I bought it.

Are the springs too tight?
I think I have the the hinges adjusted all the was down.

This is all that stands in the way og my redrilling the fender mount bolts to the cab so I can move on.

Rich

Couple things...

The first thing that should go on when assembling the front sheetmetal is the hood and everything aligns off of that. The reason is that the v-shaped gap at the rear has to be even and the only thing that can adjust that is the up/down position of the front of the hood and the alignment of the hood latch determines that... assuming the cab is sitting correctly on the frame.

Secondly, there is an adjustment for the problem you are having. Go to the Body section of the Shop Manual and you will find instructions there... but 1 to 3 inches sure seems like a lot. HERE'S THE LINK

Hope this is just trial fitting and not finish panted parts we're talking about here.

Good luck.

RB53 I will suggest you let the "spring" hinges hang loose and close the hood, does it ling up with the cowl, especially the sides of the cowl in the curved area. I don't think you can have the "springs" to tight they just need to hold the hood open. If the hinges are worn out check the shoulder bolts/holes to see how much slop is in them, you can try and fix that. Now note: when the hood striker engages the latch this action will pull the hood down to some degree. Give it a try, sometimes you have to convince the hood whos boss.

Thanks guys.

Czechman... this is a trial fit. One of a few I have planned.

I actually got the hood to sit down right. Since I was working alone I put some weight on the hood near the hinge and loosened and retightened the hinges. This solved the height issue. I later adjusted for the gap at the back. I still have alot of tweaking to do but the hood opens and closes and I have redrilled the holes for the rear fenders.

I hate fitting body panels. It is my least favorite job.

Rich

Czechman
You say the hood should go on first when installing sheetmetal?
Is that before anything else. Should the radiator and support rods be in place first?
Could you detail the order of parts to put on?
Thanks

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.

Czechman

Your theory is sound. I actually fit everything on loose and muscled it around after. Assistance is necessary. I had a few drop in helpers, my neighbor, my 18 yo son and my 15 yo daughter. I had everything tight...then lossened to fix one little problem which touched off a cascade of adjustments and issues. After 3 days the result is on my webshot page...album labeled front end reasssembly. Check it out and let me know what you think. Be honest. I am not known for my dicerning eye and would like honest feed back from fellow bolters.

The result was not perfect (might be better than original if what I have heard is true) but close enough to do the body work before disassembly for paint.

Insanity .....yes I've been there.... and I am going again.

Rich

Rich,

Give yourself a raise! If mine fits anywhere near that good I'll be grinnin' for weeks.

Have you done anything to help you get the parts aligned at final assembly?
Had you ever done anything like this before?

Woody,
Thanks for the compliments. This is a first for me. I have never even seen one of these trucks assembled in person just pics and drawings (the PO on this truck did a lot of shoddy repair and left most of the parts off) so I do not know how all the seams should look. I just based what I did on measurements from the manual and what I thought looked right.

I will likely make some reference holes or notches as you suggest. I did that on my doors which I had off and on about 50 times. A few well placed pilot holes make the test fits go much easier.

This test fit was to see where to drill the bolt holes. There is so much new metal on this truck there were very few holes to bolt her back together. I used a lot of clamps, then marked and drilled.

Rich

Rich,

You just go to prove that a logical mind and a methodical approach will overcome lack of experience. I thought your photos looked familiar - I bookmarked them a long time ago for reference when I start my patch panels.

My PO was a hack like I can't believe... there's not enough space here to list all of his "engineering accomplishments". Our stories are very similar regarding the condition of our trucks.

We're even painting them the same color.

That is very a very nice fit on the sheet metal. A lot of show trucks don't come anywhere near a fit like that.

The bracing rods are quite useful for bringing the front clip into line. If the length measurements are close to the manual when things fit, it gives one the feeling of an overwhelming accomplishment!

I have the same issue. My 59 is put back together and the panels fit great. The hood opens and closes perfect as well. However, with the hood springs on and MAN ARE THEY REAL TOUGH to get on, the hood also pops up in the rear and will not sit level. I got a new set of springs and same deal. Can the springs alone be the issue?

Rasman,

The discussion up to this point has been about AD trucks so why not start a new topic over in the Bodyshop forum because your truck is different.

One subtle thing to ENSURE when fitting the body parts to the front end of an AD truck:

The radiator core support does NOT bolt directly to the chassis. It is supposed to have TWO rubber mounts, one on each side.

My particular AD truck had been assembled by a prior owner with one of those mounts missing. We discovered this when taking the front clip off in preparation for the engine swap and frame off restoration. That created the following problems:

1. The sheet metal could never be properly aligned

2. The metal to metal contact, and the obvious stress created by having one side lower than the other, cracked the core support at one point. We need to now weld that crack, and of course, reassemble with BOTH rubber mounts in place!

Jim G

DEATH TO THE POs...

Big Chevy


I couldn't agree more. My PO told some great stories about the excellent repair work done on this truck "all with new metal" he said.

I guess that's true if you count aluminum flashing jambed into the cab corners as a backing for the 1/2 gallon of bondo applied to the outside. Same on the fenders.

Shoddy cheap work!

But I love this truck and couldn't let her go uncared for another minute. I'm just a sucker for a fifties smile (grille).

Rich

I've finally learn how to do a search
My 52 AD,when I got it had hood hinges, but no springs,it had a prop rod instead.The hood alignment was good.This week I got springs.
With them installed the left side of the hood at the cowl is about an inch higher,the right side is foward about a 1/2 inch
Is there nothing I can do?

BC52,
The best advice I can give you is to loosen the bolts under the dash that hold the hood hinges. Then have a helper push the hood down and back as you tighten the bolts agian. Do this for each side then check it out.
RB%#

Ok,thanks RB

Well so far all I've acomplished is getting frustrated with the whole thing.took the springs out and the hood lines up again.Enough for tonight

BC52 [and rasman57] if the hood lays right without the springs, but pops up with them on, the pivot pins are worn, need new hinges

Bill

Rats! thanks for the input,Bill

Rich,
Your hood fit is FANTASTIC wish mine was as nice!
Tim