Hood Adjustment

[yellowbeard]

Hello guys, How do I adjust my hood? I have started my bodywork and the front of by hood is a little lower than the nose of the car. Maybe 1/2 in. Can I put shims between the hinges and hood to raise the front or is there another way to do this. Thanks Joe

[BQS4]

Hello guys, How do I adjust my hood? I have started my bodywork and the front of by hood is a little lower than the nose of the car. Maybe 1/2 in. Can I put shims between the hinges and hood to raise the front or is there another way to do this. Thanks Joe

Joe;
There also may be the possibility that your hood hinge is broke. Can you supply pictures? Take some through the grill of the car, back up at the hinge.

[ungermm]

1/2 inch? I wouldn't think you have that much. There is only about 1/16 to 1/4 inch difference between the thickness of the hood and the nose shelf that the hood sits in. You can place shims or washers between the two front holes of the hood and the hood bracket to make things flush.
Jerry

[Dennis Texas]

most probable cause is when a hood is rusty instead of the pivot rotating the mounting strap rolls hopefully you have caught it in time before it snapped off. This is the good time to repair it if any welding is required to the body.
you can drill out between the mounting bracket and tap for a grease zerk then grease it up when you assemble. Penetrating oil works good to free it up but does not have staying power greasing will lubricate for a long while.

[yellowbeard]

as far as i can tell there is no rust in the hood, and nothing is broken.

[Dennis Texas]

as far as i can tell there is no rust in the hood, and nothing is broken.

Look carefully at the brackets where it is attached to the car body. I can't think of anything else that could make that much difference except maybe being repaired incorrectly.
Can you get a picture of that area?

[BQS4]

as far as i can tell there is no rust in the hood, and nothing is broken.

Joe;
Follow the hood hinges to where they tuck up under the nose, between the headlight buckets.

[sawdust]

look in this area.

picture

on both the left and right side

[kwilford]

A brief search reveals:
http://www.opelgt.com/forums/2a-body...ge-broken.html
and
http://www.opelgt.com/forums/2d-body...ge-repair.html

HTH

[yellowbeard]

I think I found the problem. the red bracket with the rivit in it is missing on the drivers side.

[namba209 (R.I.P.)]

I don't believe that is a factory installation on the hood hinge. It appears that bracket that is pop-riveted is a PO fix. I would look at the hinge careully as you raise and lower the hood by hand to see if there is any flex at the vertical rib the hinge is attached to. There is a nut on the stud that is the large round button you see on the rear of the vertical rib, just outboard of each hood attach arm. HTH.

[sawdust]

It could be that yellowbeard did not realize that this is how I repaired my rusted out hood hinge support. Maybe this is what he will have to do to secure his hood.

[kwilford]

I agree that the first thing to look for is a broken hinge mount, which is simply the vertical sheet metal strap that runs between the headlamp buckets under the leading edge of the hood opening. Here are some photos of what they look like, upside down (as I had the body inverted on a rotisserie and the belly pan removed) although they had been repaired once a long time before, by brazing the torn metal. And in case you haven't read the threads I directed you to, the hinges often seize, which in turn tears the mounting sheet metal, as it isn't very sturdy

[kwilford]

Here is a photo of the hood after the hinges are repaired, all nicely aligned. Originally, my hood front edge was about 3/8" above the front sheet metal, which was caused by the hinge seizing and tearing the metal strap. The trick is to repair the metal strap, and also to enlarge the hinge mounting holes a bit such that the bolts that mount the hinge ends can be adjusted up and down, and also a bit side to side. That aligns the hood leading edge to the opening left to right and up and down. The remaining adjustment is in the slots where the hood attaches to the hinge, which aligns the hood front to back.
The other two are of the hinge after I had repaired the mounting sheet metal. I welded an extra piece on both sides, and wrapped them both to the front and to the rear to make the mounts quite a bit stronger

[kwilford]

Here are the extra pieces I welded in, both in front and behind the original sheet metal, and both extending into the headlight bucket for strength. This was after the rough welding, before I cleaned the welds up and such. Note that the holes are a bit larger than original to allow some additional adjustment

[yellowbeard]

the pic. on my post is I believe is another members car (sawdust) I think. But It show what I believe I will have to do to fix mine. thanks guys. Joe

[yellowbeard]

looks like my problem, not attacted on the end.

[kwilford]

looks like my problem, not attached on the end.

That end actually looks pretty good, but the hinge bar seems to be angled down to the passenger side. What does that end look like?

[yellowbeard]

The hinge bar is not attacked to the wall of the headlight housing, it lets that end move up and down.

[kwilford]

The hinge bar is not attacked to the wall of the headlight housing, it lets that end move up and down.

Ah, now I see.
While you have the hinge removed, make sure that it rotates smoothly, and it is a good idea to install grease zerk fittings in the outer tube at each end (about 1 inch inboard from the ends) to ensure that the hinges don't seize in the future